Leaders Under Fire

A major investor is on line one, CNN is on line two, and social media is exploding in anger. When you're a 'Leader Under Fire,' the next few moments can be an incredible opportunity... or they can destroy your career.In the past, companies prepared for crisis with expensive, static crisis communications plans. The pace was slower. You had time to process and plan a response with your senior team and lawyers. But those old-school plans don't work anymore. Many companies these days have no plan whatsoever and are simply sitting ducks.Today, managing a PR crisis is ALL about speed. With 24-hour news cycles and social media mobs, if you're not controlling your message by lunchtime, you could be convicted in the court of public opinion before dinner. Speed kills careers.'Leaders Under Fire' is for anyone who values their reputation, and understands how fragile it is today. Leaders who have spent decades building reputations have seen them destroyed in minutes. We'll help you avoid those traps.This executive-length book uses real-life examples to illustrate what works - and what doesn't - in managing a crisis. We'll also introduce you to two fictional CEO's who handle their crisis in very different ways. You can follow their story throughout the book as they learn some lessons the hard way - so you don't have to.

While the role of the university president has evolved dramatically in recent years, the recruitment pool and selection process have changed little since the 1960s. InLeadership Under Fire, Ross Paul combines leadership theory, interviews with eleven of Canada's most successful presidents, and thirty-five years of personal experience to shed light on the complexity and importance of leading a university and identifies some of the critical challenges and opportunities facing Canadian universities today. Paul illuminates some of the ways in which Canadian universities are unique and uses these differences to make clear the importance of organizational cultural and institutional fit for leaders confronting critical academic issues such as academic leadership and accountability, student success and support, university funding and fund-raising, strategic planning, government and community relations, and internationalism. His analysis reaffirms some long-standing practices, while arguing that changes are badly needed in others. While much has been written about university leadership elsewhere,Leadership Under Firefocuses on Canada and some of the men and women who have made a real difference to the quality of its post-secondary institutions. Paul builds on their stories to offer useful perspectives and advice at a time when the quality of universities was never more critical to the country's economic, social, and political success.

Disaster, disruption and change are recurring challenges in business. We are used to reading about the successful disruptors of established industries (Tesla, Amazon, Netflix, Uber, etc.), but what about the companies they disrupted? What ever happened to them? How did they cope? And more importantly, what are the secrets of making a business thrive again? "Business Leadership Under Fire: Nine Steps to Rescue and Transform Organizations" is the book every business leader needs. It will inspire readers with its thoughtful, practical and battle-hardened recipes for success. Pepyn Dinandt usually gets parachuted into an organization only after it realizes it is in real trouble. It is his job to assess and understand the situation that faces the business while also devising effective ways forward towards recovery and success. In "Business Leadership Under Fire" Dinandt draws on his own extensive business experience and, with the help of decorated army officer Colonel Richard Westley, marries this proven expertise with the leadership insights of military thinkers to develop an imaginative and practical nine-step plan for any leader who wishes not simply to survive but to inspire and thrive "under fire". Using lessons forged on the front lines of both the military and commercial worlds, Dinandt and Westley’s concise book is required reading for anyone in any organization that needs help in turbulent times.

Mission-Critical Rules for Successful Fire Rescue Leadership One of the most demanding and stressful management jobs in existence, fire rescue leadership requires a set of clear and distinct skills. Given today’s work environment, everyone from the chief down to the newest recruit should be strong, courageous leaders. Every aspect of a successful operation relies on capable leadership at all levels. It’s Always about Leadership is written by an active firefighter for his fellow fire-rescue service members. Author Dennis L. Rubin discusses his 13 rules for leadership, which he has developed over a 35-year career in fire service. Alongside these rules, Chief Rubin has curated case studies and created critical learning points, self-improvement plans, and discussion questions for learning reinforcement and to assist real-world applications. Key features: --Leadership tools with real-life applicability --Time-tested advice on navigating challenges and scenarios typical to fire service life --Experience and perspective from a multi-decade fire service leader

Full-Contact Leadership is written for men and women who hold leadership positions or aspire to leadership roles in the fire service. There are many leadership positions in the fire service, but not all of them are held by leaders. Leadership has very little to do with the color of your helmet, the bling on your collar, the stripes on your sleeve, the title on your door, the order of march, or the crease in your pants. Full-contact leadership is a commitment to drawing out the very best within others and allowing the very best in others to be expressed as excellence. Full-contact leadership is a career-long, ever-challenging, never-ending, self-initiated, self-sustained personal research, development, and improvement program. Full-contact leadership is never about you; it’s always about them. In Full-Contact Leadership, Chiefs Flood and Avillo examine what makes a leader and, more importantly, what makes a leader effective in today’s fire service. This text discusses the various types of leaders, how they communicate, discipline, delegate, motivate, and set expectations for the people they lead. Flood and Avillo also take a hard look at what hinders or blocks effective leadership and what steps to take to foster and instill leadership in your department.

The dangerous work of leading change--somebody has to do it. Will you put yourself on the line? To lead is to live dangerously. It's romantic and exciting to think of leadership as all inspiration, decisive action, and rich rewards, but leading requires taking risks that can jeopardize your career and your personal life. It requires putting yourself on the line, disrupting the status quo, and surfacing hidden conflict. And when people resist and push back, there's a strong temptation to play it safe. Those who choose to lead plunge in, take the risks, and sometimes get burned. But it doesn't have to be that way say renowned leadership experts Ronald Heifetz and Marty Linsky. In Leadership on the Line, they show how it's possible to make a difference without getting "taken out" or pushed aside. They present everyday tools that give equal weight to the dangerous work of leading change and the critical importance of personal survival. Through vivid stories from all walks of life, the authors present straightforward strategies for navigating the perilous straits of leadership. Whether you're a parent or a politician, a CEO or a community activist, this practical book shows how you can exercise leadership and survive and thrive to enjoy the fruits of your labor.

The New York Times bestseller by the acclaimed, bestselling author of Start With Why and Together is Better. Now with an expanded chapter and appendix on leading millennials, based on Simon Sinek's viral video "Millenials in the workplace" (150+ million views). Imagine a world where almost everyone wakes up inspired to go to work, feels trusted and valued during the day, then returns home feeling fulfilled. This is not a crazy, idealized notion. Today, in many successful organizations, great leaders create environments in which people naturally work together to do remarkable things. In his work with organizations around the world, Simon Sinek noticed that some teams trust each other so deeply that they would literally put their lives on the line for each other. Other teams, no matter what incentives are offered, are doomed to infighting, fragmentation and failure. Why? The answer became clear during a conversation with a Marine Corps general. "Officers eat last," he said. Sinek watched as the most junior Marines ate first while the most senior Marines took their place at the back of the line. What's symbolic in the chow hall is deadly serious on the battlefield: Great leaders sacrifice their own comfort--even their own survival--for the good of those in their care. Too many workplaces are driven by cynicism, paranoia, and self-interest. But the best ones foster trust and cooperation because their leaders build what Sinek calls a "Circle of Safety" that separates the security inside the team from the challenges outside. Sinek illustrates his ideas with fascinating true stories that range from the military to big business, from government to investment banking.

Every military must prepare for future wars despite not really knowing the shape such wars will ultimately take. As former U.S. Secretary of Defense Robert Gates once noted: "We have a perfect record in predicting the next war. We have never once gotten it right." In the face of such great uncertainty, militaries must be able to adapt rapidly in order to win. Adaptation under Fire identifies the characteristics that make militaries more adaptable, illustrated through historical examples and the recent wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Authors David Barno and Nora Bensahel argue that militaries facing unknown future conflicts must nevertheless make choices about the type of doctrine that their units will use, the weapons and equipment they will purchase, and the kind of leaders they will select and develop to guide the force to victory. Yet after a war begins, many of these choices will prove flawed in the unpredictable crucible of the battlefield. For a U.S. military facing diverse global threats, its ability to adapt quickly and effectively to those unforeseen circumstances may spell the difference between victory and defeat. Barno and Bensahel start by providing a framework for understanding adaptation and include historical cases of success and failure. Next, they examine U.S. military adaptation during the nation's recent wars, and explain why certain forms of adaptation have proven problematic. In the final section, Barno and Bensahel conclude that the U.S. military must become much more adaptable in order to address the fast-changing security challenges of the future, and they offer recommendations on how to do so before it is too late.