A Time To Lead

Where is leadership when we need it? What can today’s corporate, non-profit, military, and public-service leaders learn from daring decisions that changed history? In Time to Lead, Jan-Benedict Steenkamp presents a fresh examination of history-making leaders by holding a magnifying glass up to a life-changing dilemma each of them faced. What we learn is how powerful the personalities of leaders and their decision-making processes can be in determining the course of human events—and the fates of millions of people. Steenkamp explains how these great men and women arrived at the solutions to the problems they confronted by virtue of their character traits and whether they were foxes or hedgehogs—as in the ancient parable—or, as he further categorizes, eagles or ostriches. Sixteen carefully curated case studies hold powerful lessons that today’s leaders can apply in their own professional lives. Readers will recognize Roosevelt, Washington, Mandela, Thatcher, Alexander the Great, and MLK, but other lesser-known leaders, such as Themistocles, Clovis, Peter, Fisher, and Nightingale provide equally valuable insights into how individuals make decisions based upon one of seven leadership styles (adaptive, persuasive, directive, disruptive, authentic, servant, and charismatic) and four personality classifications (hedgehog, fox, eagle, or ostrich). Steenkamp’s assessment tools provide seasoned and aspiring leaders alike with the means to not only determine their own individual styles, but how to step up when they inevitably come face-to-face with their own moments of truth. Chapter takeaways, leadership principles, and open-ended, reflective questions will confer encouragement, enrichment, and empowerment on readers when they realize they can utilize the same tactics as these leaders in their own lives. Time to Lead is about great men and women, their actions in leadership that have withstood the test of time, what we can learn from them—and the lessons that are relevant for us here and now.

Make every communication count—with a simple, four-step speaking model Whether it's among colleagues at lunch or an audience of a thousand, a leader's role is to move and inspire others. It's not only the big occasions that test a leader's mettle, but the little ones as well—in a casual conversation in the elevator, in phone calls, or one of many incidental, seemingly "insignificant" interactions in everyday work life. Written by one of the world's leading communications coaches, Speaking as a Leader shows you how to make the most of your daily communications, creating a presence on the job as a genuine and constant leader. In this eye-opening guide, aspiring (and established) leaders can enhance their reputations and influence by following a few simple steps. Speaking as a Leader: Shows how to structure your thoughts and message in any situation using a four-step model Offers tips on listening effectively, in three dimensions Details why you are the best visual and how to avoid "Death by PowerPoint" Offers guidance on taking the "numb" out of numbers Includes tips on moving from subject to message With Speaking as a Leader, you'll learn to tap into your innate leadership skills at every occasion—whether small or large—and earn the sort of respect that creates devoted friends and passionate supporters.

Four-star General Wesley K. Clark became a major figure on the political scene when he was drafted by popular demand to run for the Democratic nomination for President of the United States in 2003. But this was just one of many exceptional accomplishments of a long and extraordinary career. Here, for the first time, General Clark uses his unique life experience—from his difficult youth in segregated Arkansas where he was raised by his poor, widowed mother; through the horror of Vietnam where he was wounded; the post-war rebuilding of national security and the struggles surrounding the new world order after the Cold War—as a springboard to reveal his vision for America, at home and in the world. General Clark will address issues such as foreign policy, the economy, the environment, education and health care, family, faith, and the American dream. Rich with breathtaking battle scenes, poignant personal anecdote and eye-opening recommendations on the best way forward, General Clark's new book is a tour de force of gripping storytelling and inspiring vision.

Based on cutting-edge academic research, insights from his extensive executive coaching practice, and lessons he has learned from over seventy-five interviews conducted with top CEOs, bestselling authors, and TED speakers, Craig Dowden's A Time to Lead provides an inspiring and practical roadmap to maximizing your potential to be the leader the world needs you to be. Being a leader has never been easy. Today, the responsibility is even more daunting. Now, leadership stretches well beyond managing our balance sheets. It also includes managing social, environmental, and emotional concerns. Most importantly, to be a successful leader, we must be able to successfully lead ourselves. This book shows you the way. To successfully navigate the current and future terrain of leadership, we must be able to successfully lead ourselves. This is the fundamental premise of A Time to Lead: Mastering Your Self... So You Can Master Your World. Written by best-selling ForbesBooks author, Craig Dowden (PhD), A Time to Lead makes the case that the best leaders possess an advanced understanding of the inner workings of our minds and our hearts. Dowden highlights the importance of mindset and how we can stay in growth mode, and he talks about how we can avoid a major blind spot and common derailer for most executives--our emotions. A Time to Lead sheds light on the scientific secrets of resilience as well as how we can discover and leverage our strengths. It provides insights into how we can receive feedback well so we can continue to have the impact we desire. Dowden closes with the importance and challenges of authentic leadership and outlines key reflection questions, which enable us to bring our true selves to every situation.

A Time to Lead and A Time to Follow By: Scott Espinda I arrived in Virginia Beach, Virginia—from Oahu, Hawaii. My dad just passed away, and I wish I could say the haunted memories of finding him that morning and carrying him on the stretcher to watch the van drive away was what set me on my mission. In reality, I spent my life with him building our family company, and when he disappeared—so did the company, so did my life. I believe no one ever starts over, we just get knocked down. I got knocked down—big time. My resume was shot. I had no personal references, because the leadership path is a long and lonely road. And on paper it looked one of two ways. One: I was a greedy crook, or two: a deadbeat. This bothered me. I set sail like a modern pioneer to rekindle a spark in our generation, to be the person I most wish I had—a leader. I lived in my camping tent for a good year or so, and I walked into a job where I knew I would do a lot of good. A gas station. At this gas station, I was able to see my life’s training come into play, and took the opportunity to share experiences, methods, stories, and conversations to inspire people to use A Time to Lead and a Time to Follow as a tool—a tool to help you and your team become a valuable asset at your job, and in your community.

This essential reference offers a multitude of ideas, tips, and strategies for organizing every aspect of a principal's job—from controlling your calendar to creating newsletters.

#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • Brené Brown has taught us what it means to dare greatly, rise strong, and brave the wilderness. Now, based on new research conducted with leaders, change makers, and culture shifters, she’s showing us how to put those ideas into practice so we can step up and lead. Don’t miss the five-part HBO Max docuseries Brené Brown: Atlas of the Heart! NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY BLOOMBERG Leadership is not about titles, status, and wielding power. A leader is anyone who takes responsibility for recognizing the potential in people and ideas, and has the courage to develop that potential. When we dare to lead, we don’t pretend to have the right answers; we stay curious and ask the right questions. We don’t see power as finite and hoard it; we know that power becomes infinite when we share it with others. We don’t avoid difficult conversations and situations; we lean into vulnerability when it’s necessary to do good work. But daring leadership in a culture defined by scarcity, fear, and uncertainty requires skill-building around traits that are deeply and uniquely human. The irony is that we’re choosing not to invest in developing the hearts and minds of leaders at the exact same time as we’re scrambling to figure out what we have to offer that machines and AI can’t do better and faster. What can we do better? Empathy, connection, and courage, to start. Four-time #1 New York Times bestselling author Brené Brown has spent the past two decades studying the emotions and experiences that give meaning to our lives, and the past seven years working with transformative leaders and teams spanning the globe. She found that leaders in organizations ranging from small entrepreneurial startups and family-owned businesses to nonprofits, civic organizations, and Fortune 50 companies all ask the same question: How do you cultivate braver, more daring leaders, and how do you embed the value of courage in your culture? In this new book, Brown uses research, stories, and examples to answer these questions in the no-BS style that millions of readers have come to expect and love. Brown writes, “One of the most important findings of my career is that daring leadership is a collection of four skill sets that are 100 percent teachable, observable, and measurable. It’s learning and unlearning that requires brave work, tough conversations, and showing up with your whole heart. Easy? No. Because choosing courage over comfort is not always our default. Worth it? Always. We want to be brave with our lives and our work. It’s why we’re here.” Whether you’ve read Daring Greatly and Rising Strong or you’re new to Brené Brown’s work, this book is for anyone who wants to step up and into brave leadership.