Book Review:
Everyone is a leader, from the guy helping out at the sports game to the teacher, to the person who answers phones at the dentist office. Every part of our jobs involves leadership skills in one form or another. Just navigating your way through the chaotic and ever-changing world we live in requires a myriad of leadership skills.
In all of the chaos and fluctuation we seek to find a voice of reason and a calm guide to help us work our way through and it’s especially challenging when we have most recently been promoted to a management role and are moving “From Bud to Boss”. Well, you can make a stop on that journey of searching and take more than a peek at a new book of just such a name by Kevin Eikenberry and Guy Harris. From Bud to Boss – Secrets to a Successful Transition to Remarkable Leadership is more than just a book, it’s a journal of steps and strategies that will bring you closer and closer to your goal of being a leader people choose to follow.
If you could have a map for dealing with the significant change from an employee to a boss it would be within the pages of this book. Charting a course through that change, the critical components of your own leadership style and how you communicate physically, emotionally and verbally is not always easy. Self evaluation is a big part of growth and Eikenberry and Harris provide ample ways to take a good look at yourself, much like holding a mirror up to you and showing you what other people see.
Why is that important? Because until we see ourselves as others might see us, our willingness to grow is hindered by a limited view. That limited view provides limited direction.
“But now the world is different, and your perspective must, necessarily, change”
With a clear guide through the transition From Bud to Boss Eikenberry and Harris offer you what they call “Remarkable Principles” that, when read alone, provide a great template for remembering the lessons in the book – grab a highlighter you’re going to want to have these as road-signs on your map to leadership.
“Change is a choice. People don’t resist change, they resist being changed.”
With every “Remarkable Principle” comes both explanation and hands-on, real-life strategies you can take with you and utilize immediately. This is a workbook, a book for a person who has a great desire to take the journey to remarkable leadership. Each exercise applies to you – not some generality you must work hard to apply to your own circumstances.
Throughout the book you will find a “Bonus Byte” a hint or tip for applying the exercise to your own leadership, your team efforts or for simply taking a look back at the steps you have taken and re-assess.
Everyone needs a stepped plan, a place to start and support in getting there. “From Bud To Boss” gives you all that, in addition to a plethora of resources you can tap into in reaching your goals of making a difference as the leader you were meant to be. In addition to all the resources, Eikenberry and Harris help you define a vision for your leadership, your relationships and grow a relationship with yourself.
Not sure why you would bother? It is this writer’s opinion that everyone has room to grow, no matter how successful a leader we are, we always have room to learn more, be more and do more. Take this journey and discover the total cost of not adopting change as the authors walk you through the steps and the path of discovering what happens when we stagnate while change swirls all around us and we live romanticizing the past that we ‘think’ has served us best.
If you were to step yourself through the rugged path of leadership, without a guide, without an understanding of what lies in your path , it is going to be a slower journey. Everyone wants some indication of how to deal with the pitfalls, the roadblocks, the trees in the road, and while one cannot possibly give warning of everything – this book addresses a good many of the critical factors in leadership and creates a map worth following.
“Most people communicate in the way that is most comfortable to
them. While there is nothing inherently wrong with this tendency, it
does present a bit of a challenge to you as a leader.”
None of us are on this journey alone, if you’re the boss – you have a team and an organization you must communicate with, not to mention meeting the expectations of your own boss. Follow the information in the Communication chapters to more effectively influence, support, and provide memorable meaning to what you say and how you say it and then begin to understand the deepest and most relevant skill your team needs – you, listening.
Whether it’s adjusting to change and communicating effectively or coaching and evaluation, ‘From Bud to Boss’ offers a comprehensive workbook and leader-journey to support the key to accomplishing great things… and that is collaboration. They walk you through healthy and unhealthy conflict showing you the difference and give you steps to successfully deal with both so that you, the leader, can set – work toward and achieve your goals.
I don’t know Kevin Eikenberry or Guy Harris, but I get Kevin’s newsletter and read it weekly – that newsletter is always packed with content and valuable information. No fluff there, so when I heard he teamed up with Guy to write a book– I found out how I could get an advance copy to read. Thanks to Kevin and his generosity, I have the privilege of adding a valuable manual for leadership to my bookshelf. It is a book I will reference frequently and that offers more than just words on leadership, it offers actionable steps, resources and a touch-base of follow-up support for the leader who chooses to change, grow and develop with and for the people he/she is privileged to lead.