One of my favorite authors on leadership is Bill Treasurer–and you can get a free chapter from his new book out today. Jim Kouzes, co-author of The Leadership Challenge said, “This is one of the most unique and valuable books you will read all year, and I highly recommend it.”
Below is an article Bill wrote for the launch of his book and at the end is a link to get a free chapter–as well as a link to buy the book. I’m sharing the news of Bill’s most recent book, not because I profit in any way financially from doing so, but because I am always happy to share a great resource with you.
Leaders as Loyal Rebels,
Bill Treasurer
If we’ve learned anything during the last couple of years, it’s that people are frustrated with “establishment” leaders. We worry that such leaders aren’t capable of acting independent of their party or organization, even when acting independently would be doing the right thing.
The challenge is that leadership is a function of experience. Wisdom doesn’t come overnight, and it takes a certain longevity.
The trick is for a leader to be part of a system, but capable of acting independent of it. To be a kickass leader, you have to be a Loyal Rebel. Let me explain.
The best boss I ever had was a man named Hines Brannan. Hines was a managing partner at Accenture, a $30 billion dollar management and technology consulting company where I worked.
What made Hines such a great boss was that he was loyal to the company, but also his own man. For example, when Hines became the managing director of Accenture’s Charlotte office, he succeeded the person who would go on to become CEO. That partner had instituted a Saturday morning partners’ meeting, because partners travel all the time and it was the only time he could get them all in the office at the same time. But people hated the Saturday partner meeting. It meant that not only were they on the road all week, but then a solid half-of-a-weekend-day was spent dedicating even more time to the company.
When Hines showed up to his first Saturday morning meeting, in his first official act as the managing partner he informed everyone that there would be no more Saturday morning meetings, and he wanted everyone to enjoy the extra time with their families. Now, how do you think the partners responded? They literally stood up and clapped!
Hines was and is an independent person. He wasn’t going to adopt the policies of his predecessor wholesale. I guess that makes him rebellious. But Hines was also part of the establishment. And, in a sense, he was being very loyal to it. He knew that cancelling the meeting was in the best interest of the well-being of the partners, and that they’d be more effective and happier because of it.
If you want to be a kickass leader, you’ve got to be a Loyal Rebel—loyal to the organization, and able to act with independence.
To learn more about what it takes to be a Loyal Rebel, download a free chapter from my new book, A Leadership Kick in the Ass, at http://CourageBuilding.com/Kickass.
*****
Since 1991 Bill has conducted over 500 corporate workshops designed to strengthen people’s leadership skills, improve team performance, accelerate innovation, and help executives behave more courageously. Among his clients are Accenture, Saks Fifth Avenue, UBS Bank, SPANX, Walsh Construction, Hugo Boss, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the U.S. Forest Service, the National Science Foundation, and the U.S. Veteran’s Administration. Bill’s insights about courage and risk-taking have been featured in over 100 newspapers and magazines, including the Washington Post, NY Daily News, Chicago Tribune, Atlanta Journal Constitution, Boston Herald, Woman’s Day, Redbook, Fitness, and The Harvard Management Update.
His latest book, A Leadership Kick in the Ass, will be released on January 16, 2017. You can find out more about Bill at www.billtreasurer.com and http://giantleapconsulting.com/.
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