Why Should the Boss Listen to You?: The Seven Disciplines of the Trusted Strategic Advisor

Why Should the Boss Listen to You?: The Seven Disciplines of the Trusted Strategic Advisor

by Lukaszewski James E.
Released February 2008
Publisher(s): Jossey-Bass
ISBN: 9780787996185

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Book description

This is a book about gaining influence and becoming a key trusted advisor. It is for everyone who advises leaders and senior managers (accounting, finance, human resources, IT, law, marketing, public relations, security, and strategic planning) and for outside consultants in these functional staff areas. It’s also for operations people yearning to finally be heard and heeded by their boss.

Table of contents

  1. More Praise for Why Should the Boss Listen to You?
  2. Copyright
  3. Dedication
  4. Preface
  5. Acknowledgments
  6. About the Author
  7. Introduction: Leaders and Their Advisors
  8. THE REALITIES OF ADVISING TOP EXECUTIVES
    1. HOW LEADERS THINK AND OPERATE: The Pressures, What Matters, the Obstacles, and the Solutions
      1. Pressures Leaders Are Under
      2. What Leaders Do
      3. Why Leaders Fail
      4. How Leaders Succeed
      5. Study Leadership
      6. An Important Suggestion for You to Consider
    2. WHAT LEADERS EXPECT
      1. The Boss's Special Perspective
      2. The Counselor's Prime Directive
      3. How the Boss Measures Advice
      4. What Bosses Expect from Strategic Advisors
      5. Talents Advisors Need
      6. Intuition (Controlled)
      7. Do You Fit in the CEO Environment?
      8. Resources
    3. ACHIEVING MAXIMUM IMPACT
      1. Gain and Keep the Confidence of Senior People
      2. Speak Management's Language
      3. Work Against the Patterns That Bother Bosses
      4. Talk and Write to Time
      5. Give Useful Feedback
      6. What Your Leader Expects
      7. Do You Have the Discipline?
  9. THE SEVEN DISCIPLINES
    1. BE TRUSTWORTHY
      1. Trust Matters
      2. Trust and Influence
      3. Trust and Loyalty
      4. Loyalty Has Limits
      5. Set Personal Loyalty Limits
      6. Trust-Appreciation Confusion
      7. The Ingredients of Trust
      8. Establishing Trust
      9. Busting Trust
      10. Questions to Consider
    2. BECOME A VERBAL VISIONARY
      1. Advice on the Spot
      2. The Advisor's Verbal Toolbox
      3. Assess Your Verbal Skill
      4. Get Coaching
      5. Being Visionary
      6. What Does a Verbal Visionary Do?
      7. How Do You Become a Verbal Visionary?
      8. How Will You Know If You Have Become a Verbal Visionary?
    3. DEVELOP A MANAGEMENT PERSPECTIVE
      1. Admission to the Inner Circle
      2. Commit Yourself to Management's Team
      3. Ask Managerially Relevant Questions First
      4. Be Ready with Answers
      5. Why Bosses Sometimes Bypass Staff
      6. Whining Turns Bosses Off
      7. Say Things That Matter
      8. Questions to Consider
    4. THINK STRATEGICALLY
      1. The Strategic Perspective
      2. Strategy Is Always Positive
      3. The Virtues of a Strategist
      4. Thinking Strategically
      5. Why Some Strategies Are Flawed from the Start
      6. Can You Develop a Strategic Mind-Set?
    5. BE A WINDOW TO TOMORROW: Understand the Power of Patterns
      1. Study the Patterns That Past Scenarios Yield
      2. The Strategic Value of Pattern-Related Thinking
      3. Pattern Examples
      4. Exposure Management and Surveillance
      5. War Stories
      6. The Lessons of Pattern and Scenario Awareness
      7. Lesson 1: Patterns Are the Foundation of Strategy and Are What Make the Strategist an Intelligent Forecaster
      8. Lesson 2: War Story Files Are One Tool Advisors Can Use to Help the Boss Better Understand a Situation and All Its Ramifications as a Pattern of Events Unfolds
      9. Lesson 3: Preemptively Translate Relevant Patterns and Problems into Useful Strategic Tools Management Can Use Before Problems Occur
      10. Lesson 4: Focus Most of Your Work on Nonoperating Scenarios
      11. Lesson 5: Talking About Patterns Is Often a Powerful Way to Be Memorable
      12. Can You Recognize What's Coming Next?
    6. ADVISE CONSTRUCTIVELY
      1. The Three-Minute Drill
      2. Learn and Use This Management Decision-Making Structure
      3. More Strategic Advice-Giving Tools
    7. SHOW THE BOSS HOW TO USE YOUR ADVICE
      1. Giving Constructive Advice
      2. Giving Advice Effectively
      3. Advice Givers and Advice Takers
    8. Conclusion: You Are the Table

Product information

  • Title: Why Should the Boss Listen to You?: The Seven Disciplines of the Trusted Strategic Advisor
  • Author(s): Lukaszewski James E.
  • Release date: February 2008
  • Publisher(s): Jossey-Bass
  • ISBN: 9780787996185