Are You Ready to Lead?

In the ever-evolving “new world of work”, we will all be leaders. This could be a leader of others or a leader of ourselves. What are you doing to brush up on your leadership skills today?

Here’s one easy solution:

Managing with a Conscience (2^nd edition) by Frank Sonnenberg

In the turbulent, frenetic, dog-eat-dog times of the past few decades, many believed that the only way to achieve success was to be unscrupulous. Acting like slumlords, corporations let their assets deteriorate by exploiting customers, mistreating employees, and squeezing suppliers. What they overlooked, however, was that their obsession with short-term results significantly damaged their company’s long-term performance as well as its competitiveness. Today, it is more critical than ever to put an end to these short-sighted tactics.

I don’t remember how or when I first met Frank Sonnenberg (@FSonnenberg) but for the past year he’s produced some wonderfully thoughtful posts which I’ve shared on Twitter.  Frank asked if I would review the newest edition of his book and I gladly accepted.  Please note, I am a slow reader and confess I haven’t read every page.  However, what I have read is engaging and right on track in my estimation.

In order to write this review, I started reading Chapter 9:  Networking.  Sonnenberg captures the importance of this activity as a business growth strategy as well as a career growth strategy.  For anyone new to the concept of networking, this is a clearly written explanation of how and why!

I decided I should read more and was intrigued by the title of the first chapter:  If A Tree Falls In the Forest…Competing in the New Age of Intangibles. Sonnenberg describes (with facts and data) the new, flat world of organizations.  He lists a side-by-side comparison of The Industrial Age Thought Processes versus the Information Age Thought Processes which highlights many of the key differences.  But of course, the chapter doesn’t end there. Sonnenberg sets the tone with nine critical success factors for competing in the 21st century (which coincide with his nine chapters).

As I mentioned in the beginning, you may not aspire to be a leader, but you will be asked to be one anyway.

Frank’s book helps you understand the positive, healthy behaviors of a successful company.  The knowledge and understanding of these theories and best practices will absolutely benefit any one who reads it- from a new college graduate to a Boomer closing in on retirement.

What I loved so much about Frank’s book is that it addresses the ethical treatment of  employees. In other words, it is pointing out that today’s successful businesses can no longer use “power”, “control”, “fear” and other demeaning methods to engage their workers.  His book is about building a trusting and high performing culture in the workplace where employees are seen as key contributors, not cogs.

It is refreshing and uplifting and points out that we have a long way to go!  Each of us can help drive and implement these changes.  I encourage you to think about Frank’s messages and find a way to help spread the word and incorporate these newer principles.

You can read more about Frank’s book here:  Managing with a Conscience (2nd Edition)

You can follow Frank and his book on Twitter @FSonnenberg @A_Conscience

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