The Joy of Leadership

The Joy of Leadership

by Tal Ben-Shahar, Angus Ridgway
Released August 2017
Publisher(s): Wiley
ISBN: 9781119313007

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Book description

The difference between flourishing and floundering is 10X. The difference between quantity and quality is a factor of 10. The difference in levels of engagement is exponential. People functioning at the highest level are what the authors call 10x leaders. Research on these leaders consistently brought up five major strengths. This book teaches readers to become a 10x leader using these five key areas, the SHARP framework.

●     Strengths: 10X leaders stop trying to eliminate weaknesses and learn to focus on their strengths

●     Health: 10X leaders stop trying to eliminate stress and learn how to integrate periods of restoration

●     Absorption: 10X leaders stop waiting for the lightning of focus and creativity to strike and learn how to achieve consistent engagement and presence

●     Relationships: 10X leaders stop trying to exert power and control and learn to cultivate healthy relationships through positivity and authenticity

●     Purpose: 10X leaders stop grinding out tasks and learn how to find meaning and commitment in everything they do

The 10X elixir of peak performance comes not from focusing on just one of these areas, but from learning to light the fire of all five aspects of SHARP and functioning naturally with them on a daily basis. If you just cultivate one or two aspects of leadership skills you are unlikely to succeed. If one of the five isn’t taken care of it affects the performance of the whole. But if you focus on all five areas, you will not only be more likely to find what helps you most, you have the best chance of enjoying the synergy of performance multiplication.

Table of contents

  1. Cover
  2. Title Page
  3. Acknowledgments
  4. Part I: THE DISAGGREGATED WORLD
    1. Chapter 1: The 10X Effect: Performance Multipliers to Achieve Lasting Success and Fulfillment
      1. The Origin of This Book at McKinsey and Harvard
      2. What This Book Is For and How It's Unique
      3. How This Book Is Organized
      4. Note
    2. Chapter 2: Giving Way to the New: The Boundaryless Twenty‐First‐Century Work Environment
      1. Fluidity of People
      2. Fluidity of Roles
      3. Fluidity of Information
      4. Notes
    3. Chapter 3: Myths of Happiness and Leadership: Making the Case for SHARP
      1. MYTH: Good Leaders Focus on Eliminating or Overcoming Their Weaknesses
      2. MYTH: People Are Happiest and Most Productive When They Eliminate Stress from Their Lives
      3. MYTH: Peak Experiences Are Necessarily Rare, a Product of Special and Extraordinary Events
      4. MYTH: The Most Important Tools for a Good Leader Are Power and Control
      5. MYTH: The Key to Fulfillment Lies in Seeking and Finding the Meaning of Life
      6. MYTH: Achievement and Success Lead to Happiness and Fulfillment
      7. Becoming SHARP
      8. Notes
  5. Part II: WHAT 10X LEADERS DO
    1. Chapter 4: Strengths: Making the Most of Your Gifts
      1. The Tragedy of the Damage Control Mind‐Set
      2. Passion Strengths and Performance Strengths: Discovering Your Peak Potential Zone
      3. The Mastery Experience: Building Self‐Confidence
      4. Leading with Strengths
      5. Connecting the Dots: A Note on Courage, Patience, and Serendipity
      6. Notes
    2. Chapter 5: Health: Injecting Energy into Life and Work
      1. Managing Energy, Not Time
      2. On Depletion and Recovery: The Energy Creation Zone
      3. In the ECZ: Lessons from the Blue Zones
      4. The Replenishing Role of Positive Emotions
      5. Managing Team Energy: Setting the Tone, Setting the Pace
      6. Notes
    3. Chapter 6: Absorption: Revealing the Extraordinary in the Ordinary through Mindful Engagement
      1. The Importance of Mindfulness
      2. Flow 101
      3. Tools for Mindfulness and Flow
      4. Leading with Mindfulness
      5. Notes
    4. Chapter 7: Relationships: Forming Authentic and Positive Bonds
      1. Relationship Enablers: Authenticity and Positivity
      2. Recognition and Gratitude
      3. Responding to Success and Failure
      4. Notes
    5. Chapter 8: Purpose: Meaning and Commitment Are the Path to Joyful Leadership
      1. Crafting Our Work
      2. Purpose as Meaning and Commitment
      3. Tools for Purposeful Living
      4. The Power of Story
      5. The Inspirational Leader: Animating Others with Purpose
      6. Notes
    6. Chapter 9: The Balanced Approach: SHARP and Cascading Success
      1. SHARP: Real‐World Synergy
      2. SHARP: Not One Size Fits All
      3. Notes
  6. Part III: HOW TO CHANGE—AND STAY CHANGED
    1. Chapter 10: Obstacles—and Pathways—to Lasting Behavioral Change: Neuroplasticity and the Possibility of Joyful Transformation
      1. Controlling Mind‐Sets
      2. Neuroplasticity: New Pathways to Change
      3. What's Neuroplasticity?
      4. The Science of Brain‐Altering Behaviors
      5. Notes
    2. Chapter 11: Creating New, Durable Pathways to Joyful Leadership: Tools and Tactics for Making SHARP Changes
      1. Unfreezing: Discovering and Experimenting with Alternative Thoughts and Behaviors
      2. Change: Picking and Leading with Your New Approaches to SHARP Living
      3. Refreezing: Rituals and Reminders for Strengthening New Pathways
      4. Reminders: Just Keep Doing It
      5. Notes
    3. Chapter 12: Finale: The 10X Effect Revisited and Becoming the Sum Total of Who You Are
      1. Notes
  7. Index
  8. End User License Agreement

Product information

  • Title: The Joy of Leadership
  • Author(s): Tal Ben-Shahar, Angus Ridgway
  • Release date: August 2017
  • Publisher(s): Wiley
  • ISBN: 9781119313007