Description

This is the first book to simply identify the core challenges faced by all leaders, provide a easy way of assessing yourself against each of these challenges and suggesting the actions that will make you a better, more effective leader.

Features

• The first really simply structured self-coaching book on leadership
• Leadership development is as big as ever - there aren't that many TRULY practical readable leadership books
• Simple, marketable concept of 18 challenges - how you square up and how you get better for each
• Coach Yourself - for leaders

Table of Contents

Acknowledgements

Foreword

Introduction

Challenge 1: The Proactive Challenge - learning to write the story

Challenge 2: The Influence Challenge - making a clear impact

Challenge 3: The Reality Challenge - understand where you are

Challenge 4: The Vision Challenge - creating an engaging picture of the future

Challenge 5: The Strategy Challenge - defining a path to the future

Challenge 6: The Wisdom Challenge - applying your learning from experience

Challenge 7: The Insight Challenge - seeing beyond the obvious

Challenge 8: The Confidence Challenge - developing self-belief

Challenge 9: The Internal Compass Challenge - lead yourself so you can lead others

Challenge 10: The 'Bigger and Bigger Challenge' Challenge - continuously growing your skills base

Challenge 11: The Vertigo Challenge

Challenge 12: The 'Managing The Tension Between Holding On and Letting Go' Challenge - the art of delegation

Challenge 13: The 'Life and Career Transition' Challenge - change across the whole lifespan

Challenge 14: The Loneliness Challenge - creating networks to maintain integrity

Challenge 15: The Personality Challenge - understanding your impact on others

Challenge 16: The Pathology Challenge - managing the effects of your blind spots

Challenge 17: The Confusion-Complexity-Chaos Challenge - performing through uncertainty

Challenge 18: The Work-Life Balance Challenge - getting results whilst living a satisfying life

Appendix 1: The final question: 'What will you do now?'

Appendix 2: Getting feedback on your influencing behaviours

Appendix 3: The complete assessment summary

Bibliography

 

Back Cover

When was the last time you lifted up your head?

To succeed in business you need to be more than an effective manager. Organisations are looking for people who are both engaged and can achieve results. They want leaders at all levels. People who lift up their heads.

Becoming a successful leader means meeting some key challenges. These challenges span from what are often called ‘hard’ business-focused issues, such as vision and strategy, to ‘soft’ personal challenges, such as personality and confidence. The leadership challenges are remarkably uniform across sectors and levels.

This book presents the crucial 18 challenges that have been distilled from research and practical experience into what real leaders face in their daily work. After each challenge is described, there is a simple self-assessment process to allow you to see where you are in relation to that challenge. Finally, practical guidance shows you how to go about boosting your ability to meet that challenge and excel as a leader.

The book delivers:

• A fast and sound way of assessing your response to the challenges you face as a leader in your current role.
• A structured, reflective process that guarantees to raise your self-awareness and insight into your leadership.
• A practical step-by-step process to guide you through your development as a leader in response to each of the challenges.

Providing insight, explanation and practical help, The 18 Challenges of Leadership is the self-coaching handbook for anybody who wants to be a better, more assured and effective leader.

Author

Trevor is Managing Director of The Executive Coach ltd. He has extensive experience in executive and senior management coaching - including the delivery of 1:1 and team coaching along with whole-organisation coaching interventions and training coaches. His expertise is in combining his passion for leadership development with his skill as a top-level coach, his experience in organisational consultancy and his thorough understanding of the psychology of personal change.Previously Trevor spent 15 years in leadership in the voluntary sector included five years being Chief Executive of a national start-up. He then trained with the Covey Leadership Centre and worked for a consultancy firm before founding The Executive Coach. Trevor works alongside some of the other top Executive Coaches in his role as Faculty member of The School of Coaching at The Work Foundation in association with Myles Downey. He is guest lecturer on Leadership for Anglia Polytechnic University's MBA Programme.

 

Shenaz has a background in occupational psychology and psychotherapy and has a wide experience in consultancy, research, training and employment development within corporate culture. Her skill and experience in both a therapeutic background and organisational development have given her a unique perspective in individual and team performance issues as well as personal development within an organisational context. Shenaz has increasingly focused these skills in the area of coaching at all levels of an organisation.

Reader Review(s)

"... a good self-coaching handbook for anybody who wants to be a better leader."

- Business Executive Magazine