Remarkable Leadership

Kevin Eikenberry has experience in the real world. It makes this book better. He is an avid learner and experienced trainer. They make this book better. And he's worked with real people one-on-one to help them improve their leadership. That, too, makes this book better. If you're looking for an informed, practical and effective way to accelerate your own leadership development, you should buy, read, and use Remarkable Leadership. This will also be a good book for you if you're responsible for the leadership development program in a company or for the development of a protégé. Like the experienced trainer he is, Kevin states his goal at the beginning of the book. "This book is designed to help you identify the parts of your personal leadership package working in your favor and help you develop those parts, and any others you wish to work on, to become the leader you are capable of becoming." He moves directly from that statement to setting up the material that will fill the rest of the book. He has you do an exercise I've done with groups in training for years: identify a great leader you know and define why you rate them as great or remarkable. Then he shares the core competencies as he sees them. Here's the list. Remarkable leaders ... Learn continually Champion change Communicate powerfully Build relationships Develop others Focus on customers Influence with impact Think and act innovatively Value collaboration and teamwork Solve problems and make decisions Take responsibility and have accountability Manage projects and processes successfully Set goals and support goal achievement. After anchoring his thinking in the principle of building on strength, Eikenberry moves to the next chapter where he discusses leadership development in the real world. His model matches my Apprenticeship Model in all important respects. The three most important are that most leadership development happens on the job, not in the classroom, good leadership development makes extensive use of feedback, and your boss and other more experienced leaders play a crucial role in your development. Chapter 3 tells you how to get the most out of the book. Then comes the real meat of the book, a chapter on each of the competencies. Each chapter includes examples and stories to help you get the concept. There are resources to help you develop. And there are two features that make this book stand out. "Now Steps" offer you suggestions for immediate ways to apply the principle of the chapter. And "Bonus Bytes" give you a link to a web site where more resources and ideas await. This book is for you if you want a guided way to take charge of your own personal development. You'll get solid information and insight, coupled with learning tools and suggestions for action. This is also a book for you if you're responsible for the development of leaders in a smaller company or for a protégé. The structure of the material and learning tools should make you more effective at

In this volume, Kevin Eikenberry introduces and then explains what he characterizes as a "new model" for leadership development. It is based on five principles best revealed within his narrative, in context. The same is true of the six steps to be considered when devising and then implementing the program he recommends, one that requires an integrated approach. Remarkable leaders are those who "learn continually, champion growth, communicate powerfully, build relationships, develop others, focus on customers, influence with impact, think and act innovatively, value collaboration and teamwork, solve problems and make decisions, take responsibility and are accountable, manage projects and processes successfully, set goals, and then support goal achievement." These are indeed highly desirable core competencies. Eikenberry is convinced (and I wholeheartedly agree) that they should be the deliverables of a leadership development program, one that includes but is by no means limited to formal training. On the contrary, Eikenberry is convinced (and I again wholeheartedly agree) that such leadership must be developed at all levels and within all areas of the given enterprise. That is, leadership development should be an on-going process, all day, every day, during each and every interaction between and among those involved. I especially appreciate Eikenberry's skillful insertion of two reader-friendly devices, "Remarkable Principle" and "Bonus Byte," in dozens of passages throughout the book. They serve two important purposes: They emphasize key points and they facilitate, indeed accelerate periodic reviews of those key points after the book has been read. He suggests three options to those who are about to read the book: "Start with a quick full read, and then decide where to focus; browse quickly, and then decide where to start; [or] start with the skill you are most interested in." My own opinion is that selecting the third option would be ill-advised because, presumably, all readers need to strengthen all of the aforementioned attributes and many (if not most) of them are interdependent. For example, "communicate powerfully, build relationships, [and] develop others" are essential to a "focus on customers" that has "influence with impact." Eikenberry devotes a separate chapter to each of the core competencies. Where to begin after the first three (introductory) chapters? Reader's choice. Those who share my high regard for this book are urged to check out Tom Rath's StrengthsFinder 2.0, Marcus Buckingham's Now, Discover Your Strengths, Ram Charan's Know-How, and Judgment co-authored by Noel Tichy and Warren Bennis.

This is a great book that shares Kevin's wisdom regarding key leadership skills and how to improve them if you already have them, and how to get them if you don't. More important, though, is the understanding that true leaders think and lead outside of the box; they are not bound by what worked yesterday or even this morning. Because of this freedom of thought, they are able to find unique solutions to challenging issues. Add to that, intelligent personnel management and savvy asset management, and you will find yourself on the path to more effective leadership. If you have found most leadership books cut from similar cloth, you will not find this book to be. This is the most interesting book on leadership to come down the pike, and certainly the most valuable, in my opinion. If you feel like a natural leader, but you are unsure how to separate yourself from the rest of the pack, buy this book to learn how. If you are currently working in a leadership position and things just aren't going the way you want them to, read this book. If you find yourself in neither of the situations mentioned above, but you want to be, read this book. The author will guide you step by step up the yellow brick road to your own leadership success.

Kevin Eikenberry makes it clear that leadership can be learned. Remarkable Leadership is a book that I will pick-up again and again to sharpen my skills as a leader. He makes it clear early on that leaders are continous learners and then helps you learn leadership through a straight forward approach. The online Bonus Bytes are also great Read it, then keep it nearby and keep on learning as you go.

This book is a great resource for leaders interested in their own development and for those responsible for organizational leadership development efforts. It is easy to skim, comprehensive in detail, and packed with great tips. I particularly liked the bonus bytes website site for extra resources.