Pivot Points E-Book

Julia Tang Peters

• Herausgeber: John Wiley & Sons
• Kategorie: Fachliteratur
• Sprache: Englisch

Seitenzahl: 435

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2014

Beschreibung

A Roadmap for Transforming Ambition into Achievement In the sea of thrown-together, stereotypical leadership advice, Julia Tang Peters' Pivot Points stands out like a beacon. This book is not the result of trite 10-step recipes or unstudied observations. Instead, its source is in-depth research conducted among some of the country's most effective leaders. Intimate interviews and broad survey data reveal that the leaders who stand out are the ones who fearlessly face the decisions that characterize career turning points. Amazingly, the people who break through barriers to transform industries encounter--and effectively confront--the same five critical decisions. In Pivot Points, you'll read how five inspiring and approachable leaders made the choices that cemented their legacies. Pivot Points is a unique opportunity to learn from the leaders you should learn from--authentic, independent-minded people with a genuine desire to help others understand how to lead. Tools developed from their candid accounts will help you measure and assess your own career trajectory. With a self-diagnostic questionnaire based on the book's unique framework, you'll be able to identify warning signs of stagnation and sustain the passion to achieve. Gain practical insights from this valuable aid for professional development of high achievers in every career stage. Pivotal decisions can turn an ordinary career into an extraordinary journey to success. The journey is a highly individual one, and Pivot Points will inspire and guide you in the processes of finding your own path to exceptional results. Take a rare look into the process of shifting from the science of management to the art of leadership, and let this one-of-a-kind book propel you toward achieving your best self.

Leseprobe

Contents

Preface

Acknowledgments

Chapter 1: From Ordinary Career to Leadership Journey

Decision-Making Leaders, Leader-Making Decisions

Are Five Pivotal Decisions the Experience of Just Leaders or Everyone?

Pivotal Decisions Determine the Journey

Five Characteristics of a Pivotal Decision

The Art of Leading and the Science of Management

The Leaders We Should Learn From

Chapter 2: IDEA: Bud Frankel, Founder and Former Chairman of Frankel & Company

Why You Should Know Him and About His Work

What Matters to Bud Frankel

Bud’s Pivotal Decisions

The Leader’s Legacy

Chapter 3: CHANGE: Glen Tullman, Managing Partner of 7wire Ventures; Former CEO of Allscripts Healthcare Solutions

Why You Should Know Him and About His Work

What Matters to Glen Tullman

Glen’s Pivotal Decisions

The Leader’s Legacy

Chapter 4: TEAM: John W. Rogers, Jr., Founder, Chairman, and CEO of Ariel Investments LLC

Why You Should Know Him and About His Work

What Matters to John Rogers

John’s Pivotal Decisions

The Leader’s Legacy

Chapter 5: CULTURE: Al Golin, Founder and Chairman of GolinHarris

Why You Should Know Him and About His Work

What Matters to Al Golin

Al’s Pivotal Decisions

The Leader’s Legacy

Chapter 6: PASSION: Dale Dawson, Founder and CEO of Bridge2Rwanda

Why You Should Know Him and About His Work

What Matters to Dale Dawson

Dale’s Pivotal Decisions

The Leader’s Legacy

Chapter 7: Lessons from the Journeys of Five Leaders

What Do Leaders Have in Common?

Leaders Continually Create Their Jobs

Chapter 8: Lessons from Survey Findings

Do Pivot Points Occur in Most People’s Careers?

How Do People Make Pivotal Decisions?

To Lead Is to Create

Chapter 9: Your Pivotal Five

Connecting Your Dots: Your Pivotal Decisions

Connecting Your Dots: Your Decision-Making Behavior

Leader, Manager, Wanderer, and Clock Puncher

Warning Signs

Your Authentic Path

About the Author

Index

End User License Agreement

List of Tables

TABLE 8.1 Degree of Success of Each Pivotal Decision

TABLE 8.2 Leader Style Correlates with Success of All Pivotal Decisions

List of Illustrations

FIGURE 1.1 Four Types of Decision-Making Behaviors

FIGURE 1.2 Five Pivotal Decisions Mark Stages of Career Development

FIGURE 8.1 Age-Related Progressions When Making Five Pivotal Decisions

FIGURE 8.2 Success of Pivotal Decision Outcomes

FIGURE 8.3 Very Successful Outcomes of Each Pivotal Decision

FIGURE 8.4 Four Types of Decision-Making Behaviors

FIGURE 8.5 Percentages of All Decisions Made with These Behaviors

FIGURE 8.6 Percentage of Decision Behaviors by Pivot Point

FIGURE 8.7 Correlation of Leader Behavior with Very Successful Outcomes

FIGURE 8.8 Path of Decision-Making Behaviors

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Guide

Cover

Table of Contents

Begin Reading

PIVOT POINTS

FIVE DECISIONS EVERY SUCCESSFUL LEADER MUST MAKE

Julia TANG PETERS

Cover design: C. Wallace

Copyright © 2014 by Julia Tang Peters. All rights reserved.

Published by John Wiley & Sons, Inc., Hoboken, New Jersey.

Published simultaneously in Canada.

No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, scanning, or otherwise, except as permitted under Section 107 or 108 of the 1976 United States Copyright Act, without either the prior written permission of the Publisher, or authorization through payment of the appropriate per-copy fee to the Copyright Clearance Center, 222 Rosewood Drive, Danvers, MA 01923, [phone], fax [phone], or on the web at www.copyright.com. Requests to the Publisher for permission should be addressed to the Permissions Department, John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 111 River Street, Hoboken, NJ 07030, [phone], fax [phone], or online at www.wiley.com/go/permissions.

Limit of Liability/Disclaimer of Warranty: While the publisher and author have used their best efforts in preparing this book, they make no representations or warranties with respect to the accuracy or completeness of the contents of this book and specifically disclaim any implied warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose. No warranty may be created or extended by sales representatives or written sales materials. The advice and strategies contained herein may not be suitable for your situation. You should consult with a professional where appropriate. Neither the publisher nor the author shall be liable for damages arising herefrom.

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ISBN 978-1-118-89473-6 (cloth); ISBN 978-1-118-89395-1 (ebk); ISBN 978-1-118-89405-7 (ebk)

Preface: A Different Approach to Leadership and Careers

Leader. Not a leader. We judge who is and is not a leader quickly to summarize our overall impression of who should get our attention and support. In organizations large and small, a common complaint is that there are few leaders but many executives. Colleagues talk about strong leaders and weak leaders, but isn’t weak leader an oxymoron?

Many surveys have shown that the primary consideration of career satisfaction and employee engagement has to do with how leadership at the place of employment treats people and how it runs the business. There are too few leaders—among bosses as well as all the people one must consider teammates. But the blame game compounds the problem, and everyone ends up stuck on a treadmill of unrewarding effort.

It’s a quandary, even at companies making an admirable investment in leadership development programs—which are estimated to be a $50 billion industry when you include business schools. The trend of making leadership a performance measure for all levels of professional positions has only confused its meaning. Leadership has become the code word for judging the success potential of a 25-year-old, the promotion readiness of a 43-year-old, and the cost-value benefits of a 55-year-old. Why is the yardstick of success for individuals, teams, and companies so misunderstood?

We clearly need to approach leadership differently from the overdose of prescriptive advice that misses nuances of systemic problems, personalities, and cultures and that hinders authenticity. We need to think differently from the one-size-fits-all approach that can obscure real problems and become business-speak for people to hide behind. We need to look at leadership in its real context of specific dynamic forces and human relationships and eschew pedantic concepts that offer little practical value for the real life of organizations. Furthermore, we need to understand leadership from perspectives different from celebrity leaders whose goals and lives are in a different stratosphere from most people.

Also, we need to apply an insight about leaders who are by definition independent minded. Leaders play to win, not by following but by internalizing observations of other winners who captivate their imaginations. Real leaders know that 10-step recipes to fame, fortune, and success do not make leaders. Pivot Points is about leaders and experiences that will capture the imaginations of readers.

LEADER-MAKING DECISIONS

The best understanding of leadership would seem to come from leaders who are extraordinary in their achievements while being the kind of people we see as role models in our real communities of family, work, and friends. So I sought out industry-changing leaders, proven but without the swagger of self-importance, and had probing conversations about how they did what they did. I started out hoping simply to share the life journeys of very real people who became recognized leaders in their industries. I ended up getting that and much more.

What I learned from these leaders is that, first, leadership is about decisions—and not about dos and don’ts or leadership traits and habits; these authentic leaders cover the gamut. Second, the decisions that stood out in their stories were those made when they held themselves accountable in a different way and had to use more ingenuity than usual. Third, every one of them had exactly five decisions that turned their careers into leader-building journeys. Chapter 1 explores this framework of pivotal decisions.

Chapters 2 through 6 make this developmental perspective come alive with the stories of five leaders, based on the series of rarely granted intimate interviews I had with each of them. We look at their playbooks as well as their pivotal decisions. Each chapter focuses on one leader to show the impact of how each decision leads to the next and how the dots connect over a career. A different pivotal decision was the most important for the career achievements of each leader, giving us a deeper understanding of pivot points.

Chapter 7 looks at the overarching themes common to the very different leadership journeys. These themes dispel several myths about managing careers for success.

Chapter 8 explains the study that tested these observations by collecting and analyzing data from 500 professionals of all ages across America, representing nearly 40 million people. The study revealed that 80 percent of respondents have experienced pivot points and made pivotal decisions. Furthermore, analysis of the data on how people make pivotal decisions sheds new light on attitudes and performance along the career curve over time. Readers can immediately put to use findings about decision-making behaviors that separate leaders from managers, wanderers, and clock punchers.

The final chapter helps readers examine their own pivotal decisions and understand strategies for success. Chapter 9 poses questions for readers to assess where they are and where they want to go.

AUTHENTIC PEOPLE YOU WANT TO KNOW

With the array of leaders, personalities, industries, and pivot points presented, some parts of all their stories will resonate for every reader. They engage our curiosity because of their candor and authenticity as independent-minded and strong-willed individuals shaped by nature, nurture, and the school of hard knocks. They have insecurities about some things and confidence about others. They let us see both the long view of their career as well as the intimate moments at pivot points. Readers at any level on the career ladder can learn from their experiences. In fact, even the subjects themselves gained insights when they read their own stories.

By seeing great leaders in a realistic light, we can make sense of our own career highs and lows. With this understanding, we can reclaim dreams and take that next step—or leap—closer to fulfill them.

All the leaders in this book are entrepreneurs. This is neither deliberate nor coincidental. In my attempts to interview corporate leaders, they involved their corporate relations people and general counsels for terms and conditions and contracts. Entrepreneurs, however, supported what I am trying to do and just engaged in the interviews with openness and honesty, so I decided that corporate protocols placed too much constraint on corporate leaders and prevented them from freely sharing their experiences in the spirit of this book.

EVERYONE IS A DEVELOPING LEADER

It turns out that the experiences of entrepreneurs provide the perspective we most need today. According to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics (latest data are from 2012), a whopping 75 percent of private sector firms in the United States have fewer than 10 employees. Another 22 percent have 10 to 99 employees. Only 2.39 percent of companies that are owned and based in the United States have more than 100 employees, and just 0.2 percent has more than 1,000 employees. These numbers reflect, in part, the rise of the gig economy—an estimated 20 to 33 percent of the US workforce now works by freelancing instead of traditional employment; they are entrepreneurs. These trends point to the need for everyone to think like an entrepreneur and developing leader, whether he or she works in a Fortune 100 corporation or in a small business.

Here, I need to define how I use the word leader. My use of the term separates the person from the office. A person holding an official leadership title is not necessarily a leader. Conversely, a person without an official title can be a leader. Furthermore, a leader, I believe, embraces the Hippocratic Oath, “Do no harm.” People who occupy leadership positions, who knowingly engage in destructive activities and do harm, should be referred to as what they are—unethical businesspeople, corrupt officials, or ruthless dictators—not leaders. Leaders have flaws and make mistakes like everyone else; a leader’s intent, however, is always in the service of positive results benefiting more than self.

One further point: This book is about people who created a following, a culture, as they built real economic value and created jobs. The ideas, however, apply to making a positive impact on one person or many people—at work, at home, in schools, and in the community. Leading, according to this point of view, is an approach to living.

For everyone who believes that leadership and success are singular experiences of an individual journey, this book is for you. Understanding that leaders favor exceptions over rules and reach for exceptional goals, this book offers a framework and a road map—but no rules—for creating your own journey. My hope is to help achievers, whatever your age and accomplishments, answer this question: What pivotal decisions do you still need to make to realize your best self?

For all the bosses reading this, think how much easier your job would be if your people held themselves more accountable than you hold them and embraced ideas and solutions as their most valuable resource.

Acknowledgments

I have always had near reverence for the power of the published word. It can affect people a world away and generations to come. I dared to hope that one day I would have something to say worthy of a book that people would want to read. This has been a more difficult journey than I could have anticipated, but also more rewarding. It has been at times a very lonely journey, and getting to my destination was possible only because of all the love, support, and help many people gave me.

My deepest thanks go to the leaders who trusted me with their stories. I learned about the art of leadership from Dale Dawson, Bud Frankel, Al Golin, John Rogers, and Glen Tullman. In their extraordinarily busy lives, they were very generous with their time and spirit of sharing their stories. I am especially grateful to Bud Frankel, my mentor, my friend, and the first participant of this book, for giving me the most important opportunity—to just do it and start writing.

Leaders who inspired this book but are not in it gave me a vivid appreciation for what leaders do—and no book can fully do justice to what they give every day. My gratitude goes to friends, mentors, and clients for making the study of leadership such a gratifying endeavor. Special thanks to Robert Crutchfield, who helped me persevere through many conversations about leadership and by reading chapters as I finished them; and to Lucien LaGrange, whose understanding of my work encouraged me through the times I felt stuck.

What took this project to another level was the insightful research, designed and analyzed by two research experts whose fascination with the subject of the study made this book far richer. My thanks go to the dedication of Carol Foley and David Kuhn to finding the story in the data and empirically validating what was at first anecdotal research. I got lucky in finding just the help I needed in the way I needed it from people in the publishing and bookselling industry, which was a whole new world to me. One of the most serendipitous meetings of my professional life was with Matthew Holt, publisher at John Wiley & Sons. Thank you, Matt, for immediately seeing the value of this book. I got to the finish line with Charlotte Maiorana’s enthusiasm and calm guidance as the editor for this project. Debra Englander gave me far more than her expert editing help; she was a guide, an encourager, a coach, and a friend.

My profound appreciation goes to my family. My daughter, Katherine Tang Newberger, has read every word of countless versions of manuscripts and given me astute editorial help and always gently. Feeling her walk alongside me from the starting line to the finish line has made all the difference in getting this book done. My son, Charlie Tang Newberger, gave me strength to persist by often reminding me that I should pursue my dream.

Without Michael, my husband, I could not have fulfilled my dream of being an author. He gave me loving support throughout a project that at times took over my life. And his always on-target feedback as a leader on leadership gave me confidence in the purpose and message of this book.

Chapter 1From Ordinary Career to Leadership Journey:What Separates Leaders from Managers?

Whether a leader is made or born, whichever you believe, we see in the making of the five leaders featured in this book that they grew and , one pivotal decision at a time. Their stories show how five pivotal decisions clearly stand out—from hundreds of other important work decisions they also made—as the ones that determined their journey to leadership. For these leaders, pivot points served as career builders, although they often presented at first as career stoppers. That is the dynamics of pivot points: They can show up as positive or negative events, and pivotal decisions can turn out for better or for worse. They can be catalysts of growth or leave careers to languish. The difference is what this book addresses: What turns a pivot point from being a potential career stopper or career trap into a career builder? How do certain decisions separate leaders from everyone else?