The World's Best Book Summaries
What is political clout? What role does political clout play in adaptive leadership? According to the father of adaptive leadership Ronald Heifetz, solving adaptive challenges requires you to have what he calls “political clout.” The more political clout you have, the more power, support, and influence you have, and the less people will resist you. Here are six techniques to increase your political clout.
What is the curse of knowledge? How does it get in the way of effective communication? Sometimes we’re blinded by the curse-of-knowledge bias, assuming that others know what we know. As a result, we fail to communicate effectively and compellingly. When we learn to get around this cognitive bias, we can craft messages that are clear and convincing. Read more to learn how the curse of knowledge hampers communication.
What does an authentic life look like? How is it achieved? In The Road Less Traveled, psychiatrist M. Scott Peck argues that habitual lying in avoidance of reality ultimately leads to mental illness. On the other hand, an authentic life leads to growth, healthy relationships, and real freedom. He offers five rules for balanced truth-telling that help you navigate this tricky area of life. Keep reading to learn about living an authentic life.
What is the best approach for better team decision-making? Why is the financial plausibility test system flawed? The best way to approach team decision-making is to ask what needs to be true for the company’s strategy to be successful. This encourages creative ideas and holistic decisions, as opposed to the model-centric systems that discourage out-of-the-box solutions. The financial plausibility test is a flawed model for team decisions because it is expensive, model-centric, and stifles creativity. Read on to discover the step-by-step guide to better team decision-making.
Do you feel like your employees have lost the drive to perform at their best? What can you, as a leader, do to motivate and inspire your team? Inspiring employees to go above and beyond requires a leader who is willing to show their emotional side. Everyone inherently has the ability to inspire, though everyone will do it differently depending on their purposes, communication style, and the challenges at hand. To inspire, use the following two techniques.
What is the inverted pyramid? How can the inverted pyramid approach help you communicate your message more effectively? Journalists use the inverted pyramid to prioritize the most important elements of a story. It keeps them from burying the lead. You can use this model to make sure the essence of your message gets communicated. Keep reading to learn about the inverted pyramid.
What does the advocacy and inquiry decision-making process entail? What mindset is required to make the decision-making process effective? Advocacy and inquiry is a decision-making style where each party in a meeting presents their arguments and asks for comments and questions from other participants. The process creates an open environment where ideas are challenged and fine-tuned, which improves the critical reasoning skills of participants. Each participant must be confident and open to being challenged. Read on to learn more about the advocacy and inquiry decision-making process.
What does it take to create a successful team? In what ways do givers make a team more successful? How can takers sabotage team’s performance? Givers—as opposed to takers and matchers—increase the success of the whole team because they focus on the goals of the group rather than on themselves. Their giving tendencies also tend to rub off onto other members of the team, so the more givers there are, the better the team will perform as a whole. Keep reading to learn why successful teams require givers.
What makes an idea sticky? What are some examples of sticky ideas? What is the secret to making a story or a message “stick”? Sticky ideas are concepts, messages, and stories that “stick” in the public’s consciousness: they are understandable, memorable, and have a lasting impact. One of the most notable examples of sticky ideas are urban legends. Urban legends are easy to understand and remember, people buy into them and share them. Keep reading to learn about the six traits of sticky ideas.
What is a strategic discussion? How do you create the right environment for strategic discussions? A strategic discussion is an interchange of ideas with the goal of gaining insights that will help a company progress towards its objectives. The best environment for strategic discussions is one that is interactive and includes very few people in the room. Read on to learn more about how to conduct an effective strategic discussion.