The Secret Language of Leadership: How Leaders Inspire Action Through Narrative (J-B US non-Franchise Leadership) (Hardcover)

~ Denning (Author)
Key Phrases: leadership presence, calm assertiveness, enduring enthusiasm, The Secret Language of Leadership, World Bank, United States (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Review

Named one of the "Best Business Books of the Year" (2007) by Financial Times: "Leaders don’t just execute strategy, they must inspire others to follow...This book explains how." (Financial Times, December 8, 2007)

"Denning cohesively links the importance of narrative intelligence and telling stories to leadership success." (Library Journal, December 2007)

"...if there's one person who knows more than anyone else about the power of business narrative it's...Steve Denning."  (MyCustomer.com, Friday 7th December 2007)

"This book's lucid explanations, vivid examples and practical tips are essential reading..."  (PublicNet.co.uk, Tuesday 4th December 2007)

"...an array of glowing testimonials from truly famous people.  Definitely one for those interested in transformational change."  (Strategic Communication Management, December 2007)

"…an educational and informative book that can be effortlessly read from cover to cover." (Inside Knowledge, September 2007)

Review

"If business leaders do not immediately grasp the vital insights offered by this book, both they and their organisations are doomed."--Stefan Stern, Financial Times

"Steve Denning is the Warren Buffett of business communication. He sees things others don't and is able to explain them so the rest of us can understand."--Chip Heath, co-author of Made to Stick, Professor of Organizational Behavior, Graduate School of Business, Stanford University

"I highly recommend you get it today and read it tonight. Tomorrow will be an entirely different kind of day if you do."---Jim Kouzes, Co-author of the best-selling, The Leadership Challenge, and A Leader’s Legacy

"The Secret Language of Leadership has been instrumental in helping me overcome the challenges of rapid growth and intense competition. It's all about the story."--Reed Hastings, CEO, Netflix Inc.

"I don't think I have ever read a more compelling preface. And best of all, the advice Denning gives to the reader about speaking and writing is exemplified in the way he has written this impressive book."--James MacGregor Burns, distinguished senior scholar, James MacGregor Burns Academy of Leadership, University of Maryland, and author of Leadership

"The Secret Language of Leadership is not only the best analysis I have seen of how and why leaders succeed or fail, it's highly readable, as well as downright practical. It should be mandatory reading for anyone interested in engaging a company with big ideas who understands that leaders live and die by the quality of what they say."--Richard Stone, story analytics master, i.d.e.a.s

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 304 pages
• Publisher: Jossey-Bass; 1 edition (October 12, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0787987891
• ISBN-13: 978-0787987893
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.1 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #49,585 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Story Telling in a very pragmatic and practical way, November 14, 2007

By	Michel Operto (Valbonne, France) - See all my reviews

I enjoyed the book which is full of very relevant and concrete examples that really helped me understand the concepts and the approach. A simple review of what does and does not work well is included that I found very insightful. I'm far from being a good story teller but this book gave me the desire to try it very seriously and trying is often adopting...

14 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars EDNA and Transformational Leadership, October 11, 2007

By	Robert Morris (Dallas, Texas) - See all my reviews (TOP 50 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

Amazon Verified Purchase

There are four classical "levels of discourse": Exposition, Description, Narration, and Argumentation (EDNA).

Exposition uses information to explain, reveal, "expose," etc.
Description makes vivid with compelling details and figurative language.
Narrative tells a story with a plot or explains a sequence.
Argumentation convinces with logic and/or evidence.

So what? Actually, a great deal if the objective is to communicate much more effectively. All of the most influential transformational leaders throughout history were great storytellers. They knew when and how to use the elements of EDNA to explain, to inspire, to entertain, and to convince others.

What we have in Stephen Denning's latest and most valuable book is his development in much greater depth of information and insights he previously introduced in The Springboard, Squirrel, Inc., and The Leader's Guide to Storytelling. He also shares his thoughts about other dimensions of transformational leadership because he realized that "narrative wasn't the whole story. The secrets of leadership lay not only in the stories that were being told but also in the way the leadership goals themselves were formulated. Leaders could also use other tools like frames, questions, offers, challenges, metaphors, reasons, and so on."

Denning explains how these and various other communication tools relate to each other, which are best for the given purpose (i.e. explain, inspire, entertain, and/or convince), and how all these tools can be "combined in a seamless leadership message" that can attract and (more importantly) then capture people's attention. In order to become fluent in "the secret language of leadership," Denning suggests, it is necessary to understand how transformational leadership can "communicate complex ideas and spark others into enduringly enthusiastic action," how those who are transformational leaders select and use words "to inspire others to become leaders."

To sum up, Denning asserts that "sustained, enthusiastic change doesn't occur by osmosis or extrasensory perception. If leaders' inner commitment to change is to have any effect, they have to communicate it to the people they aspire to lead. True, the leaders' actions will eventually speak louder than words, but in the short run, it's what leaders say - or don't say - that has the impact. The right words can have a galvanizing effect, generating enthusiasm, energy, momentum, and more, while the wrong words can undermine the best intentions and kill initiative on the spot, stone dead."

As I read this brilliant book, I was reminded of Howard Gardner's research on multiple intelligences. In his latest book, Five Minds for the Future, Gardner suggests that, to thrive in the world during eras to come, there are five cognitive abilities that need to be developed. Gardner refers to them as "minds" but they are really mindsets.

1. The disciplined mind enables us to know how to work steadily over time to improve skill and understanding;

2. The synthesizing mind enables us to take information from disparate sources and make sense of it by understanding and evaluating that information objectively;

3. By building on discipline and synthesis, the creating mind enables us to break new ground;

4. By "recognizing that nowadays one can no longer remain within one's shell or one's home territory," the respectful mind enables us to note and welcome differences between human individuals and between human groups so as to understand them and work effectively with them;

5. and finally, "proceeding on a level more abstract than the respectful mind," the ethical mind to reflect on the nature of one's work and the needs and desires of the society in which one lives.

As Denning would explain, each of these five "minds" or mindsets has a "secret language" of its own. Those who would be leaders must become fluent in one or more languages that are most appropriate to the given objective, be it the creation of an entirely new art form or a coalition of health care organizations. He examines three key steps of language leadership (i.e. getting the audience's urgent attention, eliciting desire for a different future, and reinforcing with reasons) before shifting his attention to six elements ("key enablers") that enable the language of leadership to achieve its maximum effectiveness: articulating a clear and inspiring change idea, committing to the "story" of change, mastering the audience's own "story," cultivating narrative intelligence, a commitment to telling authentically true stories, and finally, deploying the body language of leadership.

The last is a key factor because, as Denning correctly points out, "without the calm assertiveness of the body language of leadership, the verbal language of leadership will have little effect." Although percentages vary from one research study to another, there is no doubt that during face-to-face contact, body language and tone of voice determine 85-90% of the impact.

In his previous books, Denning skillfully explains all of the elements of an effective business narrative, a sub genre of storytelling that is becoming increasingly popular with those who write white papers. Now he has broadened his scope and deepened his analysis to examine how all four of the levels of discourse (including narrative) that can help those whose objective is to explain what needs to be done, to inspire others to become involved, to make the given vision vivid and its mission more compelling, and finally, to make a convincing argument that will guide and inform collaborate initiatives.

Well-done!

4.0 out of 5 stars Leading with a passion, February 27, 2009

By	Rolf Dobelli "getAbstract.com" (Switzerland) - See all my reviews (TOP 50 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

This isn't just another book about how to become a better manager; it's about how to use language to become an "inspirational leader" who can bring about transformation and lasting change. Stephen Denning explains that transformational leadership is not the sole providence of an extraordinary few. Anyone with enough vision, commitment and grit to master a basic set of skills that he calls the "language of transformational leadership" can become a leader who creates change. Denning turns away from aloof reasoning and dusty information, and advocates being provocative and inspirational instead. His only lapse is a love of repetition. getAbstract believes that leaders who want to master persuasive advocacy will enjoy this in-depth guide.