The Way Of The Shepherd and awe insipiring book on leadership

[eminus 0]

I have read a wonderfull book that teaches us how to be a leader or a flock.
I have scoured the internet and found a good review on it similar to mine
here it goes

Source: http://forums.xisto.com/no_longer_exists/

Review

“’The principles of the Way of the Shepherd still work after thousands of years because the basic needs of people have remained essentially the same,’ he explained. “as to why more people don’t shepherd their people, Jack answered that himself. Great leadership comes at a price that too few are willing to pay.’”
Written as a story of a cub reporter’s interview with the most respected CEO in America, The Way of the Shepherd: 7 Ancient Secrets to Managing Productive People by Kevin Leman and William Pentak is a short, easy to read text full of useful principles to effective leadership and supervision. Theodore McBride, CEO of General Technologies, a Texas based organization, shares the lessons he learned as a young MBA student from his mentor – an eccentric yet brilliant professor, Jack Neumann.

Through a series of safe and supportive mentoring sessions, most of which revolve around Jack’s small flock of prized sheep, Dr. Neumann helps Ted explore the secrets of becoming an effective shepherd-leader in his new position as a supervisor of nine employees at General Technologies. Over the course of seven weeks, Jack assists Ted in coming to understand seven ancient principles of shepherding a flock of sheep, as well as people: Knowing the Condition of Your Flock, Discovering the Shape of Your Sheep, Helping Your Sheep Identify with You, Making Your Pasture a Safe Place, The Staff of Direction, The Rod of Correction, and The heart of the Shepherd. Although only 123 pages in length, “The Way of the Shepherd” offers very powerful lessons in leading others in very simplistic, everyday terms. The simple lessons taught by Leman and Pentak are things we as leaders rarely think about. However, if you care about the people you supervise, this short but insightful book is a must read.

Summary of Main PointsEach of the books seven chapters focuses on a different principle of effective supervision which Jack learned as a result of working with sheep since he was a young boy on his father’s farm. The principles Jack shares with Ted include:

1. Know the Condition of Your Flock
Follow the status of your people as well as the status of the work.
Get to know your flock, one person at a time.
Engage your people on a regular basis.
Keep your eyes and ears open, question, and follow through.

2. Discover the Shape of your Sheep
Your choice of people can make flock management easier or harder.
Start with healthy people, or you’ll inherit someone else’s problem.
Know the SHAPE of your people to make sure they’re in the right fold.

3. Help Your Sheep Identify with You
Build trust with your followers by modeling authenticity, integrity, and compassion.
Set high standards of performance.
Engage your people on a regular basis.
Relentlessly communicate your values and sense of mission.
Define the cause for your people and tell them where they fit in.
Remember that great leadership isn’t just professional; it’s personal.

4. Make Your Pasture a Safe Place
Keep your people well informed.
Infuse every position with importance.
Cull chronic instigators from the flock.
Regularly rotate your people to fresh pastures.
Reassure your people by staying visible.
Don’t give problems time to fester.

5. The Staff of Direction
Know where you’re going, get out in front, and keep your flock on the move.
When directing, use persuasion rather than coercion.
Give your people freedom of movement, but make sure they know where the fence line is.
Don’t confuse boundaries with bridles.
When your people get in trouble, go and get them out.
Remind your people that failure isn’t fatal.

6. The Rod of Correction
Protect: Stand in the gap and fight for your people.
Correct: Approach discipline as a teaching opportunity.
Inspect: Regularly inquire about your people’s progress.

7. The Heart of the Shepherd
Great leadership is a lifestyle, not a technique.
Every day you have to decide who’s going to pay for your leadership – you or your people.
Most of all, have a heart for your people.

Call To Action As a result of reading The Way of the Shepherd: 7 Ancient Secrets to Managing
Productive People, the following strategies jump out as immediate steps to effective leadership/supervision:
Get out of the office, interact with the people on your team.
Get to know what is important to them as people, not just workers.
Remember that it is the people who get all the work done, they’re your greatest competitive advantage.
Treat each person as an individual, not just a member of the team.
Engage with the people on the team on a regular basis.