People-Smart Leaders

by Michael S. Cole and Larry Cole

Much has been written of the importance of workplace social behaviors and values. However, "The missing link in the discussions about the importance of social values in the workplace is a process to... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1886939616
• ISBN13: 9781886939615
• Release Date: August 2004
• Publisher: OakHill Press
• Length: 198 Pages
• Weight: 1.05 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 6.6" x 9.3"
• Age Range: 18 years and up

Customer Reviews

People Smart Leaders

Dr. Cole is on target with his identification of the number one issue of leadership; one's basic beliefs about people. The book describes how leaders with a high belief in people and their development have the slight edge over the average leader. I liked the practicality of the book and the reality of potential application. This book is much more than theory or opinion.

Solid & practical information!

These authors present an intriguing concept, i.e., measuring to monitor the people or soft skills and to data to continuously improve interpersonal performance and working relationships as my organization uses data to manage and improve our service delivery service. If you are interested in personal improvement, you'll be most interested in Chapter 5 as these authors provide several examples of behaviors to create such important values as trust, communication and respect. Any one reading this book could benefit from integrating these behaviors into their day-to-day workplace. And for those of us who are interested in personal development, Chapter 13 is especially useful as it details the windows through which we can learn about ourselves. The authors make an interesting point in that the perception of others is more important than one's self-perception. Finally, Chapter 9, 10, & 11 provide excellent information and a blueprint to manage the energy systems inherent in organizational change. One reason many organizations struggle with implementing change is not managing the energy systems within change. These authors provide a blueprint to manage these energy systems. I would highly recommend reading this book.

Emphasis on the Value of People

Here's another book written by consultants to articulate their perspectives on the work that leaders must do to guide their organizations to success. Describing a systems orientation to leadership of people, the authors encourage the use of data, assessments, team work value statements, and their software. Recognizing that many executives concentrate on the technical aspect of management, using metrics that enable them to measure their performance, the authors focus on "making abstract social skills more empirical." I found the text to be similar to other leadership books, but not delivering new knowledge or breakthrough thinking. Chapter 10 (Blueprint for Change) includes an interesting presentation of the process of overcoming resistance and the impact of persistence on achieving change. There were a few other parts of the book that organized thinking in a helpful format, though the authors used a lot of the reader's time quoting other writers in the leadership field. I was hoping for more original work. Parts of the book seemed repetitive and, while the authors' software may be helpful, it was mentioned enough that I felt like I was being pitched. Interesting, there was no appendix explaining the software and its applicability. There is an index, but not a bibliography of all the books cited in the text.