Leadership Problems: Ten Toughest?

 In a soon-to-be published book, Ten Toughest Leadership Problems, Dr. Best provides a good framework for analyzing common leadership problems. Though the list is not extensive, many other problems can be categorized with the ten on which she expounds here: personal effectiveness, decision-making, influence, engagement, etc. The framework she lays out is similar to others like OODA (Observe, Orient, Decide, Act), PDCA (Plan, Do, Check, Act) and other variants, Kepner Tregoe techniques and so on. The author uses SOLVE (S = State the problem…). The framework can be applied to many situations, especially if they follow Dr. Best’s practice of asking open-ended questions about it.

The chapter on Influence may be worth the price of the book alone. How much are we trying to influence others based on our preferred style or ways we want others to approach us?

While I found many of the chapters helpful, I found them to be limited in scope. Decision-making, for example, has other elements and perhaps should start with the question: “Do I even need to make this decision or to whom can I delegate it?” Often we catch ourselves in the trap of telling and selling the decision, which limits engagement, instead of consulting and joining others to provide more input and ownership in the decision. While she talks about discerning the need for quick decisions or the possibility of slowing it down, she refrains from putting that choice in terms of risk (capital, social, competitive, environmental, etc.). Likewise, she deals with trust in another chapter, but not in the engagement chapter and has ignored some other research noting other critical elements: trust, making progress/performance improvements, more autonomy for two. However, though she has not encompassed all the aspects of the ten leadership issues, the author does encourage more learning (E = Elevate your learning).

Too many times, as she has observed, leaders are left to chart their own development path, perhaps with a book here and there, a seminar every year or five, and so on. Dr. Best’s book is practical and provides ongoing guidance with her framework for dealing with leadership problems.

I’m appreciative for the publisher providing an advanced copy.

The Art—and Psychology—of Money

 Perhaps a followup to Morgan Housel’s bestselling Psychology of Money, this book covers some of the same material but has some new takes as well. Everyone who has ever been tempted to “keep up with the Joneses” should read this book. Housel first describes why it’s titled “the art” and not the science because the best way to spend money may be different for everyone. Some need to buy the Ferrari and some shouldn’t because they would only do it for the wrong reasons. But it’s not just Ferraris, mansions, yachts and so on, we can be careful about how we spend on the little things as well. 

The author starts with a distinction between rich (easily measured income and assets/net worth) and wealthy which is wisely using riches for your goals and purposes and not being “owned” by your wealth and things. So the main advice is to ask why you’re spending the money the way you are: to gain admiration, seek approval, garner influence and power, satisfy an appetite or itch, overcome some past hurt or snubbing, succumb to the familial or peer expectations, and so on. For example, he writes about the Vanderbilts, once one of the richest if not the richest families in the world. Within a few generations, the family was bankrupt because grandchildren and great-grandchildren followed an expressed dictum of “spending no matter the pleasure” whereas other socialites were seeking pleasure no matter the expense. So we need to be aware of some hidden social, emotional and expectation costs to how we spend our money. What are we telling others about us by how we decide to buy or not buy? 

It’s not a new idea but it’s valuable that Housel puts here. Don’t look up at others and figure out what you don’t have; be content. In another research study, silver Olympic medal winners are more unhappy than bronze medal winners. Silver medal achievers seem to only look at how close they were to gold while bronze winners are delighted they weren’t fourth or fifth. Similarly, people (especially CEOs) can get trapped into believing their and their organization’s successes are due to their own efforts, without acknowledging that “luck” may have had a part in it, while poor results or disasters (loss of job, e.g.) are caused by others and so people often end up with victim mentality. People can often fail to recognize when a behavior or decision has stopped providing positive results because something has changed. And vice versa, something has changed and what was giving you less than satisfactory results now starts working. Housel counsels against this hubris of believing you’re the champion or the victim.

Interestingly, he does not give advice but suggest aspects to decide for yourself if your current habits are working or not. Additionally, Housel writes about some paradoxes of finances and wealth. One example: paying attention to the bigger expenses will help you save money and you should ignore smaller expenses; yet, paying attention to the small things can lead to big savings over time. While he highlights some of the super-wealthy and their mistakes and regrets, he also illustrates principles with ordinary, everyday middle income examples. In every case, spend with purpose. This book will help you determine what that purpose is (or purposes are) and how content you are with that goal.

The book reminded me of Thorstein Veblen’s hundred year classic, “The Theory of the Leisure Class” and its corollary that the upper socioeconomic caste is obsessed with “conspicuous consumption.” Some of Housel’s ideas are not new but he has pulled a lot of financial threads together.. Also, I found the author’s perspective helpful in reminding me of some past experiences. I had a friend, an executive, who continued to drive a 20-year-old, rusty Corolla because “it still gets me to work, no worse than a new car.” Meanwhile, as a fellow executive, I was advised to upgrade my vehicle—not to any ostentatious or excessively luxurious model—to show my staff that desiring to be in my position was capable of providing the means for improving their lifestyle. Again, there can be hidden social, emotional and expectation costs to our decisions. 

If you’re struggling to maintain a budget, this book will be helpful. If you have financial peace, this book might help you redirect some spending to areas that do provide pleasure. Or satisfaction. 

I’m appreciative of the publisher providing an advanced copy.