LeaderSHOP Volume 2: Workplace, Career, and Life Advice From Today’s Top Thought Leaders
Rodger Dean Duncan
Maxwell Stone Publishing (September 2019)

“People won’t care how much you know until they know how much you care.” Theodore Roosevelt

Organizations — including those that are corporate, governmental, religious, and non-profit — need effective leaders at all levels and in all areas of the given enterprise. Similarly, individuals are more likely to achieve greater success in any of those sectors if they develop the skills to lead others. Beyond the workplace, those who develop the same skills are also more likely to achieve their personal growth as well as professional development

This is the second volume in a series of interviews and I hope it continues with additional volumes because the format permits a wide-ranging exploration of many different points of view on subjects such as those in this volume: Meaning and Purpose, Mental Maps, Workplace Practices, Behaviors, Trust and Teamwork, Culture, Fededback and Accountability, Career Management, and Personal Balance.

Dave Ulrich contributes a lively and insightful Foreword and then participates in one of the 39 interviews that follow, discussing “A Fresh Look at Engagement” with Rodger Dean Duncan who conducts all of the interviews. He also shares his thoughts about “#MeToo and the High Cost of Silence.”

As he also did in Volume 1, Stone includes a “Personal application” section that concludes each chapter.  It poses key questions for the reader to consider, thereby interacting with key points in the given chapter. For example, consider this set of thought-provoking assessment questions that follows Stone’s interview of Jocelyn Davis, one that focuses on “No Title? No Problem. The Art of Quiet Influence”:

o How can you be more influential with people by encouraging them to express their honest objections and doubts?

o In what circumstances could you — and should you — take the time to develop a shared outlook with others?

Note: One of the best ways I’ve found to accelerate the development of a good rapport with a new acquaintance is to identify ASAP common interests and perhaps concerns.

o In your impirtant relationships, how can you develop your “people factors” of clarity, unity, and ability?

I strongly recommend highlighting key passages (I use an Chisel Tip, Fluorescent Yellow Sharpie) and keeping a lined notebook near at hand in which to record comments, questions, page references, and completion of the “Personal application” exercises.

All of the interviews have substantial value but readers will find that some are more directly relevant to their needs and interests than are others. Don’t be unduly influenced by more familiar names among the contributors such as Ken Blanchard, Marcus Buckingham, Stewart Friedman, Edgar Schein, and Dave Ulrich. With all due respect to the quality of their insights, first check out the head notes for each, indicating who they are, and, what you’ll learn from them. At least check out information provided in the Table of Contents.

Ultimately, the value of the information, insights, and counsel provided in the book will be determined almost entirely by how effectively a reader applies it.

Thomas Edison contributes this final thought: “Vision without execution is hallucination.”