Acknowledgments xi
Introduction 1
Can You Keep a Secret? 1
This Is a No Secret Zone 5
Ground Rules 7
1 Choosing to Lead 11
Born Leaders—The Myth 11
Your Most Important Professional Decision 14
If Japan Can, Why Can’t We? 17
Congratulations, You’ve Been Promoted! Now What? 21
The Doctor Is in, and the Patient Is Waiting 23
Accepting the Challenge 27
2 Offer Service, Take Action 31
Management 101 31
The Four Management Functions 32
The Four Resources to Be Managed 33
If Not People, Who Then? 34
The Six Management Objectives 36
“What Do You Think?” 37
Mario and Luigi 40
Commonsense Leadership 44
The Ability to Offer Service 45
The Willingness to Take Action 47
3 The Essential Element 51
The Essential Element 51
Leadership Begins and Ends with Followers 53
Three Primary Assumptions 55
The Leadership Lie 60
How Close Is Too Close? 62
Know Your Followers 64
Who Are You? 66
Yes, and Then Some 69
4 A Recipe for Respect 73
WWYFS 73
Respect Is as Respect Does 76
The Recipe for Earning Respect 78
Respect Ingredient #1: Consistency 79
The Wisest Man in Princeton, Kentucky 81
Respect Ingredient #2: Quality Decision Making 84
“Honey, How Far?” 84
Respect Ingredient #3: Interacting with Others 87
Wrapping It Up 90
5 Honesty and Other Truths 91
The Truth about Honesty 91
The Scheduler’s Position 92
Leadership Failures 97
The Honesty Game 99
Game Contestants 99
Objectives of the Game 100
Rules of the Game 100
Losing the Game 102
Winning the Game 102
Time Frame of the Game 103
The Zipper Factor 103
Brutal Honesty 108
6 Two Motivational Truths 111
What Supervisors and Managers Want to Know 111
Help Me Motivate My People 112
Motivational Theories Abound 114
Motivational Truth #1 116
Motivation versus Manipulation 119
Manipulation Doesn’t Pay—It Costs 122
Motivational Truth #2 124
Can We Have a Pool Table? 125
How Can They Sit There and Lie to Me Like That? 129
Is That All? 131
7 Why People Do What They Do 133
The Worst Motivational Speech 133
Giving before Getting 137
It’s More than Gratitude 138
The Cornerstone Concept 139
What, Not Why 143
Determining Individual Needs 144
Easiest or Shortest 148
Preparing for Unsatisfied Needs 150
Emotional Defense Mechanisms 155
8 Preventive Leadership 157
Practicing PM 157
Embracing PL 158
Do Leaders Really Think? 160
Six Thought Processes to Support Preventive Leadership 161
Explorative Thought—Asking Why? 161
Comparative Thought—Asking Why Not? 162
Predictive Thought—Asking When? 163
Creative Thought—Asking What If? 164
Deliberative Thought—Asking How? 165
Interactive Thought—Asking What Do You Think? 165
“I’m Moving to Alaska!” 166
Running from or to—and Why It’s Important 171
The Wisdom of Dumb Questions 174
Dumb Question #1: How Am I Doing? 176
Dumb Question #2: What Have I Screwed Up Lately? 176
Dumb Question #3: What Should I Be Doing Better? 177
Dumb Question #4: What Would You Like Me to Do about That? 177
How It’s Done 178
9 Fearsome Facts 181
Who’s Your Daddy? 181
Understanding Fears 190
Fearsome Fact #1: We All Have Them 192
The Fear of Rejection 194
The Fear of Failure 195
The Fear of Success 196
“What Means ‘Nervous’?” 197
Fearsome Fact #2: Unfamiliar Experiences Are Breeding Grounds for New Fears 199
Making Unknowns Known 201
Fearsome Fact #3: Unsuccessful Experiences Compound Our Fears 203
What It Means 205
10 Leadership Pitfalls 207
Seven Deadly Sins 207
Leadership Pitfall #1: An Elevated Sense of Self-Importance 209
“I Hope the Old Man Is Getting Some of This” 210
Leadership Pitfall #2: Practicing Favoritism 213
“I’d Rather Be Flat Broke” 216
Leadership Pitfall #3: Inability or Unwillingness to Control Emotions 219
When You Lose Your Temper 221
The Power of an Apology 228
Pursuing Leadership Success 229
11 Commonsense Success 231
Seniority, Experience, or Something Else? 231
Choosing Success 233
Too Many Choices? 234
A Professional Triple Threat 236
Knowledge and Understanding 236
Skills and Application 237
Personal Desire and Commitment 238
“I Should’ve Bought That Farm” 240
Commonsense Success Choice #1: If I Am to Fail, I Choose to Fail Aggressively 240
Commonsense Success Choice #2: To Hit a Home Run, I Must Swing the Bat 242
Commonsense Success Choice #3: Choosing Yes 245
Commonsense Success Choice #4: When I Mess Up, I Must Fess Up—Quickly 250
One More Foundational Concept 254
Conclusion 257
A Conclusion Isn’t a Conclusion 257
Congratulations to You 258
Leaders Are Readers—or Are They? 259
Leaders Are Doers—or Should Be 260
“I Wish Buster Was Here” 262
