Received as part of an honest review. Good tidbits in an easily digested format. Pretty quick and easy read. I’m a senior manager with training in Six Sigma and Project Management and I still picked up some good suggestions. I especially think this is good for someone growing as a leader in an organization. Not everything was applicable to the work I do but I still could apply the concepts. Suggested this book to a newer manager. ( )

A compelling and insightful guide for lower to mid-level management and team leaders. Lemire delves into the core principles of transformational leadership, emphasizing the importance of unlocking one's potential to inspire and empower others.

The book provides practical strategies and actionable steps for leaders to cultivate a positive and impactful leadership style. The writing is clear, engaging, and filled with real-life examples that illustrate the transformative power of effective leadership.

One of the key strengths of the book is its focus on creating a culture of success. Lemire emphasizes the importance of building trust, fostering collaboration, and encouraging innovation to drive organizational growth and excellence.

Overall, a must-read for leaders at all levels who are looking to enhance their leadership skills, inspire their teams, and create a thriving organizational culture. Lemire's insights and strategies are valuable tools for anyone seeking to unleash their full potential as a transformational leader. ( )

I received a review copy of this from the author through LibraryThing's Early Reviewer program. Through the firt half of the book, many of my notes on the parts I highlighted were along the lines of "He gets it." Oddly, all of my notes in the second half disappeared , so I'm inaccurately recreating what I was thinking at the time. To start: “This book will focus on leaders at low to mid-level in their companies.” This is good. How many are targeted at senior, c-suites? The next page he answers, “There are many books out there talking about leadership. I feel that many of them are written for higher leadership positions, CEOs, or managers with thousands of employees under them.”

Bottom Line Up Front (BLUF), this is a good book for new managers/leaders. And it's a good book for experienced leaders who know that they can always learn more.

Mr. Lemire says,
“There’s a misconception that managing and leadership are the same, and that a manager is, without question, a leader. I'd like to state clearly here that this is not correct. You could be managing a project, even have success doing it, but never truly lead your team members. Managing and leading are two different things. The former's major goal is actualizing the results, while the latter focuses on the people and inspiring them to achieve.”
This. This is lost on even seasoned managers. Twenty five or so years ago, the US Navy adapted Deming's Total Quality Management for a time. The adaptation was Total Quality Leadership because they knew leadership was more important - the military has a mission, yes, with assets, yes, but its most important assets are its people. Management still, of course, is important, but leadership more so.

Lemire takes the reader through steps a good leader will take when assuming a new role/position. “As I’ll explain better throughout this book, one of the first things I do when I join a new team or hire a new crew is to get to know the employees. I dedicate the first few weeks to understanding my team members and identifying what makes them tick. I also quickly engage each team member in a one-on-one conversation and help them feel free to talk about themselves, their families, and their plans before talking about work. “

On the one-on-ones: “The point of having the one-on-one session isn't to fix anything, it’s to let the employee speak, open up, and establish some connection with them, finding things you have in common so you can have a solid foundation to build trust with them.” Keep this one in your pocket. Resist the urge to do the talking. Ask questions (open-ended ones). I adopted something from I've forgotten whom on mentoring that is also good advice, "So, what am I going to learn from you?" It's so unconventional and uncommon that I usually got "but... you're supposed to be mentoring me" responses. Try it.

Sometimes you won't have a few weeks. Sometimes you are hired/appointed to fix something fast. One commanding officer of mine told me, "Jim, I need you to take over [____] Division. They're imploding and I've lost confidence in the current manager." I thought to myself, okay, even though I have no experience in that field. Out loud I said, "I'll do it, sir." Hand on shoulder, "I know you'll turn it around." And then, as he was walking away he turned and said, "Oh, and we have [a really big and important] inspection in two weeks. ... Make sure we don't fail." No pressure. So, my focus was not on the people at first because I had another directive. My leadership skills were tested, as the civilian manager I replaced was still in the all civilian save me division, demoted. I did make time to meet everyone after we were done with the inspection. And yes, we passed.

This was another "he gets it" highlight: “I think it’s important to point out that some leaders try to create this kind of connection outside the workplace. They invite the employees to team parties outside of work, eat at the restaurant with them on weekends, or invite them to their homes. But I don't recommend this style. You have to have some boundaries with your team members.”

Absolutely. Separation is important. You can be friendly at work; I was. We went to work lunches together. I cared about my staff's lives and they knew it. I didn't socialize outside the office, and they knew that, too.

“Well, now that you’re a leader yourself, nothing has changed. Everybody working with you is in that very same situation, and transformational leadership involves making a difference in people’s lives at work and, sometimes, maybe even outside of it.”

“Even if you’re the best leader and follow all the best examples in the world, you’ll always find people who won’t adhere to your way of leading or your ideas. That’s normal, and you’ll have to get your head around it. You have to focus on the majority of people who embrace and love the way you lead.”

I did think this sentence a small mistake: “As I explained earlier, true leadership goes beyond managing people.” Ross Perot is credited with saying, "Lead and inspire people. Don't try to manage and manipulate people. Inventories can be managed, but people must be led."

Another "he gets it": “In life generally, and particularly in leadership, each challenge is peculiar to itself and must be approached in its unique way.” Flexibility in leadership style is surprisingly less common than one might think. Good leaders adapt to the situation. Some in leadership positions think one size fits all. Spoiler alert, it doesn't. Flexibility in style isn't the only flexibility needed: “Being flexible as a leader is crucial in adapting to change and making necessary adjustments. “

I had a small disagreement with this take on using prior performance reviews as information sources: “The fact that another leader assessed them and gave the report based on their perspective should give you honest and detailed information about the past performance of each employee. “ Sadly, in my long experience, most performance reviews are not all that honest - they tend to check boxes. My most honest review was after I read my glowing first as an officer and my boss set it aside, looked at me, said, "Okay, these are the things you need to work on..." And it wasn't glowing anymore. I said, but why didn't you put that in there? He said, you'd never get promoted and you have a lot of potential. Just work on what I told you. I used that approach from that point on with all of my direct reports (and got dressed down by a future civilian boss for not writing bad stuff about any of my people. I told him that if anything came up, I addressed it on the spot. Not the first time I got headlighted deer looks when I talked about instant feedback.)

“Delegating doesn't mean that you have to be hands-off.” Spot on.

Lemire give a good list of example interview questions, a few here: “Here are some examples of questions you might ask:
- What do you like the most and the least about the work you’re doing right now?
- What do you know about the job you’re applying for?
- What do you think you need to be successful in this job?
- How would you react if someone records more success than you while doing the same job?
[…]”

On incentives: “Incentives are also great for retention and loyalty, as the employees will feel valued and rewarded for their performance. Incentives don't have to be monetary, like a bonus or a raise. We too often think that this is what employees want, but it isn't always the case. There are other ways that you can use to incentivize your employees, create a positive impact on the team, and help your organization reach its goals or milestones.”
I recommend reading Daniel Pink's Drive. Good stuff on non-monetary incentives.

“…execution requires more than simply copying and pasting previous strategies. “

A whole section on “DEVELOP YOUR SUCCESSOR” is true He-gets-it. The Navy is all about training your replacement. Private (and public, too) sector seem more averse. Looking over the shoulder. But if you are in the situation of developing your successor, embrace it. “Transformational leadership involves recognizing and capitalizing on your successor's unique strengths and talents. Their approach may differ from yours, and that’s a positive aspect of succession planning. “

And, “Encourage your successor to actively seek out opportunities to learn from others and build relation‐ ships across the organization.”

On always learning, “One habit that I’ve personally cultivated is listening to a book or a podcast on my way to work. This gives me the opportunity to get more knowledge from people around the world who have something to show to others.” I'm not one for audiobooks, but I used to listen to The Teaching Company Great Courses on my commute. I endorse Lemire's recommendation (and mine, of course!)

This goes without saying, but it has to be said. “It’s vital for leaders to be mindful of their personal lives and how their actions outside of work can affect their leadership style and interactions with their team. “

“Meditation is a practice that involves training the mind to achieve a state of calmness, clarity, and focus.” Meditation doesn't work for everyone {raises hand}, but quiet time works, or anything similar that is outside the stresses of the workplace, even if it is inside the workplace.

Some of the best advice comes at the end: “Remember, taking care of yourself is crucial to being the best leader you can be.” Another Navy connection, there was a period when senior officers were dinged on their fitness reports for carrying too much leave (vacation). Top leadership wanted them to know that they needed to set the example for their people that the job should never be the priority over life (don't mistake, the job is the priority when we were on the job.)

For the publisher/editor/author, in Chapter 2, Section 7 Hiring: “If you have some people leaving the organization, and need to replace them. or, better, if you have the opportunity to get some new employees to complete the team, you will need to hire.”
Editing. “…them. or,…” should be “…them, or, …” ( )