Reality-Based Leadership: Ditch the Drama, Restore Sanity to the Workplace, and Turn Excuses into Results

INTRODUCTION: Calling All Leaders

If I ask you what drives you crazy at work—what holds you back from being an amazing leader and producing extraordinary results—chances are you won't have to reflect very long before coming up with an answer. Frustration is at an all-time high, and the responses I get to this question generally fall in one of two categories: people and circumstances.

The circumstances: sky-high customer expectations, the rising cost of doing business, increased regulation, the recession, the pace of change, budget cuts, and being asked to do more with fewer resources.

The people: whiny, high-maintenance employees with a sense of entitlement where their motivation and accountability ought to be, who prefer creating drama to getting ...