Leadership is communicating to people their worth and potential so clearly that they are inspired to see it in themselves” (pg xxii).

“People who are treated as followers have the expectations of followers and act like followers” (pg xxvi).

“We can all be leaders and, in fact, it’s best when we all are leaders” (pg xxvii).

“One of the things that limits our learning is our belief that we already know something” (pg 9).

“Are you and your people working to optimize the organization for their tenure, or forever? To promote long-term success, I had to ignore the short-term reward system” (pg 11).

“Do you give employees specific goals as well as the freedom to meet them in any way they choose?” (pg 21).

Great Questions:

What are the things you are hoping I don’t change?
What are the things you secretly hope I do change?
What are the goods things we should build on?
Why aren’t we doing better? (pg 24)

“Little things like lack of punctuality are indicative of much, much bigger problems” (pg 29).

“Achieve excellence, don’t just avoid errors” (pg 46).

“Resist the urge to provide solutions” (pg 50).

Great Questions:

How do you respond when people in your workplace don’t want to change from the way things have always been done?
What are some of the costs associated with doing things different in your industry?
Do we act first, and think later? Or do we think first, and then change our actions? (pg 68).

Shift away from, “Request permission to . . . I would like to . . . what should I do about . . .” and move towards, “I intend to . . . I plan to . . . I will” (pg 83).

Great Questions:

How comfortable are people in your organization with talking about their hunches and their gut feelings?
How can you create an environment in which men and women freely express their uncertainties and fears as well as their innovative ideas and hopes?
Are you willing to let your staff see that your lack of certainty is strength and certainty is arrogance?
To what degree does trust factor in the above? (pg 107)

“Control without competence is chaos” (pg 128).

“Continually and consistently repeat the message” (pg 149).

“Specify goals, not methods” (pg 155).

“Clarity means people at all levels of an organization clearly and completely understand what the organization is about” (pg 161).

This book was another easy read that was packed full of great insight and wisdom. Perhaps my favorite part were the questions at the end of each chapter - great to use with staff and leadership.

Grade: A

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