DON'T WAIT, LEAD NOW

An action-oriented debut manual focuses on effective business leadership.

In his slim guide, Lord draws on his extensive experience at all levels of management, working with business executives, to distill some key lessons about leadership and team supervision. He presents several core ideas, like more effective communication: “I believe feedback should be given both vertically and horizontally—in all directions! Yet, this isn’t how we have been conditioned.” In fast-paced chapters, the author addresses several aspects of the corporate world, including cultivating the right work ethic, providing sufficient care for clients, and hiring and firing. When it comes to hiring, he recalls a saying he heard from an experienced executive—“Hire slow and fire fast”—and warns readers about ignoring such advice. “We fall into our comfort zone and try to quickly hire people that look and seem to be a lot like us,” he writes. “What happens is we find ourselves hiring people who are not a great match for the job, the culture, or the company.” Throughout, he weaves his own professional stories into his narrative, starting with his account of being invited to the retirement party of the experienced older professional who first took a chance on hiring him. These tales add an appealingly human dimension to what might otherwise have been a fairly standard business motivation book. But it’s Lord’s clarity about the nature of the lessons those stories impart that’s time and again the manual’s strongest element. The author is a thinker whose insights will be valuable to anyone in a leadership position, particularly when he discusses the admittedly nebulous concept of attitude: “If you believe your job is worthless and has no purpose, you’re probably right.”

A sharp, worthwhile, story-driven guide that explores energetic corporate leadership.