Comments

And, by the way, Tom gave Steve a blurb, and this is what he said about the book: "Greater Than Yourself is a terrific--no, wonderful--idea. Steve is a tremendous writer and an original thinker."

Posted by cathy mosca at March 3, 2009 12:43 PM

And so classic the way the liberal media proclaimed "Greater Than ..." to the mistake prone & corruption connected USA president -

& now they reduce him to cartoonish Homer Simpson's soul brother: "D'oh-bama" & his new hand puppet lapdog from the USA British colony - Gordon Brown. :>)

Posted by C Love at March 3, 2009 6:27 PM

I wish I had written this book!
As a leadership expert myself I feel that the globe is now ready to hear that leadership is much more than time management and project management- at its core it is about generously giving energy, caring and attention to people- one at a time that will change corporations and therefore the world.
Cheryl Cran
www.cherylcran.com

Posted by Cheryl Cran at March 3, 2009 10:50 PM

Thank you all for the input. I have my own crusade on going back not to violate so systematically principles, morality, ethics, and other essentials. This, too, is a GLOBAL CRISIS worse than that of the Economy and Finance. The 700-billion "Main Street" activists / passive by-standers GOT TO GET ROLLING AGAINST CORRUPTION.

Going back to this subject, I highly value the idea of share actual storytelling to get the mistery out of the bewildering complexity.

Please visit my website at www.AgostiniWorks.blogspot.com

Posted by Andres Agostini (Andy) at March 4, 2009 2:27 AM

Just thinking...
Managers deliver products or services.
Leaders deliver leaders.

Thus, the leader is a manager whose product is someone like him, or greater.

Posted by gerson barbosa at March 4, 2009 7:12 AM

You know...

Lessons from the New Testament provided many examples of helping out your neighbor and those less fortunate than you (personal/professional). Did we, collectively, even as leaders and managers, believe that the lessons of the "Good Book" didn't apply to business? Since when were we not supposed to show compassion and caring in the workplace?

The problem in this case; it's way too late and huge damage has been done already. Will we really remember how important it is to take care of employees and those in need after the dust settles? We'll see...probably not...not as long as we continue to "reward" the executives that help put us in this predicament.

www.droppingalmonds.com

There is a story told at this website, and book, that isn't so glamorous, yet hopeful in change through lessons and leadership. Not just talk, but change; even if it requires great pain in the process! Until managers and leaders begin to sacrifice themselves first, instead of 100's of thousands of front line employees, things will not change in business. You can't teach compassion.

Andy----thanks for the link.

Gerson----to your point, we have an overwhelming amount of shit (product) out there in the marketplace right now.

Posted by Scott Peters at March 4, 2009 8:49 AM

Scott - bad examples spread too - unfortunately.
Andy - Steve Covey gives a good pespective when he says that, along 200 years of American literature about business success, there are two consecutive phases:

>150 years of "character ethics", where you win by being morally good.
>50 years with a prevailing "personality ethics", meaning use such and such tricks and you will succeed.

Christian writer Dietrich Bonhoeffer (who lived during WWII), while maintaining that ethics should not monitor every minute of people´s actions, states that there are limits to be always respected.

One common sympton of these crises is the excessive reaction - today corruption, tomorrow a big brother spying everybody.
The baby goes with the water and everybody looses more than necessary.
There should be a happy medium somewhere around the middle of the range.

Posted by gerson barbosa at March 4, 2009 3:33 PM

Steve Farber is a wise man. What surprises me is that we are surprised by what he writes.

Why are Steve’s common sense, simplicity and pragmatism seen as somehow ‘radical’ and ‘innovative?’ These are ideas we’ve known for centuries. Steve has obviously articulated them well. Why are we only now acknowledging that the most important bottom line is caring for your people? Genuinely valuing your front line employees has always been the first principle as far as I’m concerned. I’ve been saying this since Adam was a bay.

I agree with Scott that we can learn much from the New Testament. I am saddened we do not learn as much as we could from the greatest book ever written. There is so much management and leadership wisdom in there – particularly about respecting, valuing and celebrating the weak, the poor and the sick.

I also fear – like Scott – that once we drag ourselves out of this downturn, managers will quickly forget the current lip service ‘compassion’ for front liners and return to the bad old days of forgetting our front line folks in the clamour for rich pickings at the top of the tree while neglecting our roots. That analogy perhaps explains to some extent why things have gone pear shaped in a big way now – we have neglected to nourish our roots (i.e. our front line employees) in the frantic search for treasure, personal wealth and Warhol's 15 minutes of fame.

In my experience the greatest leaders ALWAYS have humility as one of their key characteristics.

Posted by Trevor Gay at March 4, 2009 3:40 PM

Steve has written another excellent book.

I believe that a Common Sense philosophy and good values are core to successful leaders.

These are not radical ideals, but they are unfortunately rarely demonstrated. Self discipline and true acceptance of your values is key to success. It's one thing to talk, but until you believe in your heart and thus can walk the walk without having to think about it you will be a fraud.

Steve hit the nail on the head with "A Radical Leap" and "Greater than Yourself" is just another step in maturation as a leader.

Thanks Steve for your insight.

Posted by Dave Holland at March 4, 2009 3:58 PM

I think you all are right on (except, maybe, that "wise man" part). You could say that the core of Greater Than Yourself is spiritual in that, in essence, it's really an exploration of the Golden Rule (on steroids). And as I explored the subject, I found it interesting that every major religion and school of thought on the planet (including, by the way, humanist atheism) has its own version of the same do-unto-others sentiment.

And in none of those versions will you find a footnote saying, "Does not apply Monday through Friday between the hours of 9 and 5, or in any situation where a paycheck is involved."

In other words, it DOES apply at work. Or it should. GTY is my attempt to get people to go beyond the nearly-universal lip service we give to this idea and actually put it into practice.

Always a timely endeavor, in my estimation.

Posted by Steve Farber at March 4, 2009 5:17 PM

Trevor-----ditto, no big surprise that we're in agreement.

Gerson-----Today corruption, Today big brother is spying on everyone. I like Obama, and I'm hoping that he can lead us out of a terrible predicament, but I was horribly disappointed in him this week. His transparency of government was largely overshadowed by a "secret letter" to the Russians saying if you'll do this, we'll do that. Now granted, this is the nature of politics and I'm not surprised, but is that really transparent? I mean, I have good friends, like Trevor in the UK and others in Europe, that rely on open dialog with the US to maintain a unified front. If you say that you're going to be transparent, be transparent.

Steve----you are a wise man because you elect to help change the landscape of business by offering alternatives to today's horrific problems. You are part of the solution and so is your book.

Check out Trevor's site at http://simplicityitk.blogspot.com. You'll find a very SIMPLE approach to today's complex problems. We must not forget the New Testament as the ultimate lesson in teachings from a prophet, or our Lord from those who are Christian. We cannot leave our faith at the altar on Sunday. True Christians will carry their lessons with them daily, which leaves many of us competing at a disadvantage in a greedy, corrupt, and immoral climate.

A good takeaway from your comments. Managers and leaders that go to church on Sundays and turn their backs Monday through Saturday, everyone notices your contradiction of character.

Some of the people I fear most---those who profess their religion all the time; yet their actions are in total contradication to their peity.

Those I hold in high regard----you don't know if they go to church or not but their actions are in sync with those who follow the Golden Rule.

Feel free to drop a couple pounds in Trevor's jukebox to the right on his page.

Posted by Scott Peters at March 4, 2009 9:47 PM

This is a great book and I agree with Cheryl Cran that "leadership is much more than time management and project management- at its core it is about generously giving energy, caring and attention to people- one at a time that will change corporations and therefore the world." The challenge we see at Tignum is that leaders are being put under incredible pressures and they are becoming exhausted. They have never learned how to improve their energy, resilience, capacity and brain performance. There is a great book coming out soon called Sink, Float or Swim and I think it will be a great adjunct to Steve's book. If you want to learn more about what I'm talking about check out our blog at www.tignum.com. Thanks Tom for recommending this book.
Cheryl Cran

Posted by Scott Peltin at March 6, 2009 6:25 PM