Description
Book SynopsisWith the pressures of today's uncertain economy, the continuous need to reinvent oneself and organization and the overwhelming amount of information, leaders who rely on their natural instincts are often doomed to failure. This book offers a new and unnatural path to success.
Trade Review"...well presented challenging ideas..." (Long Range Planning, Number 38, 2005)
Pity the CEO who thinks he can be a know-it-all micromanager and still succeed. In Unnatural Leadership (Jossy-Bass), executive coaches David L. Dotlich and Peter Cairo list 10 guidelines that today's best executives are adopting. Among them: inviting change, being approachable and considering the views of the mail-room kid with the green hair. "We tell our clients, 'You have to win your followers every day,' " says Dotlich. Some of the unnatural acts the authors recommend are: "Coach and Teach Rather Than Lead and Inspire," "Expose Your Vulnerabilities" and "Trust Others Before They Earn It." Cairo says what's missing from other leadership manuals are instructions on how to practice the techniques. So each chapter in this book ends with exercises like "acknowledging your shadow side" (the power-hungry, mircromanaging stuff) to smooth the transition from arrogance to unnatural humility. (Time Magazine, May 20, 2002)
"...there is a lot here to stimulate you to review what you think is 'natural' and consider alternative courses of action which might prove, in the long term, to be more worthwhile..." (EDGE, Autuymn 2002)
Table of ContentsForeword ix
Stephen H. Rhinesmith
Preface xv
Acknowledgments xvii
Introduction 1
Part One: The Importance of Unnatural Leadership
1 Ten Unnatural Acts 11
Exercise: Assessing Your Unnatural Leadership 29
2 Adapting to an Increasingly Unnatural Environment 31
Exercise: Breaking the Rules of Natural Leadership 46
3 Resistance Factors 47
Exercise: Assessing Your Resistance to Unnatural Leadership 66
Part Two: Personal Challenges for the Unnatural Leader
4 Refuse to Be a Prisoner of Experience 71
Exercise: Refusing to Be a Prisoner of Experience 86
5 Expose Your Vulnerabilities 89
Exercise: Exposing Your Vulnerabilities 102
6 Acknowledge Your Shadow Side 107
Exercise: Acknowledging Your Shadow Side 122
7 Develop a Right-Versus-Right Decision-Making Mentality 125
Exercise: A Tool for Developing an Unnatural Decision-Making Mentality 137
Part Three: Leading Teams as an Unnatural Leader
8 Create Teams That Create Discomfort 141
Exercise: Creating Teams That Create Discomfort 158
9 Trust Others Before They Earn It 161
Exercise: Trusting Others Before They Earn It 174
10 Coach and Teach Rather Than Lead and Inspire 177
Exercise: Coaching and Teaching Rather Than Leading and Inspiring 188
Part Four: Leading the Organization as an Unnatural Leader
11 Connect Instead of Create 193
Exercise: Connecting Instead of Creating 206
12 Give Up Some Control 209
Exercise: Giving Up Some Control 221
13 Challenge the Conventional Wisdom 225
Exercise: Challenging the Conventional Wisdom 239
14 Giving Yourself Unnatural Options 243
Bibliography 251
Index 257
About the Authors 267
