On High Performance Organizations: A Leader to Leader Guide

...Put together 18 academic and corporate leaders and ask them to share their thinking and strategies related to organizational effectiveness and, you guessed it????????.a wonderful collection of thought provoking insights.This book is a collection of essays, interviews and study results on effective organizational leadership and strategies. While the book focuses on the for-profit sector, many of the themes are relevant to not-for-profit organizations. My own background has been both in not for profit and for profit corporations. My reaction to the first few chapters of the book was luke warm. I thought the presentations were too academic and were applicable primarily to very large for profit corporations. Most not for profits do not have the resources, human or financial, to implement many of the worthwhile observations made in those early chapters. However, as I got further into the book, I found myself taking notes and voila???.. I actually was inspired by two of the chapters.While a listing of the subjects covered (see below) may get a yawn or two, there are some real gems hidden within this book. I was especially pleased to learn more about outcomes management and new business models. Those chapters gave me some concrete ideas, which I was able to use right away, given the nature of my work with non-profits. Other readers will likely find different gems of particular interest to them. That is the beauty of this book. It stimulates creative thinking and new ideas. The chapters deal with organizational self assessment, responding to changing business conditions, the marketing of leadership, entrepreneurial efficiencies, alternative business structures, strategic generosity, and leadership in the virtual world, to name a few. There is even an interview with Scott Adams, the creator of the Dilbert comic strip, which often deals with subjects related to the workplace.This is an ?ideas? book and not a ?how to? publication. If you are ready to explore a variety of ideas from business leaders and academics, pick up a copy. Who knows, you may also walk away with a few good new ideas, which can be part of your own leadership arsenal.

I am a fan of the Drucker Foundation's LEADER TO LEADER journal. This collection of articles is just right for people looking to make their organization (or department, or team) perform. My favorites include chapters by Frances Hesselbein, Philip Kotler, the interview of Scott Adams, and the partnership chapter by James E. Austin. I also loved the work of Douglas K. Smith, Leonard L. Berry, and Adrian Slywotzky.