You Can't Order Change - Peter S. Cohan

Subtitled: Lessons from Jim McNerney's Turnaround at Boeing. It was destiny that I ended up with this book. Or perhaps serendipity. Either way, the publisher did me a favor in sending it along.

The content in this book is excellent. I would describe the style as a case study and Cohan's writing as analytical. While his writing style did not resonate with me, the information is first rate! I filled the pages with post-it notes and have already passed it along to my favorite COO.

Cohan does an excellent job of drawing for us a picture of Boeing as McNerny inherited it. Then he goes back to look at what McNerney did at GE and 3M to show how his decisions about Boeing were influenced by his roles in other highly visible positions in those companies.

The book is driven by a highly structured format that lends itself to logical thinkers. Cohan has a great deal of statistics, lists, summaries and conclusions that help to link ideas to more concrete and measurable data. Keeping in mind that Cohan is a consultant primarily and not a writer, I adjusted my expectations as I worked my way through the book.

I do recommend this book for anyone interested in issues of leadership. Cohan does a wonderful job in showing us a portrait of Jim McNerney as a change agent in a difficult situation. This is a timely message for all companies struggling in these difficult times. Leadership does make all the difference!

Our Iceberg is Melting - John P. Kotter, et. al

Subtitled: Changing and Succeeding Under Any Conditions. This is a fable, much along the lines in form of "Who Moved My Cheese?" by authors Ken Blanchard and Spenser Johnson (Johnson is a contributing author here as well.)

This book was referenced in Kotter's A Sense of Urgency (previously reviewed here) and I can see why. It took me one hour to read it on an airplane. It rolls out the same concepts Kotter has introduced in previous works but in a much more digestible form.

The utility of this format is evident - it brings home the concept of change, even to those who would not consider themselves "readers." It provides a common vocabulary for vague concepts like "vision" and I think anyone can recognize the main characters as people they know. Or perhaps I am the only one, but I certainly recognized familiar figures in this tale.

As a general rule, people are not inclined to change what they do or how they live unless forced to. This book shows what happens when a penguin colony's very existence is threatened by what "might happen." Not a 100% I-can-prove-it inevitability but an observation rolled out into theory by a "junior" penguin with no status or credibility in the colony.

This too, is typical. Change is often initiated from some place other than the top of the organization chart, and this book illustrates how a wise leader pulls together a diverse group of 4 individuals to form a team. And it shows how a focused team rolls the vision out to everyone else and garners their support for the objective.

Can any organization accomplish the things outlined here? Absolutely. It helps to have strong leadership and an informed organization to lead. But no one's iceberg has to melt in order for change to take place in advance of a catastrophe.

A Sense of Urgency - John P. Kotter

This book is so timely and relevant given the current global financial meltdown that is affecting businesses in every industry. The world changes very quickly now and being complacent is not something any company can sustain and remain viable. Awareness has been heightened in the last several months as many long standing business icons have gone out of business or been acquired. This is probably only the beginning of the fight for survival many companies will face in the coming year.

John P. Kotter has written many books on change and leadership including Leading Change, The Heart of Change and Our Iceberg is Melting. In this book, he discusses the importance of creating a feeling of urgency that propels everyone within an organization to engage in tackling issues NOW. He outlines what brings many companies to a place of complacency, how a false sense of urgency can be damaging, and what strategies and tactics can be employed to get people to recognize that urgency is critical to managing change.

This is as much a "how to" book as an analysis of organizational change and how leaders need to respond in keeping their organizations competitive over the long term. Kotter covers important issues like modeling the type of behavior we expect from those we lead. He points to how important it is to purge low return activities on a daily basis and to delegate effectively. Meetings should end with a clear action plan and accountability in place so everyone understands what is expected in moving initiatives forward. He covers the importance of communication - what needs to be communicated and how. It is very much a "nuts and bolts" kind of book, and the summaries and charts he provides are excellent in capturing these ideas as clearly and simply as possible.

I found the book to be an engaging read and a quick one. This is not a heavyweight academic tome. It's about motivating the reader to quit reading the book and get going already on creating a daily sense of urgency. I think this book is in the "must read" category. There is not an organization of any kind anywhere, that does not face a constant battle against complacency. And truly, it can kill a company if allowed to go on to the point where competitive advantage disappears entirely. I highly recommend it.

How We Lead Matters - Marilyn Carlson Nelson

Subtitled: Reflections on a Life of Leadership, I pre-ordered this book based on a recommendation that appeared in one of Harvey Mackay's weekly columns. It did not disappointment. A beautiful little gem of a book, I read it in a single evening. It is inspiring in it's simplicity, warmth and authenticity.

The format works well. On the left page is a quote or poem that has some special meaning to the author, and on the facing page is a short story about her life that illustrates an important lesson that has informed her life and leadership.

Reading this book is like eating a box of fine chocolates - each story a unique and delectable experience that lingers in the mind. I found it engaging, enjoyable and very inspiring. So inspiring I ordered 8 copies to give as gifts.

I highly recommend How We Lead Matters and would suggest that as leaders, what we read matters as well.