Leadership Hacks, 2nd Edition

IntroductionThe leadership dilemma — too much to do in too little time

When I wrote the first edition of this book, the key question I started with was ‘Are leaders born or are they made?’ This is an age‐old question many academics and researchers have struggled with. It's a question that has wasted millions of dollars — not to mention the millions of days lost sending sceptical employees to old‐school leadership‐development programs. CEOs, managing directors, divisional directors, vice‐presidents and frontline managers can all repeat the theories that have been crammed down their throats by their HR departments. Many leaders I have worked with shared with me their frustration over the latest complex leadership competency model created to show them how they and their leadership teams are screwing things up — regardless of how their business is performing or how challenging the competitive environment is.

When the global pandemic hit the world, leaders had no choice but to change the way their people operated. With lockdowns being used to reduce the impact of COVID‐19 many people had to quickly shift to working remotely. This created an entirely new way of working, with kitchen tables becoming the new desk and back‐to‐back Zoom meetings becoming the new norm. Leaders had to deal with isolation, staff mental health challenges and a massive amount of uncertainty that stretched them beyond typical business practices, and most had to make it up along the way.

Leaders do not want ...