The Ten Golden Rules of Leadership by Elizabeth Fox and Martin le Comte
Would you like to know how to lead? I don't mean 'manage' with all its implications of 'managing a situation', but to be the person who is out there, in front, inspiring, developing and motivating those who follow you? Does it sound complicated and rather daunting? Do you wonder if you're really up to the job and whether or not you can cope? Are you perhaps worried about what you've taken on? You need some simple rules which will form the framework of your leadership and which will serve you well no matter what and who you are leading.
| The Ten Golden Rules of Leadership by Elizabeth Fox and Martin le Comte | |
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| Category: Business and Finance | |
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Reviewer: Peter Magee
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| Summary: The best book on leadership I've read. I can't recommend it highly enough. Elizabeth Fox and Martin le Comte popped into Bookbag Towers to chat to us. | |
| Buy? Yes | Borrow? Yes |
| Pages: 128 | Date: October 2017 |
| Publisher: Matador | |
| External links: Author's website | |
| ISBN: 978-1788039147 | |
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After many management positions in the course of my working life I now find myself in a pure leadership position: it was time to think through my approach and it was pure serendipity that I came across The Ten Golden Rules of Leadership. The challenges don't feel quite so daunting when Elizabeth Fox and Martin le Comte reassure you that leadership isn't complicated - in fact it probably has more to do with common sense. They don't minimise what's ahead, but they do give everyone in a leadership role or aspiring to one, a framework within which to work.
The style is business like, but don't be put off, because this isn't a dry account of someone else's success as a leader. In fact Fox and le Comte stress that you learn as much, if not more, from your failures than your successes - and they're open about where they've gone wrong. This feels more like a discussion between equals than a lecture. I'm not going to go through all the rules - the authors do it so much better than I could - but I'd like to give you a flavour of their approach.
The first rule - and one which recurs throughout the book is 'Know Your People'. It might sound simple - and essentially it is - but it's surprising how few leaders ask questions, listen to the answers and act on what they're told. Moving on, they stress too that leadership is not about pleasing people and making friends: it's about telling people what they need to know, providing clarity and certainty and about having the ability to step back and not make rash decisions. I liked the approach of never negotiating on behaviour: confront bad practice and deal with it, making people aware of what is and what is not acceptable. I've always found that this is good advice for any aspiring leader.
There's valuable insight into the use which should be made of feedback and the fact that leadership is not about you but about how the team works. You'll know you've succeeded if you've developed your team to the point where you are no longer required.
Everyone in a leadership role, or aspiring to one, should read this book. It's short, it's to the point and what it has to say is valuable and thought-provoking. I'd like to thank the publishers for sending a copy of the book to the Bookbag.
Leadership Rules by Jo Owen is an easy read but perhaps not quite as much to the point. You might also appreciate Peak: How all of us can achieve extraordinary things by Anders Ericsson and Robert Pool.
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You can read more book reviews or buy The Ten Golden Rules of Leadership by Elizabeth Fox and Martin le Comte at Amazon.com.
Elizabeth Fox and Martin le Comte was kind enough to be interviewed by Bookbag.
The Ten Golden Rules of Leadership by Elizabeth Fox and Martin le Comte is in the Top Ten Self-Published Books 2017.
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