 | Unusually Excellent: The Necessary Nine Skills Required For The Practice Of Great Leadership By John Hamm
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Product Description
Master the fundamentals of leadership-at every stage in your career
Often, when leaders experience trouble, they look to blame an outside source or expect a small tweak to right their ship. But many times they've actually lost their grip on the very basic foundation of leadership. The business environment may change, but no management trend can displace the core laws, proven over centuries, of excellent leadership. Unusually Excellent is an essential resource for leaders that brings these fundamentals together in a new and comprehensive way. This book will help leaders at any level keep their focus on the bedrock principles that will make them extraordinary..
- Thoroughly practical, day-to-day primer for achieving and maintaining their highest level of leadership, for today and for a lifetime
- The author's Harvard Business Review articles are among the most highly read in the magazine's history
- Written for all leaders who need to develop and renew their leadership skills
Using a sports analogy, the author breaks the work of leaders into three parts: pregame: a matter of character; game day: a matter of competence; and postgame: a matter of consequence.
- Amazon Sales Rank: #67486 in Books
- Published on: 2011-02-22
- Original language: English
- Number of items: 1
- Dimensions: .96" h x 6.37" w x 9.17" l, .96 pounds
- Binding: Hardcover
- 256 pages
From the Inside Flap
"To lead well, as this book makes deeply and powerfully clear, is first and foremost to know yourself, and second to put yourself in service to whatever you value most deeply. If you adopt that posture, whatever follows can be incorporated into making yourself into a better leader. And it is the purpose of this book to help you do so."
—From the Foreword by Geoffrey Moore, managing director, TCG Advisors; author, Crossing the Chasm
Often, when leaders experience trouble, they look to blame an outside source or expect a small tweak to right their ship. But many times they have actually lost their grip on the basic foundation of their own leadership.
Unusually Excellent offers both seasoned and aspiring leaders a framework for understanding and a guide for applying the fundamentals of leadership at every stage in their careers. The business environment may change, but no management trend can displace the core laws, proven over centuries, of excellent leadership.
Leadership expert Hamm explains why leadership can't be mastered as a single concept or tool that can be pulled out of a hat when needed. Excellent leadership is composed of actions, ideas, emotions, cultural forces, history, and expectations that work together in an interconnected system. This system forms the core of the winning combination of superb Character, skill-based Competence, and professional Reputation. Hamm demonstrates that any leader can excel by consistently putting into action the Necessary Nine skills: being authentic, trustworthy, and compelling; leading people, strategy, and execution; communicating, making decisions, and making an impact.
Filled with vivid true stories, Unusually Excellent offers powerful, unforgettable leadership lessons, reinforced empirical evidence, and logical analysis. It will be your personal coach that will prepare you for the lifelong and ongoing journey towards exceptional leadership.
From the Back Cover
Praise for Unusually Excellent
"Unusually Excellent is a must read. John brings his powerful and fresh view of leadership to life in this thoughtful framework. He has combined three of his many strengths – intellectual rigor and honesty, deep domain experience, and passion for leading – in a highly readable, unforgettable book."
—Mark King, president and CEO, TaylorMade-adidas Golf
"This is a wonderful book, and may well become a classic! Compelling. Comprehensive. Very readable. What a great place to start for any new leader in search of the essence of leadership, or for an experienced leader with the courage to re-learn those essentials again and again."
—Patrick Lencioni, president, The Table Group; author, The Five Dysfunctions of a Team
"Wow! This is an extremely compelling book for all business leaders. I am thrilled to see that John has put into words the same wisdom and value that I've realized through working with him as a coach and mentor. An absolute must read for all aspiring leaders."
—David DeWalt, president and CEO, McAfee
"Unusually Excellent is unusually better than most books on leadership in its wisdom and practical advice. John's experience has the ring of enduring truth and he offers a personal and practical look across the spectrum of leadership, from character development through execution to leaving a legacy. A wonderful combination of 'hard' and 'soft' leadership, this book belongs on everyone's reading list."
—Barry Z. Posner, PhD, professor of leadership; coauthor, The Leadership Challenge and The Truth About Leadership
"John's dedication to the study of leadership and personal experiences running companies and coaching CEOs have resulted in a valuable back-to-basics book that every aspiring business leader should read. He explains the nine essential skills for the practice of great leadership in a highly accessible and practical style that anyone with an interest in growing as a leader will benefit from."
—Jeff Weiner, president and CEO, LinkedIn
About the Author
John Hamm is one of the top leadership experts in Silicon Valley. He was named one of the country's top 100 venture capitalists in 2009 by AlwaysON and has led investments in many successful high-growth companies as a partner at several Bay Area VC firms. Hamm has also been a CEO, a board member at over thirty companies, and a CEO advisor and executive coach to senior leaders at companies such as Documentum, Cisco, Hewlett-Packard, TaylorMade-adidas Golf and McAfee. John teaches leadership at the Leavy School of Business at Santa Clara University.
Most helpful customer reviews
12 of 13 people found the following review helpful.An Unusually Excellent Book
By Russ Pillar, The 5850 Group
In Unusually Excellent, John Hamm writes compellingly, convincingly, and accessibly about the time-worn bedrock principles of leadership. Peppered with sports analogies and sprinkled with germane and interesting business anecdotes, Hamm shows us time and again that the most successful leaders are committed to a personal set of core principles that generate power--and a following--through authenticity. It's a reminder to all of us, regardless of whether we hope to helm a Girl Scout troop or a Fortune 500 firm, that having a strong moral compass--and committing to the direction that that compass points--is a timeless lesson we'd all do well to heed.
Unusually Excellent certainly is that, but it also happens to be unusually engrossing, enlightening, and entertaining. I wholeheartedly recommend it.
8 of 8 people found the following review helpful.the power of authencitiy
By William D. Price
My mentor and a fellow CEO sent me a copy of Hamm's book. Hamm's career allowed him to see many of the technology industry's "unusually excellent" leaders up close, and in this book he shares a practical framework for great leadership.
It's a quick read and the framework is useful to understand the core qualities that separate average leaders from unusually excellent leaders. Hamm's model notes that competence is only 1/3 of the battle, with credibility and consequence rounding our the model. Self-awareness, trust, a compass to navigate challenging decisions, the ability to share and empathize...are all EQ level traits. Pure competence, IQ, is not enough. Lehman, Enron, AIG....all companies full of high IQ people who lost their way and operated without a compass.
Hamm's book celebrates self-awareness and authenticity as key tenets of leadership. It's worth reading.
7 of 8 people found the following review helpful.Truly Excellent
By C. P. Michel
This is fundamentally a practical guide for leaders to realize their full potential. This book packages diagnosis, case studies, and actionable tools for leaders to achieve their best. It's a fabulous read - inspiring & exceptionally useful. Highly recommended.
http://astore.amazon.com/amazon-book-books-20/detail/0470928433
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