Outsmart Your Leadership Genes: Practical Prescriptions for Today's Leaders

Becoming a more effective leader is a lifelong journey. We read books, attend courses, get advice from mentors, and learn from experience by doing what feels right in the moment. While each of these strategies is helpful, they don’t always take into account the simple truth that changing ourselves in fundamental ways is usually unrealistic and impractical. In the same way that we often have genetic predispositions to certain diseases, you as a leader are probably predisposed to certain personality and character traits. Unfortunately, these predispositions may at times interfere with your ability to be truly effective. Despite this reality, you can make changes in your work environment to override your predispositions and enhance your leadership effectiveness and impact. Just as you can incorporate new eating habits and exercise routines to help minimize your chances of getting a certain disease, you can incorporate changes in your work environment to help you be more impactful. This book provides you with practical and pragmatic techniques and strategies for change, most of which can be implemented immediately and require little or no organizational resources—and most importantly, no major (and almost impossible) personality transformation. We know from experience that making even the slightest environmental change can have a major positive impact, create a more motivational climate, and help you to be viewed as the leader you want to be. If you are an aspiring leader, a mid-level manager, or a seasoned executive looking for a fresh perspective on things and a simple yet powerful set of tools to enhance your leadership effectiveness, it’s time to get started and outsmart your leadership genes.