The Secret: What Great Leaders Know and Do
Do you have a small list of books that you read every year? This is one that should be on that list. What Great Leaders Know and Do is a short book (just 130 pages), filled with profound concepts that every person—leader or not—should consider. The examples are instructive and enlightening, the questions thought-provoking, and the application is compelling.
The concepts are taught in “fable-form”. A mid-level manager is seeing her team disintegrate and productivity and morale are down. She applies for and is accepted into a mentor program and begins meeting with a mentor who starts by modeling good listening skills. She starts revamping herself as a leader by working to become a better listener. In their future sessions, she learns all about servant leadership and applies the concepts one at a time. The concepts her mentor teaches her are based on the acronym S.E.R.V.E.
See the future - “Leadership is about taking people from one place to another. One of a leader’s top priorities must be to assure that the team knows where you are headed.”
Engage and develop others - “The leader’s objective is to leverage the strengths of people and make their weaknesses become irrelevant.”
Reinvent continuously - First, reinvent on a personal level. Second, reinvent by instilling “the desire for improvement into the people doing the day-to-day work.” Third, reinvent organizational structure to “meet ever changing demands of the business.”
Value results and relationships - “Ultimate success always includes both people and performance.”
Embody the Values - Great leaders “establish, articulate, model, and enforce core values.”
The part that most resonated with me was in the final FAQ section, where it was suggested that the place to start, in applying these principles, is not with the area that you’re weakest in, but rather the area where you have some strength. Intentional improvement in an area of strength is the best way to learn in other areas, because what you learn can be applied to areas where you may feel weak.
I absolutely recommend this book! It’s one that you’re going to want to buy, mark-up, dog-ear, and create your own journal for, starting with the question that is asked throughout the book: “Am I a serving leader or a self-serving leader?
