Suggested reading

Citation

Rao, M.S. (2015), "Suggested reading", Human Resource Management International Digest, Vol. 23 No. 4. https://doi.org/10.1108/HRMID-05-2015-0073

Suggested reading

Article Type: Suggested reading From: Human Resource Management International Digest, Volume 23, Issue 4

Dimitris Bourantas and Vasia Agapitou, Gower, 2014, ISBN: 9781472420688

Dimitris Bourantas and Vasia Agapitou’s Leadership Meta-Competencies: Discovering Hidden Virtues examines existential intelligence, phronesis, solitude and corporate culture. The authors opine that the existing literature on leadership is immense and, to a great degree, inconsistent, confusing and not integrated.

The book explains that phronesis is the ability to see beyond narrow reality. It cannot be separated from action and is the key to spirituality. Phronesis takes time to be acquired and mastered but it can be learned. To cultivate critical phronesis leadership, an organization must provide a mechanism for learning through high-quality experiences.

The book explains that historically, solitude has been associated with beneficial outcomes. Religious leaders such as Moses, Buddha and Jesus, writers such as Henry David Thoreau and Kafka and also scientists have resorted to and appreciated solitude. The positive effects of solitude on leadership are: enhancing leaders’ self-awareness and self-leadership; facilitating leaders’ envisioning; enhancing leaders’ learning and self-development; facilitating creative thinking, decision-making and problem-solving; developing leaders’ authenticity; and facilitating leaders’ reflection, imagination and morally right thinking.

The book outlines the benefits of trust for teams: psychological safety; open communication; win-win behavior; reduced confrontation; mutual understanding; respect of diversity; knowledge sharing; team learning; and consensus.

The book explains that organizational culture is expressed in dress code, the layout of the offices, the communication format and in rituals and ceremonies. Corporate culture functions as a mental framework shared by members of the organization. For example, the basic elements of the culture of General Electric are speed, simplicity, continuous learning-improvement, the absence of closed doors and few hierarchical levels. The main elements of the culture at Southwest Airlines are an emphasis on people, a pleasant, casual working environment, low-cost flights and high-quality customer service. The 3M corporate culture encourages a continuous quest for new solutions.

Competence describes the ability of an individual to do a job or a task successfully. It also provides a structured guide to the identification, evaluation and development of behaviors in people. Some scholars see competence as a combination of practical and theoretical knowledge, cognitive skills, behavior and values used to improve performance or as the state or quality of being adequately or well qualified, having the ability to perform a specific role.

Successful leaders make the journey from seeing themselves as an independent entity to viewing themselves as part of a larger whole, and also help others toward this realization.

There is evidence that leaders who have devoted time to self-exploration become more attentive and observant of the discrepancy between actions and relevant ideals.

Leaders are responsible for providing to employees at all levels of their organization compelling reasons to work because when employees have a “why” to work toward, they can cope with any “what”.

Existential thinking can help people to manage their own adversities and maybe discover their true calling and purpose. It can also enable them, as leaders, to help others to cope with difficult situations, show their best self and sustain high levels of performance.

Humble leaders are considered to be more willing to learn from their experiences and from other people and have a great desire to serve others and not just themselves. Additionally, they tend to make better decisions, as they eagerly and sincerely seek advice, talk to people, work as a team – not pretending that they know everything.

There is an Indian proverb that says that everyone is a house with four rooms – a physical, a mental, an emotional and a spiritual room. Most of us tend to live in one room most of the time but, unless we go into every room every day, even if only to keep it aired, we are not a complete person.

Leadership cannot be cut down to a scientific process. It incorporates virtues, emotions and ethics.

Character is a notion that is under-researched in leadership literature. This is not the result of its insignificance but because of the inherent difficulty in defining and, consequently, operationalizing it.

Educational systems are responsible for providing the necessary link with experience. This can be accomplished by transforming the current educational paradigms from mainly didactic to more experiential. Experiential learning is a process of making meaning and learning from direct experience and through reflection on doing. Although primarily a theory of learning relevant to schools, experiential learning in business has become very important. It is considered among the most powerful teaching and learning tools available.

The book explains various leadership competencies and styles. It contains case studies, tables and figures. It provides lots of examples and illustrations of prestigious global companies. It is useful for leadership learners, scholars and practitioners.

Reviewed by Professor Rao M.S. available at: www.amazon.com/M.-S.-Rao/e/B00MB63BKM, msrlctrg@gmail.com

Managing the Urgent and Unexpected: 12 Project Cases and a Commentary

Stephen Wearne and Keith White-Hunt, Gower, 2014, ISBN: 9781472442505

If you want to manage uncertainty and complexity, read this book. If you want to acquire tools and techniques to ensure organizational stability and excellence, read this book. Stephen Wearne and Keith White-Hunt’s Managing the Urgent and Unexpected lists 12 cases on unexpectedness.

Sometimes, unanticipated threats or opportunities create a situation in which work is required unexpectedly. On these occasions, such urgent and unexpected work demands an instant start, in contrast to the often lengthy processes of investigation, evaluation, development, selection and planning normal in businesses and public services before the start of a project. The book explores what is different managerially if work is unexpected, its implementation is urgent and an immediate start is required.

The authors draw on cases ranging from the launch of the Freeview television system in the United Kingdom to the sifting and removal of the New York World Trade Center pile of debris following the 9/11 terrorist attacks. They summarize how the response to each of these events was managed, demonstrate that opportunities may sometimes be created in the face of adversity and suggest how normal organizations can prepare to manage abnormal demands.

Urgent and unexpected projects have to be rare in business or government to be economically and socially tolerable. Yet, organizations can and should be prepared for the unexpected. The lessons offered here will help private and public organizations to plan how to authorize and support future urgent work to take advantage of immediate new business opportunities or to protect or restore systems and services.

Chapter 1 helps you to get started. Chapters 2 and 3 explore what is meant by describing work as urgent and as unexpected. The authors look for similarities and for differences in how 12 urgent and unexpected projects were managed. Chapter 4 reviews how they were started. Chapter 5 examines how they were managed. Chapter 6 then draws on these to compare reviews of urgent and unexpected projects with normal ones. Chapter 7 is a checklist with comments on how business and government organizations can prepare for future urgent and unexpected projects and learn lessons for normal projects. Chapter 8 outlines thoughts for normal projects, lessons of the events described, institutional lessons and how to prepare for opportunities.

What is seen as urgent at one level in an organization may not be seen as urgent at other levels. Various stakeholders, suppliers and other contributors to a project could vary in their understanding and their response to work stated as being urgent. Working faster than normal may or may not mean priority in the use of resources. Interpretations of urgent can vary from a very strong and commanding “do it now at the expense of everything else” to “business as usual – only quicker”.

The word unexpected has a range of meanings. For instance, unexpected can mean that an event was never thought of previously, or it can mean that the event was thought of but the possibility of it happening was not allowed for.

The book provides figures, tables, charts and diagrams to get across the content easily to the readers. It is written in a conversational tone. It is useful for learners and leaders.

Reviewed by Professor Rao M.S. available at: www.amazon.com/M.-S.-Rao/e/B00MB63BKM, msrlctrg@gmail.com

The Mentoring Manual – Your Step-by-Step Guide to Being a Better Mentor

Julie Starr, FT Press, 2014, ISBN: 9781292017891

Julie Starr’s The Mentoring Manual – Your Step-by-Step Guide to Being a Better Mentor contains seven chapters revealing: what mentoring is and how to do it well; why mentoring is so successful for businesses and employees; how to develop key skills like listening, collaboration and facilitation; the pitfalls mentors can fall into and how to avoid them; how to set boundaries and define mentoring relationships; and how to pass on skills, experience and expertise to colleagues and contacts.

The author explains that mentoring is a rich source of self-learning and personal growth. It offers the opportunity to make a tangible difference to the success of others. This might be to help increase their confidence or ability, or support their career success.

She advances the view that people may want a mentor for one or more of these reasons:

• they feel they lack experience, contacts or awareness in a specific area or situation;

• they feel that something is missing from what they know, what they do or how they think and they want to learn from someone they feel can help them to bridge a gap;

• they want to mature and develop generally, for example, to be able to operate in a pressurized work environment or stay balanced and self-confident;

• they have reached some kind of barrier and feel they need a more individualized relationship with someone who has direct experience in their type of situation; and

• they feel they would benefit from an open, trusting relationship with someone they can look up to or at least respect for what they have experienced and learned during their career.

The author explains the principles that, in mentoring, your relationship is one of equality and yet has a natural bias/emphasis; the responsibility for learning, progress and results ultimately rests with the person being mentored; mentoring is collaboration between you, your mentee and “everyday life”’; ultimately, what your mentee chooses to do, learn or ignore from the mentoring is not the mentor’s business; some results of mentoring can be identified or measured, while others cannot; staying aware of the above principles and reviewing them occasionally can help us to maintain constructive views of situations and make resourceful choices in relation to them.

When we begin interacting with our mentee, we can feel a heightened sense of pressure to perform. A mentor’s agenda can often develop as he or she begins to form subjective views or judgment. By now you will know each other well enough to meet without the need for formality.

Reflection notes are an easy and powerful way to help you learn faster. We are in active relationships with our mentors over a distinct period of time and yet their influence continues beyond that.

Your mentee’s sense of relatedness to you is encouraged through your attention. It is fairly natural for a relationship to wobble or lose some momentum. Mentoring does not happen in a vacuum, it happens as part of real life.

Effective listening is like a muscle you develop over time. For great listening, we need both a constructive intention and focused attention. If we have one without the other, such as a constructive intention but scattered attention, we are still listening but less effectively.

You need to build a position of positive influence in your relationship with your mentee. The mentor’s aim is to support the mentee’s growth and progress while increasing the sense of empowerment.

As a mentor, your assistance can take various forms, from the tangible to the intangible. Even if you are given initial training to be a mentor, ultimately you will learn most through practice. Part of your skill as an effective mentor is to maintain a sense of respect from your mentee.

Each chapter in the book begins with an inspiring quote. The book has exercises, tables, hints and tips, reflection questions, checklists and summaries at the end of each chapter. The language is simple, and the book is written in conversational tone. It is a well-researched book, useful for educators, scholars, learners and leaders.

Reviewed by Professor Rao M.S. available at: www.amazon.com/M.-S.-Rao/e/B00MB63BKM, msrlctrg@gmail.com

Leadership and Mindful Behavior: Action, Wakefulness and Business

Joan Marques, Palgrave Macmillan, 2014, ISBN: 9781137405609

Joan Marques’s Leadership and Mindful Behavior: Action, Wakefulness and Business describes sleepwalking, wakefulness, reflection, mental models, soft and hard skills. It advances the view that leadership should not be restricted to professional settings, but rather should be seen as having much wider scope.

The book suggests that self-reflection can bring: self-awareness, allowing you to better understand your emotions and drives, improve your strengths and address your weaknesses; self-leadership, allowing you to adapt more quickly and better to changes and to resolve challenges without taking them personally; transformational leadership skills, enabling you to become more transparent and honest, develop more trust in your relationships and acquire a positive outlook; and social skills, enabling you to connect better with others and understand their motivations, thus understanding the surrounding dynamics and decision-making processes better.

The author suggests that to attain a mindset that ensures personal and professional excellence, you should become a lifelong learner to ensure personal and professional mastery. Renew your skills regularly through internal and external training and discipline. Help others, which will help you to develop your capacity to be loving, conscious and filled with awe and wonder. Work hard, because hard work leads to more experience and, hence, greater excellence. Maintain good physical and mental balance because both matter for your overall well-being.

This book asserts that personal and professional excellence do not happen overnight and do not occur on a single level. If you want to maintain personal and professional excellence, you have to become familiar with the idea that you will have to renew your paradigms constantly.

A broad mindset requires a lot of effort because it is not something you acquire at some point in your life and then hold forever. There are many people and companies who once performed at the top of their line because they were zestful and adventurous but became complacent. Blockbuster, for example, was hit by Netflix; Dell had to take on the competition of mobile devices; Kodak had to adapt to the digital era; Microsoft had to adopt to the challenge of Web TV, e-books, smart-phones and tablets; Sears lost market share to aggressive discount stores such as Walmart and Target; Sony focused on hardware at a time when software took the upper hand, leaving space for Samsung, Apple and others to take part of its market; and Yahoo had to take on the challenge of Google which was inventing new products and making numerous smart moves.

The book outlines inspiring examples. Cervantes wrote Don Quixote when he was 53 years old and in prison after a life of misery and failures. Winston Churchill became prime minister of Great Britain at age 66. Colonel Harland David Sanders founded the Kentucky Fried Chicken franchise at age 65. Joshua Millner won an Olympic gold medal at age 61.

When you work with people, they may not tell you everything, but they observe, they read and they talk. Your moral footprint is one they will quickly assess.

Respect is something you earn through your behavior. It is shaped when you keep your promises: when you serve beyond the call of duty; when you are genuinely involved in the highs and lows of your colleagues and customers; when you take responsibility, even if you do not have to.

Many leaders complain about their misfortune in business but fail to take a critical and reflective look at what their successful competitors are doing.

If you do not know what your motives are, you will pick up just anything and exhaust yourself with things that may not be meaningful to you. Many people make the mistake, especially when they are young, of comparing themselves to others. They admire a celebrity or someone they know from one of the environments they frequent and try to mirror his or her qualities, looks, behavior and even habits.

When we sleepwalk in our professional environment, we engage in activities that may give us brief episodes of excitement but that cannot grant us any real contentment.

Regret and guilt are mental stages that only inhibit the courage you need for future decision-making. If all the world’s great leaders were regretful about decisions they made, they would not have achieved the greatness we know them for today. The best you can do after a poor decision is to move on, doing the best you can to improve the situation.

Choices and decisions are closely related. We need choices before we can make decisions.

People with self-leadership competencies and high emotional intelligence are able to manage their own thoughts and behaviors, achieve their goals and be productive, because they have learned to guide and regulate themselves through intrinsic motivation and constructive thinking.

The best way to earn respect is to show that you care. If you do not care, people will only stay around you as long as they do not have another place to go to. As soon as an alternative surfaces, they will be gone.

How you perceive the world is based on your mental models. It is important to understand this, because doing so can help you understand that there are multiple ways of considering “the truth”.

A person who applies soft skills focuses on a combination of interpersonal and social skills. Both soft and hard skills are important for leaders because they complement one another.

The book contains lots of case studies, inspiring examples and anecdotes. It is a widely researched book with lots of references, and is written in a conversational tone. It is useful for learners and leaders at all levels.

Reviewed by Professor Rao M.S. available at: www.amazon.com/M.-S.-Rao/e/B00MB63BKM, msrlctrg@gmail.com