Product Description

Being able to change to keep pace with a rapidly changing world is the key to business success in the '90s. Enlightened Leadership is a practical, hands-on guide to breaking through the barriers to organizational change. Doug Krug and Ed Oakley show why most efforts at change fail -- and they provide leaders with proven methods for getting their people moving in the right direction.

The key lies in showing those who would be change agents how to capitalize on their organization's greatest asset: the under-utilized talent, expertise, and energy of its existing staff. The authors' program is based on maximizing the contributions of all employees -- by sharing information, decision-making, and planning with them -- creating a shared culture of organizational goals, strategies, and methods.

Managers and leaders at all levels -- from small business owners to corporate strategists -- can use Oakley and Krug's proven techniques, including planning, communication, and motivational tools, to support their employees in effecting the positive changes that will make the difference in achieving their organizations' bottom-line goals.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #108077 in Books
• Published on: 1994-07-15
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 272 pages

Review
Stephen R. Coveyauthor of The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People and Principle-Centered LeadershipEnlightened Leadership is a useful and practical tool for shifting a reactive mindset to a proactive mindset -- a vital key in becoming a principle-centered leader.

Og MandinoTo be a great leader in the years to come, one must learn and apply the powerful principles explained in this great book...or perish.

Janden RichardsDirector, Art and Design Development, Crayola Brand ProductsTransformational concepts, accessible and immediately actionable -- Enlightened Leadership made measurable improvements in both my personal and professional life.

From the Foreword by Larry WilsonCEO, Pecos River Learning Centers, and author of Changing the Game: The New Way to SellIf you use it and practice what it preaches, you will be part of the minority of managers and leaders who are taking us into the future of work and a more competitive America.

Review
From the Foreword by Larry Wilson CEO, Pecos River Learning Centers, and author of Changing the Game: The New Way to Sell If you use it and practice what it preaches, you will be part of the minority of managers and leaders who are taking us into the future of work and a more competitive America.

Book Info
Practical, hands-on guide to breaking through the barriers to organizational change. Authors show why most efforts at change fail, and they provide leaders with proven methods for getting their people moving in the right direction. Paper.

Customer Reviews

Excellent
From Kosovo: I use the book here in Kosovo for Leadership and Management Training for Public Safety Insitutions. I found the book in 2004 while attending University and heard a lecture by Mr. Krug. The book is as relevant today as it was then, a great work which examines alternatives to traditional managment practices and perspectives. From every class I have observed "light bulbs" go off in the students heads as reflected by their keen interest in reading and discussing the material. Contradictory to the post communist mind set here in management practices, this book has been an awakening.

A useful problem-solving strategy
Before you read on, know that I have a bias. I have recently been promoted to a department chief position, so I am actively looking for books on leadership and problem solving. The strength of this book (and I do recommend it) is that it provides a framework for how leaders might think and also provides a very concrete problem-solving strategy that you can consider trying. The authors feel that ideas need to percolate up from below, so that workers buy into change. That's fine, and that's abstract. Then they make it much more useful by giving the reader a general strategy that can be used in a variety of ways. Basically, they tell us, you should not focus on the problem. Focusing on the problem will get you bogged down. You just end up sitting around at a meeting and moaning about how bad the problem is. Instead, change your focus to solutions. Ask your people a specific series of questions such as "What is good about our current processes?" "What works?" "What do we like and want more of?" "What is our goal?" "What small steps can we then take to try to get a little closer to the solutions that will give us more of what works and what we want?"

The book is longer than it needs to be, and tends to be repetitive, but it's a fast read. I have already tried their strategy at a meeting, and I am pleased with the results that I obtained. Any book that gives me the tools to help solve some of my department's problems is a winner. It's a very general and flexible strategy, and I expect to be using it again in the future.

Enlightened Leadership - Getting to the Heart of Change
Enlightened Leadership is a common sense, "how to" book for enacting change in an organizatin. Through the easy reading text or even the summary notes provided at the conclusion of each chapter, strategies are given to utilize the internal work force in envisioning, designing, marrying and implementing change.

Oakley and Krug profess an enlightened leader is one who has a vision and through a variety of strategies, encourages the organization's members to "buy in" and commit to following through with the change. They also indicate enlightened leaders do not necessarily need to be the visionaries. They are individuals who possess the ability to inspire others to create the vision, focus the efforts and encourage fruition. Obviously, if the vision is conceived by the organizational membership, the "buy in" dilemma is reduced.

Oakley and Krug believe individuals' self-esteem is important in the change process. The enlightened leader also knows it is healthy for the individuals' self-esteem to focus on solutions rather than just the problems. The authors give a strategy to ensure continued focus which is called "Effective Questions (EQs)". Many helpful EQ examples are given.

This book is a useful resource for today's leaders. Leadership today is so different from past leadership roles. Our changing and mobile society requires a leader to talent search and to engage his/her employees in the change process instead of mandating. This book provides tools to assist the leader in focusing the employees on solutions to the problem versus concentrating only on the problem itself and enabling employees to own the paradigm change. It was good.