I bought Great Leaders Have No Rules: Contrarian Leadership Principles to Transform Your Team and Business by Kevin Kruse because I loved his columns in Forbes. I loved the insights and practical recommendations. I also bought the book because I thought it would differ from many other leadership books.
The title promises to help you lead “your team.” Too many leadership books offer advice for a CEO or someone who can change policy and structure. Most of the leaders whom I write for aren’t like that. They’re right there in the middle of the mess trying to make it work every day.
Kevin Kruse promised to write a book that would help those leaders. He did. I expected great things from this book. I got them. You will, too.
Here’s what Kevin says you should expect from Great Leaders Have No Rules.
“This book has one purpose: to teach you how to be both the boss everyone wants to work for and the high achiever every CEO wants to hire—all without drama, stress, or endless hours in the office.”
The Content
Kruse divided the book into an introduction, a conclusion, and 10 chapters. Each chapter stands alone. You don’t need to read them to get value. I suggest you read the third chapter (Have No Rules) first. Then read the others in whatever order you choose.
Close Your Open-Door Policy. There’s good stuff here about how an open-door policy is often a cheap substitute for the hard work of communicating and building trust. Kevin doesn’t only tell you what not to do, he offers suggestions for alternatives.
Turn Off Your Smart Phone. You’re starting to hear this advice more and more, but you’ll enjoy what you read here.
Have No Rules. This chapter opens with the insight that no one creates a stupid rule on purpose. Then there’s a discussion of why too many rules are a bad thing. This would have been a better book if this chapter were the first chapter, but that’s a quibble. You can get the same affect if you read this chapter first.
Be Likeable, Not Liked. Don’t let the title of this chapter fool you. Kevin’s advice is to overcome the need to be liked. It’s the need to be liked that’s the problem, not simply being liked. There’s also good advice about how needing to be liked turns you into a jerk.
Lead with Love. There’s that “L” word, applied to a business situation. Unlike the Greeks, we only have one word for love, and it must cover all the possible applications. The word may make you cringe, but great leaders and great teams have a powerful force of love at work. If you’d rather call it something else, that’s fine. Read this chapter.
Crowd Your Calendar. There’s good advice about how to think about time and scheduling to get your most important stuff done. Kevin reprises advice from his book 15 Secrets Successful People Know About Time Management.
Play Favorites. This chapter is about something I discovered in my research on top-performing supervisors. Treating everyone the same is unfair. The idea is to treat everyone fairly based on their performance and the context. That means treating them differently.
Reveal Everything. Kruse is right. Transparency drives decision quality, speed, and engagement. My experience, though, is that trust is not a simple thing. What you can and should reveal and expect others to reveal will vary based on the situation and who those others are. This chapter had one real gem for me, though. Here it is. “One way to lose trust is to actually lie and get caught, but a more common way is to only give good news.”
Show Weakness. This is another chapter that’s about ways to build trust. There’s also a good discussion of using stories.
Leadership Is Not A Choice. It’s true, as one of my Marine commanders said, that, “There is no leadership without leadership by example.” When you’re a leader, you set the example. The only choice you have is what kind of example you set. I thought this chapter was somewhat poorly written. It’s the only chapter in the book like that. The basic point is solid, the presentation could use some work.
More Good Things About the Book
The chapter structure is first-rate. Every chapter includes a section about “How would you apply this if ,,, ?” for different kinds of leadership positions. You’re sure to get good ideas.
Kevin Kruse also summarizes each chapter with a section called “Takeaways.” It’s easy to flip through the book and review key points. You can up flashcards on your Kindle.
This isn’t Kevin’s first rodeo and his experience shows. There are many examples of how he learned an important lesson, how he got it wrong before he got it right. That’s engaging and powerful. There’s also good research support for the points he makes. He follows the advice that I give to my clients. Every point should be supported with research and illustrated with an example.
In A Nutshell
If you’re responsible for the performance of a group, this book should be on your must-read list. It’s filled with solid insights, good examples, and solid advice.
If you’re a student of leadership, read this book for the ways it will inspire you to think differently about many common situations.
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Advice, examples and action items for great leadership
Reviewed in the United States on April 2, 2019
This book is a treasure trove of ideas to make you a great leader. It's written in an easy to read and follow format and as I read this book I kept getting AHA! moments. I was hooked from the very first chapter when he discussed closing your open door policy. In chapter 3 he discusses "have no rules" a concept that goes against what I learned as a manager as I was always taught that rules are required to make a company run more effectively - but Kevin shows a different side to that and how some companies run better when they take the rules away.What I like best about this book is that he gives examples along the way and at the end of each chapter he's included a "takeaway", a short paragraph about what the concept was about the chapter. Then he gives you examples of how to apply that concept to your life whether you are a manager, parent, salesperson, etc. All-in-all I think this is one of his best books and I would highly recommend it.
Reviewed in the United States on April 2, 2019
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Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on June 11, 2019
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Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on April 2, 2019
Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on April 2, 2019
What I like best about this book is that he gives examples along the way and at the end of each chapter he's included a "takeaway", a short paragraph about what the concept was about the chapter. Then he gives you examples of how to apply that concept to your life whether you are a manager, parent, salesperson, etc. All-in-all I think this is one of his best books and I would highly recommend it.
Advice, examples and action items for great leadership
Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on April 2, 2019
This book is a treasure trove of ideas to make you a great leader. It's written in an easy to read and follow format and as I read this book I kept getting AHA! moments. I was hooked from the very first chapter when he discussed closing your open door policy. In chapter 3 he discusses "have no rules" a concept that goes against what I learned as a manager as I was always taught that rules are required to make a company run more effectively - but Kevin shows a different side to that and how some companies run better when they take the rules away.Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on April 2, 2019
What I like best about this book is that he gives examples along the way and at the end of each chapter he's included a "takeaway", a short paragraph about what the concept was about the chapter. Then he gives you examples of how to apply that concept to your life whether you are a manager, parent, salesperson, etc. All-in-all I think this is one of his best books and I would highly recommend it.
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Top reviews from other countries
Darren
A Cracking Read - Updating Leadership for 2019 and Beyond
Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on April 2, 2019
Barry Hynd
A great reminder that how we lead is changing
Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on April 17, 2019
Nicholas Nightingale
Insightful
Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on August 23, 2019TheMattDaddy
No hard and fast rules for leadership, there is great advice for being a better person
Reviewed in Canada 🇨🇦 on April 2, 2019Marcos Delgado
Amazing Book & Different Approach of Leadership/ Un Super Libro & Enfoque de Liderazgo Diferente
Reviewed in Mexico 🇲🇽 on April 2, 2019
