An articulate, passionate, and illuminating work that makes a sound contribution to leadership literature.
A debut business leadership book emphasizes balance.
An overabundance of leadership books may evoke a jaundiced reaction from business executives to anything new, but Heflich’s effort is not a throwaway. His theme revolves around the notion that balance, in the broadest sense of the word, makes for effective leadership. The author recognizes the nuances of the word, suggesting: “Balance does not imply compromise or a middle-of-the-road approach.…Do you see the importance of balance and the trade-off of cost with benefit involved in each decision? The trade-off is inescapable, and the balance that you choose is defining!” With that premise in mind, the volume addresses balance in somewhat lengthy chapters that are, at least, nicely subdivided into manageable chunks of information. Each chapter concerns balance as it applies to leadership attributes, such as directing others, communicating, facing management challenges, and making decisions. Heflich, whose background is in manufacturing, offers astute observations that apply generally across all forms of business, and they are both well-founded and experience-based. The author draws on other sources, employs good examples, and writes with a keen sense of perspective. The advice he doles out to the individual leader is particularly on-target. The chapter “Balance in Leading Yourself,” while encompassing such traditional components as mission, vision, and values, speaks directly to an executive’s personal qualities. For example, Heflich writes eloquently about emotional intelligence, which he says “is about accepting responsibility for our behaviors.” His view of wisdom is also meaningful. While “smart” people may consider the facts, writes the author, “wise” ones size up “a situation by considering the facts on hand, but in addition, they consider their values and goals.” Other intriguing sections in this particularly engrossing chapter include “Risking Your Job to Save It,” “Adequacy and Inadequacy,” and “Work-Life Balance.” Throughout the well-conceived book, Heflich exudes a quiet competence and calmness, writing from the viewpoint of someone who has critically scrutinized the behaviors of himself and other executives. “The balance you strike,” concludes the author, “defines you as a leader and a person.”
An articulate, passionate, and illuminating work that makes a sound contribution to leadership literature.Pub Date: June 8, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-5320-4427-4
Page Count: 250
Publisher: iUniverse
Review Posted Online: Aug. 27, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 2018
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
Striking research showing the immense complexity of ordinary thought and revealing the identities of the gatekeepers in our...
A psychologist and Nobel Prize winner summarizes and synthesizes the recent decades of research on intuition and systematic thinking.
The author of several scholarly texts, Kahneman (Emeritus Psychology and Public Affairs/Princeton Univ.) now offers general readers not just the findings of psychological research but also a better understanding of how research questions arise and how scholars systematically frame and answer them. He begins with the distinction between System 1 and System 2 mental operations, the former referring to quick, automatic thought, the latter to more effortful, overt thinking. We rely heavily, writes, on System 1, resorting to the higher-energy System 2 only when we need or want to. Kahneman continually refers to System 2 as “lazy”: We don’t want to think rigorously about something. The author then explores the nuances of our two-system minds, showing how they perform in various situations. Psychological experiments have repeatedly revealed that our intuitions are generally wrong, that our assessments are based on biases and that our System 1 hates doubt and despises ambiguity. Kahneman largely avoids jargon; when he does use some (“heuristics,” for example), he argues that such terms really ought to join our everyday vocabulary. He reviews many fundamental concepts in psychology and statistics (regression to the mean, the narrative fallacy, the optimistic bias), showing how they relate to his overall concerns about how we think and why we make the decisions that we do. Some of the later chapters (dealing with risk-taking and statistics and probabilities) are denser than others (some readers may resent such demands on System 2!), but the passages that deal with the economic and political implications of the research are gripping.
Striking research showing the immense complexity of ordinary thought and revealing the identities of the gatekeepers in our minds.Pub Date: Nov. 1, 2011
ISBN: 978-0-374-27563-1
Page Count: 512
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Review Posted Online: Sept. 3, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2011
BOOK REVIEW
IN THE NEWS
IN THE NEWS
These are not hard and fast rules, but Meyer delivers important reading for those engaged in international business.
A helpful guide to working effectively with people from other cultures.
“The sad truth is that the vast majority of managers who conduct business internationally have little understanding about how culture is impacting their work,” writes Meyer, a professor at INSEAD, an international business school. Yet they face a wider array of work styles than ever before in dealing with clients, suppliers and colleagues from around the world. When is it best to speak or stay quiet? What is the role of the leader in the room? When working with foreign business people, failing to take cultural differences into account can lead to frustration, misunderstanding or worse. Based on research and her experiences teaching cross-cultural behaviors to executive students, the author examines a handful of key areas. Among others, they include communicating (Anglo-Saxons are explicit; Asians communicate implicitly, requiring listeners to read between the lines), developing a sense of trust (Brazilians do it over long lunches), and decision-making (Germans rely on consensus, Americans on one decider). In each area, the author provides a “culture map scale” that positions behaviors in more than 20 countries along a continuum, allowing readers to anticipate the preferences of individuals from a particular country: Do they like direct or indirect negative feedback? Are they rigid or flexible regarding deadlines? Do they favor verbal or written commitments? And so on. Meyer discusses managers who have faced perplexing situations, such as knowledgeable team members who fail to speak up in meetings or Indians who offer a puzzling half-shake, half-nod of the head. Cultural differences—not personality quirks—are the motivating factors behind many behavioral styles. Depending on our cultures, we understand the world in a particular way, find certain arguments persuasive or lacking merit, and consider some ways of making decisions or measuring time natural and others quite strange.
These are not hard and fast rules, but Meyer delivers important reading for those engaged in international business.Pub Date: May 27, 2014
ISBN: 978-1-61039-250-1
Page Count: 288
Publisher: PublicAffairs
Review Posted Online: April 15, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2014
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