I've just spent two weeks resting- fantastic! For me it is always a chance to catch up with my reading list. Here are the highlights of my learning:
- Maverick by Ricardo Semler. The story of an unfashionable Brazilian manufacturer of industrial machines. However their ways of working are completely different to most companies - being able to choose your own salary and scoring (and publishing) your bosses performance amongst other approaches has led to great success for the organisation.
Born on a Blue Day by Daniel Tammet. Daniel is an Autistic Savant (think Rain Man but without the social constraints). He can learn a new language in 4 days and is a total visual learner. Using his visual skills he was able to memorise pie to 20,000 places....I have trouble remembering my wife's name!
Coaching with NLP by Joseph O'Connor and Andrea Lages. A really practical guide to coaching both other people and yourself. It also serves as a great example of how to blend some core NLP techniques into real world situations. As a result I have thought deeply about my values and objectives for the future.
Finally with the Olympics in full flow I read Kelly Holmes - My Autobiography. Kelly won two gold medals at the Athens Olympics in 800m and 1500m. It is a real insight into motivation and objective setting. She had just two objectives for her life from a very early age......and achieved both.
If you get some reading time - all are highly recommended.
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2 comments:
Chris, you did some pretty amazing reading here. I can believe that Maverick by Ricardo Semler puts into practice strategies that do empower the "low-power" folks in the workforce. I so agree with what you say, Chris, that these folks are the folks with power, if you just power them up!
Now that is deep and it takes a very maverick and insightful leader to have the guts and humility to carry it off.
As you read Semler's book, did that humility also show through?
Robyn - thanks for your comment. Yes, Ricardo Semler showed some very strong leadership traits. Most of all he was able to see things from everyone's perspective, particularly that of the factory workforce. By demonstrating trust and collaboration he was able to really get them onside. Initially he met with huge resistence from his own Board and had to remove quite a few of them at the early stages. It is quite some story.
Chris
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