This book helps managers recognize hidden gems in the workplace and learn how to utilize them for their greatest impact. Think you can spot the leaders in your company? Don’t assume that you can identify them by their positions. What about those employees who consistently step up: the field agent who solves a previously intractable problem; the service rep who thinks outside the box and creates unshakeable customer loyalty. These are more than “good employees”, these are “hidden leaders” and they are critical to an organization’s long-term success. Managers today need to make the most of all their resources—and The Hidden Leader shows them how to identify and cultivate these talented but under utilized employees, who: Demonstrate integrity Lead through authentic relationships Focus on results Work from clear customer purpose Fulfill the value promise of the company Don’t settle for the traditional feedback that tells you these are “good employees” who deserve a pat on the back and a 3 percent increase at the end of the year. These hidden leaders will soon be pulled out by another organization giving them the opportunity they deserve. Supported by real-world examples of hidden leaders in action--and QR codes readers can scan for instant access to online assessments--The Hidden Leader helps managers discover these secret saviors and enable them to deliver even greater value to customers.

Access the power of your personal vision and translate it into truly dynamic leadership.

Wall Street Journal Bestseller From the acclaimed author of Turn the Ship Around!, former US Navy Captain David Marquet, comes a radical new playbook for empowering your team to make better decisions and take greater ownership. You might imagine that an effective leader is someone who makes quick, intelligent decisions, gives inspiring speeches, and issues clear orders to their team so they can execute a plan to achieve your organization's goals. Unfortunately, David Marquet argues, that's an outdated model of leadership that just doesn't work anymore. As a leader in today's networked, information-dense business climate, you don't have full visibility into your organization or the ground reality of your operating environment. In order to harness the eyes, ears, and minds of your people, you need to foster a climate of collaborative experimentation that encourages people to speak up when they notice problems and work together to identify and test solutions. Too many leaders fall in love with the sound of their own voice, and wind up dictating plans and digging in their heels when problems begin to emerge. Even when you want to be a more collaborative leader, you can undermine your own efforts by defaulting to command-and-control language we've inherited from the industrial era. It's time to ditch the industrial age playbook of leadership. In Leadership is Language, you'll learn how choosing your words can dramatically improve decision-making and execution on your team. Marquet outlines six plays for all leaders, anchored in how you use language: • Control the clock, don't obey the clock: Pre-plan decision points and give your people the tools they need to hit pause on a plan of action if they notice something wrong. • Collaborate, don't coerce: As the leader, you should be the last one to offer your opinion. Rather than locking your team into binary responses ("Is this a good plan?"), allow them to answer on a scale ("How confident are you about this plan?") • Commit, don't comply: Rather than expect your team to comply with specific directions, explain your overall goals, and get their commitment to achieving it one piece at a time. • Complete, not continue: If every day feels like a repetition of the last, you're doing something wrong. Articulate concrete plans with a start and end date to align your team. • Improve, don't prove: Ask your people to improve on plans and processes, rather than prove that they can meet fixed goals or deadlines. You'll face fewer cut corners and better long-term results. • Connect, don't conform: Flatten hierarchies in your organization and connect with your people to encourage them to contribute to decision-making. In his last book, Turn the Ship Around!, Marquet told the incredible story of abandoning command-and-control leadership on his submarine and empowering his crew to turn the worst performing submarine to the best performer in the fleet. Now, with Leadership is Language he gives businesspeople the tools they need to achieve such transformational leadership in their organizations.

Improve teacher collaboration and improve student learning by capacity building grade level leaders, heads of faculty, coordinators, deputy principals and every other middle leader in your school to build and lead teams that our mission driven.

Complete your leadership toolkit with this inside look at high-level, executive positions Hidden Truths: What Leaders Need to Hear But Are Rarely Told delivers profound and rarely discussed insights about C-suite jobs that provide aspiring leaders with practical, new skills that will equip them for the immense challenges of their desired jobs. Through 14 illuminating chapters, accomplished Harvard Business School faculty member and former Senior Partner of McKinsey & Company sets out the essential habits that help leaders create success, time and time again. You'll learn: How to recognize the limits of monetary incentives for employees and colleagues To manage your relationships with members of the Board of Directors How to value and realize true diversity How to manage mergers and acquisitions properly, one of the most difficult parts of business leadership Perfect for managers, executives, and other business leaders with an eye on the C-suite, Hidden Truths also belongs on the bookshelves of people who already find themselves in a C-level position and wish to learn how to better manage the stresses and challenges of the job.

Chapter 5: Customers, Products, Services . . . . . . . . . . . . . 129 Close Customer Relations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 130 Customer Requirements. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 134 Dependence on the Customer and Risk Aspects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 135 Achieving Closeness to Customer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 139 Product and Service Spectrum . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 144 Summary. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 156 Chapter 6: Innovation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 159 What Does Innovation Mean?. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 159 High Level of Innovativeness . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 163 Driving Forces of Innovation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 172 The Origin of Innovations. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 176 Leadership and Organizational Aspects of Innovation . . . . . . . . . . . . 179 Summary. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 187 Chapter 7: Competition . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 191 Competitive Structure and Conduct . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 191 The Hidden Champions in the Light of Porter’s “Five Forces” . . . . . 195 Competitive Advantages. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 197 Sustainability of Competitive Advantages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 203 Demonstration of Competitive Superiority . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 205 Competitive Edge and Costs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 207 Sparring Partners for Competitive Fitness . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 214 Excessive Competitive Orientation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 217 Summary. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 218 Chapter 8: Financing, Organization, and Business Environment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 223 Financing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 224 Organization . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 228 Contents ix Organization of the Value Chain . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 237 Business Environment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 249 Entrepreneurial Clusters. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 251 Summary. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 253 Chapter 9: Employees . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 257 Job Creation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 257 Corporate Culture . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 260 Quali?cations and Learning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 274 Creativity of Employees . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 278 Recruiting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 279 Summary. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 282 Chapter 10: The Leaders . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 285 Structures of Ownership and Leadership . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 286 How Crucial Is Leadership? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 289 Leadership Continuity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 289 Young to the Top . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 293 Powerful Women . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 294 Internationalization of Management . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 298 Personalities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 300 Leadership Styles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 305 Management Succession . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 306 Summary. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 310 Chapter 11: Hidden Champions: Audit and Strategy Development . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 315 What Is Strategy? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 316 Hidden Champion Strategy: For Whom? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 316 Hidden Champions – Audits . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 317 Strategy Development . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 325 Strategies for Value Propositions and Pricing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 335 Organization and Implementation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

The book introduces the concept of narrative intelligencean ability to understand and act and react agilely in the quicksilver world of interacting narratives. It shows why this is key to the central task of leadership, what its dimensions are, and how you can measure it. The books lucid explanations, vivid examples and practical tips are essential reading for CEOs, managers, change agents, marketers, salespersons, brand managers, politicians, teachers, parentsanyone who is setting out to the change the world.