The Power of Strategic Commitment: Achieving Extraordinary Results Through Total Alignment and Engagement

Great read: practical, useful. I ran out of highlighter. I use the Strategic Commitment Scorecard with my clients -- they love it. They can now 'see' their culture and change what isn't working. You turned the lights on, and you shared the power for us consultants by saying "use it, try it." Thank you for your work and generosity -- you guys walk your talk. Camille Smith, president, Work In Progress Coaching, [...].

Josh Leibner, Gershon Mader, and Alan Weiss have written a book that is a mix of diagnostics and a plan to fix. What you might ask? Some time ago I read an excellent book, The Five Dysfunctions of a Team: A Leadership Fable by Patrick Lencioni. The dilemma after reading the book was now that I know what causes the dysfunctions, what do I really do? Many of us have had the challenge of walking in to a job where a prior toxic leader left way too many emotional landmines, or if we are truthful, have done that ourselves. Then there is the situation of starting up with a new team - sort of like mass adoption. How does a new leader, or business leadership group , deal with these situations and become a real team - committed to a joint outcome. What the authors do in The Power of Strategic Commitment is three really powerful things. First, this is a self-help book with case studies and examples that help you look at your current situation and how to diagnose where to start and how to create a road map and actions to make progress in reaching the destination. They do this by sharing real situations from real companies in the leader's own words. Second, the book lays out tools and techniques that frame how to address situations you want to improve. One of my favorites is a frame work in Chapter 7 that identifies behaviors that increase or decrease trust and focused on what you might consider doing about them. Finally, I would be remiss if I did not say this. This book can REALLY help IF you want to take your game, or more importantly - your business leadership team's game, to the next level. However, you cannot do it without taking a look at the mirror first. Add this book to your toolkit for executive change management, clarifying strategy, how to better communicate, and maybe even personal change management. Cheers! PS. The leadership diagnostics in the Appendix are alone a great reason to buy this book. Rick Otero, EVP - Capital One Bank

This book is essentially about getting "buy in" from everyone in the Organization, and how to achieve this. It deals with both the content and process. A lot of the material is not new, but the style and approach makes for a thought provoking read. If it falls short, it is in the area of Organization design. The book makes a lot of good points about the importance of context. What is missing is any quality coverage of the importance of effective design of your Organization. Which is a bit strange when you consider the impact that this can have on Organization performance and outcomes? See the book, 'Designing your Organization' for some useful guidance and treatment of this area. The book is full of guidance/key questions, written by experienced consultants with 80+ years of experience, who have worked with 500 clients in 60 countries. A certain amount of self promotion comes through and is a distraction, from the sound coverage ot this neglected area. * Chapter four is sharp and incisive on the subject of working effectively with middle managers. This is a key group in any change progamme, and the barriers to engaging them is covered on pages 72/73. * Chapter four is especially compelling on how to generate strategic committment. * Chapter six highlights the differences in low/high performing Organizations, in terms of the day to day conversations that take place. This - provides some warning signs in terms of what to look for. * Chapter five - 'Leading from the front' suffers from a fervent 'can do' orientation/belief system, that is overdone and can begin to appear superficial. * The theme of developing and sustaining trust in Organizations is professionally handled by the authors. Without this most initiatives will fail. This content is the main reason for buying this book. For more on this theme see articles in the Harvard Business review - June 2009. - A Culture of Candor. - Rethinking Trust. Would I buy this book again - certainly. It covers the people aspects of change in way that is holds your attention. Finally the treatment of what the contribution/role of the HR function should be, will be challenging to both senior managers and HR professionals. Stan Felstead - Interchange Resources - UK.