Author Marcia Reynolds explains in Wander Woman's (©2010, Berrett-Koehler Publishers) preface: many women who began moving into management positions about 25 years ago are different from the women who came before them. More confident, assertive, and active, these women are high achievers who brave their way up the corporate ladder feeling they were hired to help change the world. But in spite of their accomplishments, they are too often pigeonholed, underutilized, micromanaged, and told to slow down, and as a result, they are plagued by restlessness. They are constantly questioning the value of their jobs, the definition of their purpose, and their roles as wives, mothers, and sisters. In a constant search for fulfillment, they frequently change jobs, move up quickly and quickly become restless all over again. In addition to helping these wanderers to understand the roots of their restlessness and even to turn it in to a conscious strategy, the books suggests ways to engage and retain high-achieving women, including:
- Provide developmental opportunities
- Make the mission more meaningful;
- Continually affirm their contributions and value;
- Design and foster a collaborative environment;
- Delegate clear expectations and then let go;
- Recognize outstanding performance; and
- Provide flexible work schedules.
Bosses matter…because most employees have bosses, are bosses, or play both roles. More than 90 percent of U.S. employees have at least one boss, someone who presides over them in the local hierarchy. Good Boss, Bad Boss: How To Be The Best and Learn from the Worst (©2010, Business Plus, Hachette Book Group), by Robert Sutton, weaves the latest behavioral science research with true boss stories. The most crucial question for a boss to ask: Are you in tune with how your words and deeds affect your followers? From the other side, the book addresses how you can survive and thrive despite the chronic incompetence, nastiness, and cluelessness of your boss.
Bootstrap Leadership (©2010, Berrett-Koehler Publishers), by Steve Arneson, offers a blueprint for designing your own personal leadership development program. Each chapter includes a specific technique to improve your leadership skills. The final chapter suggests that one of the most exciting things a leader can do is to move on, by taking on a new role, either within the organization or in a new one. Before moving on, the author suggests you do several things:
- Say thank you to everyone who has helped make you successful in your current role;
- Write a letter to your successor summarizing your team's strengths, weaknesses and opportunities, as well as include a top-10 list of what you would recommend be done in the next 90 days;
- Offer suggestions of what needs shaking up, what needs a new approach.
When it comes to creating ideas, we hold ourselves back, according to Mark Levy, author of Accidental Genius: Using Writing to Generate Your Best Ideas, Insight and Content (©2010, Berrett-Koehler Publishers). The book suggests the answer is "freewriting," a technique the author has used for years to solve all types of business problems and generate ideas for books, articles, and blog posts. Freewriting is simple: Start writing as fast as you can, for as long as you can, about a subject you care deeply about, while ignoring the standard rules of grammar and spelling. Once your internal editor is moved to the background, you'll be able to think more honestly and resourcefully than before.
Lack of accountability is a serious problem for leaders and their organizations says Rick Lepsinger, author of Closing the Execution Gap: How Great Leaders and Their Companies Get Results (©2010, Jossey-Bass). It diminishes execution and individual and team performance, and creates and reinforces a culture of blame. The book describes ways leaders can forestall excuse-generating problems upfront by creating conditions that make it more likely that people will follow through on their assigned tasks. It also offers guidance to help people take responsibility after mistakes have been made, without making them feel worse then they already do.
Change is everywhere these days, so much so that it can seem like barely controlled chaos. Peggy Holman, author of Engaging Emergence (©2010, Berrett-Koehler Publishers), suggests thinking about the potential upheaval as a potential opportunity. She offers ideas on not precisely what to do but rather how to approach disruptive situations, including what to notice, explore, try, and what mindset will leave you most open to identifying the new paradigm as it emerges.
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