Yes, You're a Leader!: A Practical Guide to Leadership for Real People

Offering an array of fresh innovations to remedy the most daunting leadership challenges of today's complex and rapidly evolving world, this practical how-to guide is for anyone who has ever had qualms about his or her lack of leadership experience or imagined limitations. Everyone in a leadership or management role wants a quick and effective solution to the most severe problems. This book enables even a novice to proactively work through the largest challenges. Rather than providing clichés or superficial advice, the authors leverage the most impactful examples of key elements of leadership in a practical way that readers can translate to their own situations, no matter if they are in charge of a for-profit, not-for-profit, educational, religious, family, or social organization. The questions for analysis in each chapter specifically guide readers as they apply the material to their own experiences and challenges, making the insights pragmatic, relevant, and immediately useful. The book presents innovative tools and techniques, such as the use of Pascal's Wager to make momentous decisions despite gaps in relevant data and an uncertain future, as well as a way to reduce or eliminate the career-ending threat of any reader's most severe "Achilles' heel" vulnerabilities. The time management chapter supplies dozens of pragmatic ideas to do more in less time—and do it better; the chapter on "Quicksand Quadrants" enables any leader to quickly assess the optimal mix of approaches in any situation. It all adds up to an essential—and user-friendly—manual for every leader at every level.