Review of The Leaders You Leave Behind
1 posts
[Following is an official OnlineBookClub.org review of "The Leaders You Leave Behind" by R Moore.]
This book, The Leaders You Leave Behind: Mission First, People Always, by Robert Moore, is another one of those books I would place in the self-help and development category that offers something far different from what you would expect from other books on this topic, and in a very non-boring way too, bringing in really interesting experiences, examples, and case studies. As said in the Foreword, "If you read this book looking for a formula that guarantees perfect leadership, you will not find one. If you read it looking for principles that can help you become a better leader tomorrow than you were yesterday, then I hope you will find something valuable here." He establishes his central thesis that the most effective leadership style is a hybrid of 1990s military discipline and modern servant leadership. He argues that a leader's primary duty is to achieve the mission by serving and developing the people who carry it out.
Going on to the chapters, you would see the uniqueness of this book. In the first chapter, Mission First, People Always, Moore explains that reaching your goals and taking care of your workers are not opposites; they are actually the exact same thing. He warns against being a "Mission Tyrant" who treats people badly just to finish a job quickly, because that causes the team to burn out. He also warns against being a "People Pleaser" who only tries to keep everyone happy while ignoring the work, because that causes the team to fail. The best leaders set high standards but also give their team the support they need to succeed. In another chapter, Chapter 3, Moore talks about giving your team the power to make decisions instead of trying to control everything yourself. He beautifully explains that the people who are actually doing the work and are closest to the problem usually know how to solve it best. Leaders must also make sure their team is well-trained and knows their boundaries so they feel confident making choices without constantly asking for permission. There is so much more in the other chapters regarding discipline and standards, communication, adaptability, and even building your own personal leadership philosophy, your own "leadership constitution," which is very important.
Well-written and, very importantly, useful books like this make you want to say so much, and it's normal; it's very hard to completely describe amazing things. I think the most wonderful aspect of this book, which especially made it really interesting and not boring to read, something that is usually a problem with self-help and development books, is that there are just enough experiences here, especially from the author, that not only challenge you but also make the book really interesting to read. This starts right from the beginning, when the author asked the CIO of a large public school district what he would need to do to get his job someday, and the response he got was, "Leave." He explained that the author needed to gain executive experience as a CIO in a smaller district first. This was after he had left the military. Obviously, by reading this book, you would come to understand this better, and there are practices that usually end the chapters to help the reader make better use of what was read.
There's this part where the author talked about how he used the battle roster check, which he described as one of the most powerful communication practices he learned in the military, in his civilian leadership. The battle roster check was used to verify that everyone was present, okay, and understood what happened and what came next after every significant event—a movement, an attack, or a patrol. Leaders would account for every person in their unit. The author used this to connect with each of his direct reports every week, even if it was just for at least five minutes. This helped prevent small problems from becoming big ones. There is much more that cannot all be said here but should be left for potential readers to find out. Then there is also a great highlight of the book, where the author passes on the message that a leader's true worth is measured by the "coaching tree" of other leaders they develop, something he came to recognize. That is how he measures his success currently, unlike before, when he measured it by missions supported, systems implemented, and problems solved.
The book is just very well done, and the organization, structure, and editing are other very impressive features that make it a really recommendable book. They show the amount of effort the author put into it. I always try to commend books like this, and it's always priceless to get advice from people with experiences that cannot be bought. I don't have any dislikes about the book, and the professional editing of this book is really good, but it still needs a little more work to reach an exceptionally flawless level, as I found two errors while reading.
I rate this book 5 out of 5 stars, especially because, for the topic it addresses, it is not lacking in any way. Read the book and find out exactly what I'm saying. This leadership approach described here has worked repeatedly across different environments. Teams led by leaders who believe in mission first, people always tend to become stronger over time, but without those principles, short-term success could still be achieved. The real deal, however, is the serious struggle that would come with sustaining it. I would leave my recommendation to remain the same audience the author wrote this book for, as I agree with him: supervisors, managers, and executives in the military, the corporate world, nonprofits, or education; readers who want clear, applied principles over academic theory; and those who don't mind a writer who admits his own failures along the way.
******
The Leaders You Leave Behind
View: on Bookshelves |
This book, The Leaders You Leave Behind: Mission First, People Always, by Robert Moore, is another one of those books I would place in the self-help and development category that offers something far different from what you would expect from other books on this topic, and in a very non-boring way too, bringing in really interesting experiences, examples, and case studies. As said in the Foreword, "If you read this book looking for a formula that guarantees perfect leadership, you will not find one. If you read it looking for principles that can help you become a better leader tomorrow than you were yesterday, then I hope you will find something valuable here." He establishes his central thesis that the most effective leadership style is a hybrid of 1990s military discipline and modern servant leadership. He argues that a leader's primary duty is to achieve the mission by serving and developing the people who carry it out.
Going on to the chapters, you would see the uniqueness of this book. In the first chapter, Mission First, People Always, Moore explains that reaching your goals and taking care of your workers are not opposites; they are actually the exact same thing. He warns against being a "Mission Tyrant" who treats people badly just to finish a job quickly, because that causes the team to burn out. He also warns against being a "People Pleaser" who only tries to keep everyone happy while ignoring the work, because that causes the team to fail. The best leaders set high standards but also give their team the support they need to succeed. In another chapter, Chapter 3, Moore talks about giving your team the power to make decisions instead of trying to control everything yourself. He beautifully explains that the people who are actually doing the work and are closest to the problem usually know how to solve it best. Leaders must also make sure their team is well-trained and knows their boundaries so they feel confident making choices without constantly asking for permission. There is so much more in the other chapters regarding discipline and standards, communication, adaptability, and even building your own personal leadership philosophy, your own "leadership constitution," which is very important.
Well-written and, very importantly, useful books like this make you want to say so much, and it's normal; it's very hard to completely describe amazing things. I think the most wonderful aspect of this book, which especially made it really interesting and not boring to read, something that is usually a problem with self-help and development books, is that there are just enough experiences here, especially from the author, that not only challenge you but also make the book really interesting to read. This starts right from the beginning, when the author asked the CIO of a large public school district what he would need to do to get his job someday, and the response he got was, "Leave." He explained that the author needed to gain executive experience as a CIO in a smaller district first. This was after he had left the military. Obviously, by reading this book, you would come to understand this better, and there are practices that usually end the chapters to help the reader make better use of what was read.
There's this part where the author talked about how he used the battle roster check, which he described as one of the most powerful communication practices he learned in the military, in his civilian leadership. The battle roster check was used to verify that everyone was present, okay, and understood what happened and what came next after every significant event—a movement, an attack, or a patrol. Leaders would account for every person in their unit. The author used this to connect with each of his direct reports every week, even if it was just for at least five minutes. This helped prevent small problems from becoming big ones. There is much more that cannot all be said here but should be left for potential readers to find out. Then there is also a great highlight of the book, where the author passes on the message that a leader's true worth is measured by the "coaching tree" of other leaders they develop, something he came to recognize. That is how he measures his success currently, unlike before, when he measured it by missions supported, systems implemented, and problems solved.
The book is just very well done, and the organization, structure, and editing are other very impressive features that make it a really recommendable book. They show the amount of effort the author put into it. I always try to commend books like this, and it's always priceless to get advice from people with experiences that cannot be bought. I don't have any dislikes about the book, and the professional editing of this book is really good, but it still needs a little more work to reach an exceptionally flawless level, as I found two errors while reading.
I rate this book 5 out of 5 stars, especially because, for the topic it addresses, it is not lacking in any way. Read the book and find out exactly what I'm saying. This leadership approach described here has worked repeatedly across different environments. Teams led by leaders who believe in mission first, people always tend to become stronger over time, but without those principles, short-term success could still be achieved. The real deal, however, is the serious struggle that would come with sustaining it. I would leave my recommendation to remain the same audience the author wrote this book for, as I agree with him: supervisors, managers, and executives in the military, the corporate world, nonprofits, or education; readers who want clear, applied principles over academic theory; and those who don't mind a writer who admits his own failures along the way.
******
The Leaders You Leave Behind
View: on Bookshelves |
You are not logged in. Please log in or sign up to view members replies, participate in the discussion, and access more features.
