PIC No. 6:
• Title: Take Charge of You: How Self-Coaching Can Transform Your Life and Career
• Authors: David Novak and Jason Goldsmith
• Publisher: IdeaPress Publishing (175 pages, March 22, 2022)
• Management Bucket #9 of 20: The Team Bucket
Welcome to Issue No. 6 of PAILS IN COMPARISON, the “little brother” of John Pearson’s Buckets Blog. This blog features my “PICs”—short reviews of helpful books—with comparisons to other books in my 20 management buckets (core competencies) filing system.
Sorry to all my coaching and consulting friends—this brilliant book may put you out of business!
“First and foremost,” write the co-authors of Take Charge of You, “good managers are good coaches.” Yeah—we all know that, right? So where’s the disconnect? David Novak and Jason Goldsmith note that of the six leadership styles identified by Daniel Goleman (see his book, Emotional Intelligence), “the coaching style is used least often among our high-pressure economy.” Hmmm.
Sub-titled, “How Self-Coaching Can Transform Your Life and Career,” this book delivers on its promise. (Confession: I cheated and read the last chapter first, “The Self-Coaching Habit.”)
I’ve been collecting “mistake stories” for about a year now, and I hit paydirt in the section, “Growing from Failures and Setbacks.” There’s an upside to mistake-making: one leader still reflects on an early mistake—and she vows, “I’ve made that mistake once in my career, and I will never make it again.” (Click here to read the WSJ interview, “CEO David Novak Learned Leadership by Making Mistakes.”)
You’ll appreciate the dozens of real-life stories and seriously BIG PRINT pages—and you’ll zip through this book, only to read it again with your team members. Highlights:
THE POWER OF POSITIVE MOTIVATION. Bad News: “Too many people leave their motivation up to chance.” Good news: “If you have trouble staying motivated from time to time, that doesn’t make you weak; it makes you human.” (See the three strategies.)
CEILING POWER! Learn why David Novak (former chairman and CEO of Yum! Brands and now a leadership coach) filled his office walls (and home office walls) with pictures of people that mattered to him. He ran out of wall space—so more pictures adorn his ceilings! (Bonus: click here to listen to Novak’s leadership podcast with NFL Super Bowl Champion Tom Brady.)
CONTRARIAN WISDOM! Jason Goldsmith (a sports performance coach to PGA golfers and other VIP athletes) suggested to Meghan Klingenberg (Portland Thorns and World Cup champion) “…that she set a daily intention for herself that followed two rules:
• Rule #1: “It was not outcome-oriented.”
• Rule #2: “It had to be within her control.”
FEELINGS OR FACTS? “Despite the fact that our culture tends to prioritize our logical side over our emotional one, it is our feelings that tend to motivate us more often than facts.”
FEEDBACK BALANCE. The authors mention a seasoned writer who would always ask two people for feedback on her writing projects. The “angel” who was always “very complimentary and supportive” and the “devil” (as in “the devil is in the details”) who would share detailed feedback to actually make her writing better. Are you gutsy enough to recruit a devil?
DON’T SKIP…
• …the section on procrastination (“Make a commitment to yourself: ‘The first thing I do in the morning will not be to look at my phone.’”)
• …the “milk mustache” story and the dozens of self-coaching tips/icons inserted throughout the book.
• …the authors’ “Raise the Bar Exercises” (two columns): “Who am I today?” and “How can I be better tomorrow?” (One of eight Novak exercises: “Continue daily gratitude and Bible readings.”)
• …the three power-packed pages, “Your Self-Coaching Toolkit” with links to more online resources. (They give away the store!)
Oh, almost forgot! You’ll own your SBT (Single Biggest Thing). The authors reinforce this simple concept throughout the book: “What’s the single biggest thing you can imagine that would grow your joy personally and professionally?” (Read the “Take Charge Action” pages for your SBT.) Very, very helpful!
PAILS IN COMPARISON: I’d compare this book favorably to other must-read books in the Team Bucket, including:
• Emotional Intelligence 2.0 (The World’s Most Popular Emotional Intelligence Test), by Travis Bradberry and Jean Greaves (read my review)
• Leading Me: Eight Practices for a Christian Leader's Most Important Assignment, by Steve A. Brown (read my review)
• What Got You Here Won’t Get You There: Discover the 20 Workplace Habits You Need to Break, by Marshall Goldsmith with Mark Reiter (read my review)
• The ONE Thing: The Surprisingly Simple Truth Behind Extraordinary Results, by Gary Keller with Jay Papasan (read my review)
TO ORDER FROM AMAZON, click on the title Take Charge of You: How Self-Coaching Can Transform Your Life and Career, by David Novak and Jason Goldsmith. For more book reviews, visit John Pearson’s Buckets Blog and subscribe to Your Weekly Staff Meeting. (And thanks to Fortier PR and IdeaPress Publishing for sending me a review copy.)
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