Dick Daniels has an uncanny understanding of our organizations. How did he listen in on our staff meetings, our one-on-one performance reviews, our job interviews, our office gossip, and our board meetings? Yikes!
I’m out on a limb here, but not really.
Leadership Core: Character, Competence, Capacity will likely be my 2021 book-of-the-year. It will take a phenomenal book to jostle this pick off its perch. Hot-off-the-press this week, this comprehensive and convicting masterpiece spotlights seven “leadership multipliers” with three strategies for building your leadership culture.
While most authors and leadership gurus focus on competence (and only punctuate the discussion with a P.S. about character), Dick Daniels convinces you that the high bar of competence must also be blended with serious attention to both character and capacity.
He warns,
“When organizational culture only values the bottom line, three things result: (1) Leadership Competency is rewarded, (2) Leadership Character is assumed, and (3) Leadership Capacity is never fully realized.”Are you thinking you don’t have time to go deep in 2021? Another warning:
“Every leader will face at least one impossible situation during their leadership tenure. That time is described as having your back against the wall, with no way out, completely alone, and the feeling of gloom you have when it seems like the end is near.” (Don’t despair: Dick Daniels has deep insights and wisdom for you.)
Similar in format to his 2015 book,
Leadership Briefs: Shaping Organizational Culture to Stretch Leadership Capacity (my pick for 2015 book-of-the-year), this powerful 2021 resource features 42 short chapters (just three to four pages each)—perfect for your weekly staff meetings.
That is, if you still need a weekly staff meeting! (Read Chapter 27, “A Meeting Rhythm: Communicating With Clarity and Consistency.”)
Daniels notes,
“The consensus about meetings from almost everyone is that you have too many and they are the biggest time waster in your workday.” He adds, “Meetings don’t need to be monthly or weekly or an entire hour.”
Here’s what’s so uncanny about Dick Daniels. You could ask
me to address the problem of “Hierarchical Elitism: When Leaders Don’t Model the Way” (Chapter 10).
No problem. I would list three or four solid guidelines.
You could too. But ask Dick Daniels the same question and he delivers
“Nine Pecking Order Rules of Grace for Senior Leaders,” including “In all social encounters, ask twice as much as you tell. Be an includer who knows how to interrupt the dominators so you can pull in the quieter introverts who won’t fight for equal airtime.” (Where does he get this good stuff? It’s off-the-chart insightful—and packaged brilliantly.)
Oh, my. When the book arrived, I checked 24 of the 42 chapter titles that intrigued me. Could you do a 10-minute talk on these topics—without preparation?
PART ONE: Core Character#1. The Johari Window 360: Blind Spots
#4. Failure: Where Character Is Forged
#8. A Civil Workplace: Ten Culture-Climate Questions
#12. Blindsided: The Toxic Team Member
PART TWO: Core Competence#17. Leaders Initiate Continual Change: Unavoidable Realities
#19. Your Personal Communication Audit: Six Reflective Questions
#23. Over and Under Styles of Management: Know Your Team
#28. Leading in a Crisis: When Everything Goes Wrong
PART THREE: Core CapacityIntro: The Shadow Side of Capacity: Can I? Should I? Must I?
#33. Leading From Any Chair: Second Chair Has Influence
#35. Nine Box Revisited: Performance, Potential, and Personal Drive
#41. Hardwiring New Leadership Habits: Think, Talk, Act, Reflect
Two of his seven leadership multipliers focus on Core Character—the pathway to positive influence. •
Character Multiplier #1—Integrity: The personal side of character is what other people think about you.
•
Character Multiplier #2—Respect: The interpersonal side of character is what you think about other people.
Did you know that “people lie more on Monday and Friday than Tuesday, Wednesday, or Thursday?” Daniels notes research indicating “people lie two to four times a day.”
So the author discusses five times when your staff might lie: 1) Lying to land a job, 2) Lying to get ahead, 3) Lying to achieve work-life balance, 4) Lying with feedback, and 5) Lying during the exit interview.
He notes that when leaders and managers are not trained in giving effective feedback, they “avoid telling the harsh truth” with direct reports—often because of a “too-nice culture.”On my first pass through this incredible book, I made 65 notes on the blank pages in the front of the book. I should offer these notes for sale! Here is a baker's dozen of my 65 take-aways: • The Humility Audit: 10 questions (p. 67-70)
• The Ethical Leader Matrix (p. 84)
•
The Iceberg of Ignorance: Problems Known to Executives: just 4% (p. 110)
• Seven Practices of Great Askers (p. 110-111)
• The 24-25-51 Rule of Communication (p. 112)
• Expectation levels:
Exceeders, Meeters, Missers (p. 133)
• Competency gaps: “The Stay Interview” (p. 142)
• 10 Unavoidable Realities About Change:
“Those who get on board early are not usually your best advocates.” (p. 154)
• “Leaders also understand the
why gets fuzzy every thirty days or so.” (p. 154)
• “In considering the three hiring questions (Chapter 20, “Hiring the Best”),
who on your team would you not hire today?” (p. 169)
• Three decision-making tools in “Deciding as a Team: In Times of Uncertainty” (Chapter 24)
• The shadow side of the author’s “Activator” strength (p. 228)
• The Six Development Questions for Daily Reflection (p. 315)
Have you ever read anything on “executive presence?” Me neither! Chapter 30 references a fascinating TED Talk by Ann Curry, author of
Presence: Bringing Your Boldest Self to Your Biggest Challenges. This Harvard prof says team members are always asking two questions: “1) Can they trust you, and 2) Can they respect you?”
Click here for the TED Talk, “Your Body Language Shapes Who You Are.”
How do you engage team members who are not on the senior team—but, if asked, have so much to offer? Dick Daniels suggests you watch the most inspirational TED Talk he’s ever viewed. Click here for “The Transformative Power of Classical Music” by conductor Benjamin Zander and read Chapter 33 to learn how this conductor engaged the unhappy cellist assigned to the “insignificant” 11th chair. And in the TED Talk (LOL!), learn why a CEO wrote Zander after hearing his presentation: “I was so moved. I went back and I transformed my entire company into a one-buttock company!”
Click to view the 20-minute Ted Talk, “The Transformative Power of Classical Music.”Others agree on the changing role of leaders and managers. Read today’s “Future of Everything” section in the print edition of
The Wall Street Journal, “All Together Now: A different model of the boss is emerging—a coach and nurturer, not necessarily a business whiz.”
Click here to read the online version (different headline, same article): “Your Next Boss: More Harmony, Less Authority. Prized for being ‘social-emotional experts,’ future managers may spend less time issuing directives and more time collaborating,” by Kathryn Dill (posted Jan. 12, 2021).
NEXT STEPS. Ask a team member to present a bite-sized summary of a chapter at every staff meeting in 2021. And don’t skip the eight questions in the “Final Exam” on page 303, including this poke-in-the-ribs:
“Do you know the cost of justifying your executive rudeness in the name of importance and busyness?” Ouch!To order from Amazon, click on the title for
Leadership Core: Character, Competence, Capacity (Leadership Multipliers), by Dick Daniels. (And my thanks to the author for including my endorsement in his book. When I grow up, I hope I can write and think like Dick Daniels!)
Dick Daniels says that “Delegation is one of the most overlooked skills needed in every leader’s toolbox.” Amen! (
.) He suggests some leaders invest one day a month offsite to focus on strategic issues—not operational urgencies.
. Named the
, by Dick Daniels. You can probably think of an annoying workplace habit a co-worker needs to break.
