Okay, so packing up the house last week, closing, managing the crew who loaded the 26 foot Penske, and then driving it from Santa Fe to Salt Lake City took it out of me. I am giving myself some time to recover this Thanksgiving week, and to be with my family who have flown in from GA and CA as well as those who live here in Salt Lake City.
On my drive through the desert, I listened to a book that I believe is a must read. Maybe that is because I am going through a personal metamorphosis, I don't know. But you can rest assured I will be recommending it to every client I support. I don't care whether you are a Chairman of the Board, a CEO or an informal leader in your community or team, I recommend this book. In fact, stop what you are reading, and read this book. What's the book? And why do I recommend it?
If you have read the posts on this blog related to the purpose of this blog, you are clear I have a passion for a particular subject: the current form of leadership is dying. You know that I believe with every fiber of my being that leadership has taken profit, people and planet in the wrong direction... towards a state of imbalance. And you know that I believe that you and I cannot stand for that. And that if we do, we are no more than paper warriors.
So I pay attention when I see things in the mainstream media that indicate my belief is catching on. And seeing it we are. The book Tribes--We Need You to Lead Us by Seth Godin, a seminal thinker and thought leader in business today, is such a book. It is not a how to book. It is a what-is-happening-and-you-need-to-understand-the-impact-of-this-book. I've included a link to it below.
If you at some level believe that leadership must change in order for the imbalances in this world of ours to be corrected, read (or listen to) Tribes. I will be commenting more on this book later, because it reflects a theme in several books I am reading now. The theme is something I want you to know about and to look at for your self and in your self.
If you are planning for 2009, use Tribes as a non-linear precursor for your normally linear planning process. Read it (it is a short book and an easy read) and allow it to work on your perception, and therefore your planning process and the goals you develop. I will write more about this later, but right now my most immediate act of leadership is to go take my incredible parents for a walk in the park and then to a slow lunch. I only get to see them every so often, and they are 75 now, and my number one priority at this moment is to be present with with them.
Don't worry, I will resume posting about the seven capacities of leadership soon. Stay tuned for that.
