Mastering Leadership: An Integrated Framework for Breakthrough Performance and Extraordinary Business Results by Bob Anderson

Mastering Leadership: An Integrated Framework for Breakthrough Performance and Extraordinary Business Results Reviews

• 
  John E. Smith

  THREE REASONS TO LIKE THIS BOOK:
  
  1) Mastering Leadership builds on a solid and valid foundation of human development theory, which I learned in graduate school many years ago, use regularly in my work, but never thought to apply specifically to the area of leadership development.
  
  2) The authors acknowledge and use an understanding of what they call the Inner Game (Inner Operating System) and the Outer Game (complex combination of values, beliefs, experiences, assumptions, and so on).
  
  3) The authors use the core concept of Identity in this fairly complex, but clearly explained model which incorporates both Creative and Reactive styles of leadership behavior, while also including the familiar dichotomy of Task orientation versus Relationship orientation.
  
  The ideal leader is proficient at both Task and Relationship, while increasing their creative behaviors and reducing their reactive behaviors. The ideal leader seeks and achieves growth through five leadership stages (Egocentric, Reactive, Creative, Integral, and Unitive).
  
  Without going into detail here, this book is not just about becoming a more effective leader, but becoming a more effective force in our world.
  
  COOL TOOLS:
  
  The Leadership Circle: A graphic representation of Creative and Reactive styles, along with Task and Relationship.
  
  The Leadership Circle Profile: This tool gives us a visual assessment of our Creative and our Reactive behaviors, along with how we "tilt" toward Task or Relationship.
  
  Using these two tools, our future goals are more easily identified as we plan to increase Creative, reduce Reactive, and balance Task and Relationship.
  
  The book covers a fairly complex and deep theoretical model, but does so articulately and with plenty of examples from real life. It is wonky enough to satisfy the statistical nerds among us, but available enough for those who just want to learn and grow. When you finish digesting the various charts, graphs, and images, you move into deep reflection about yourself and the role of leadership in your life.
  
  Many familiar names and terms pop up in both the text and the index, which is one of the things I look for in a book that purports to be useful to me. Filled with solid research-based knowledge, it covers a broader scope than most other leadership development books I have read.
  
  Mastering Leadership is not "easy" reading, but it IS very engaging reading for anyone serious about expanding their knowledge of how we can help ourselves and others. It does not offer simple solutions or reheated and empty slogans, but a model and a tool to help us become much more intentional about developing our leadership abilities effectively.
  
  BOTTOM LINE: Mastering Leadership goes on my Fingertip Shelf, where I keep those few titles I truly want to remember, learn, and use into my future. I imagine many others will want to take similar advantage of the book as well.
• 
  Jim Razinha

  As with most of books of this type, the authors are selling a product, and they claim that theirs is better than the others - they used the word "breakthrough" more than few times along with "groundbreaking". That always trips my radar. But, they do cite many other leadership authors, but usually with a caveat that the author/theorist was missing something (that they figured out).
  
  I'm in a yearlong management seminar program and we are assigned executive summaries of various books. If possible, I like to try to read the source text before the class. In this case, the text is quite large and the editor distills it to 8 pages. They didn't do too bad a job, but pretty much all of the theory and supporting case studies had to be omitted.
  
  There are obviously good points to be taken from this (or most other leadership books), but I don't agree yet with Anderson and Adams on their framing of leadership development. I doubt I will as some runs counter to logic, particularly the end point that invokes mystical mumbo-jumbo, so it gets tossed as a non-end point. (It's called "Unity" and is about "oneness" and how the best leader has nothing of him/herself left because he/she is no longer an individual. I won't even dignify that with a response. Twaddle. Okay, a little dignifying there.)
  
  I was quite surprised to see them give redundancy a completely new definition. They didn't know they were, because they said they were borrowing it from engineering: "Redundancy results when one tension resolution in the structure depends on a second tension resolution in the structure and vice versa." Uh...redundancy means duplicate systems to minimize single points of failure.
  
  In one of their cute chapter ending prompt questions, they asked "How long has it been since your world was rocked to its core by something you learned?" Truly inquisitive people aren't rocked much, if at all...that that is even a question makes me wonder who the target audience is.
• 
  Alexis

  Slow start but great end
  
  The first 6-7 chapters could be condensed and less about selling his model. The last few chapters were most powerful and useful. I still had some very powerful takeaways so I am glad I stuck with it.
• 
  Soundview Executive Book Summaries

  Mastering Leadership: An Integrated Framework for Breakthrough Performance and Extraordinary Business Results by Robert Anderson and William Adams was chosen by
  Soundview Executive Book Summaries as one of the
  Top Business Books of 2016.
  
  THE SOUNDVIEW OVERVIEW:
  
  For most leaders today, complexity is outpacing their personal and collective development. Most leaders are in over their heads, whether they know it or not. The most successful organizations over time are the best led. While this has always been true, today escalating global complexity puts leadership effectiveness at a premium. Mastering Leadership involves developing the effectiveness of leaders — individually and collectively — and turning that leadership into a competitive advantage.
  
  This comprehensive roadmap for optimal leadership features the first fully integrated Universal Model of Leadership — one that integrates the best theory and research in the fields of Leadership and Organizational Development over the last half century, the five stages in the evolution of leadership — Egocentric, Reactive, Creative, Integral and Unitive — along with the organizational structures and cultures that develop at each of these stages, six leadership practices for evolving your leadership capability at a faster pace and more.
  
  Mastering Leadership provides a systemic approach for developing your senior leaders and the leadership system of your organization. By more meaningfully deploying all of who you are every day, individually and collectively, you will achieve a leadership legacy consistent with your highest aspirations.
  
  Soundview's in-depth, 8-page Executive Summary of Mastering Leadership is
  available here.
• 
  Charity

  This book has some good info but it’s buried beneath pages and pages of superfluous storytelling and diagrams. The information is NOT presented in a strait forward manner. Once you boil the information down to the nuts and bolts it makes a lot of sense (dare I say common sense), but the authors never proceed to shed light on how one might put into practice methods of improving their core competencies and becoming a more effective leader. The Christian references were annoying, as were the attempts to redefine terms like “redundant” and “passive.”
  
  I wanted to give this book one star but realized much of the information (once you get past the car salesman pitch) is incredibly useful, just not to anyone who has already done a great deal of self-exploration and already has a heightened self awareness.
• 
  Jenn "JR"

  I have been reading this book for a leadership class and have enjoyed it a lot. At it's heart, the book is a universal model of leadership based on stages of development of the ego. It's really enjoyable to read -- and even more useful if you take the online test, and even more useful if you have colleagues and coworkers who can also evaluate you.
  
  The book draws on many influences -- lots of metaphysical stuff at the end -- and is very well organized with some good portraits of individual leaders (who were clients of the authors) and their journeys. I enjoyed the book so much that I have 15 pages of notes.
• 
  Batu

  Master being a human being
  
  This book is not about mastering being a manager or a leader in a business but it is so much more than that. It’s about evolving as a human being. A human being that gets rid of his/her ego and see us all as one. One of the best books I’ve ever read!! The book is factual and evidence based, built on many different types of research you might have heard of or studied in the past. Also, if you are spiritual, regardless of your religious affiliations if any, you will find this book incredibly inspiring.
• 
  Nick Fleming

  An excellent, evidence-based account of what it takes to achieve good leadership and to develop your level of leadership. It dovetails with much of the excellent work done by others on personal, mindset and cognitive development. Having read much on leadership I have not come across a similar body of work. One book on leadership that should be on the bookshelves of anyone dedicated to developing their leadership effectiveness. (The only challenge for readers is that they may need to read some of the related background work in order to appreciate the full value of this book.)
• 
  Inka Partanen

  They started by boasting how this theory is the one and only of its kind and how it is the first time ever someone has been able to form this type of an approach. A typical, even exaggerated selling speech which I found very annoying. I gave up after 25% book as there had been no real content until then, just attempts to prove how tremendous and extraordinary results you could end up having with this book...
• 
  Everett Shupe

  Probably one of the most important books on leadership for the 21st century. I like how the authors have distilled centuries of leadership and adult learning researcher. Leadership = learning. I also like the model they present: The Leadership Circle. Recommended for anyone who wants to elevate their leadership.
• 
  Erik

  This book has some very good points and the assessment is also very helpful. However, much of the book seems to be for the intent of proving that their assessment is scientific and proven to be effective. I recommend that you take the assessment with the guide and skip the long overly detailed book.
• 
  Ron Vereggen

  If you are looking for a leadership development approach for your organization, this books lays out a fairly comprehensive model. I took away a number of key insights that I will be using in my own development as mindful leader and in my practice in developing other leaders. Great book.
• 
  Dave Drodge

  I admire the ambition of the book to promote us all becoming a force of good in our world. A 3 or 4 - its hard to decide. If you are using the book as an explaination for the assessment then a 4 but if only for background for an evaluation then it tends to go on at times and a 3.
• 
  Richard Kalmeijer

  Important insights in people's reactive limiting and creative enabling drivers
• 
  Ryan Gottfredson

  Love the concepts, poorly written
• 
  Dr. Byron Ernest

  Leadership is a conversation. How we show up to that conversation is what matters most. What we do as leaders drives our organization's collective effectiveness. This book is not just another leadership book like all the others on your book shelf. In Mastering Leadership we get a true guide to, not only mastering your own leadership development, but that of all those in your organization you serve. Through this book's teachings you will learn to have the courageous conversations, both with yourself and your team. No matter where we sit within our organizations, we are all leaders. Mastering Leadership guides us on the path to being the best leader we can be on the road to integral leadership and the transformation to greatness.
  
  Dr. Byron Ernest
• 
  Ann Louise Tisdale-Ramos

  This book required re-reading. It’s not just “another book about leadership” but really the 21st century bible on all things leadership and growth. Raising the consciousness of my leadership will require a life time of dedication.
  
  I found this other review most helpful/
  
  “The key difference lies in the authors’ focus on the so-called inner game of leadership. Whereas most leadership development targets the outer game of competencies and processes, Mastering Leadership considers all three areas as equally important. More than that, according to the authors “the inner game runs the outer game. […] Since this truth is largely ignored, most efforts to develop mastery in leadership focus on the outer game of competence with little focus on the inner game of consciousness.”
• 
  Kristine

  Some great leadership theory here! But having used the Leadership Circle Assessment at work, which is what he is trying to sell, i found the concepts were too complex because there were too many moving parts for leadership to buy in to it. It certainly started the conversation, but did not lead to change in leadership styles.
• 
  David Andrews

  What an amazing book! Not an easy read. And I'm so glad to have read it. Leadership as personal growth and development AND Leadership as spiritual practice! Wow! Brilliant, theoretical and practical.
• 
  Andy Johnson

  Life changing
  
  This book will likely change my understanding and approach to my own leadership development and that of those I'm privileged to walk with on the heroic leadership journey.
• 
  John Patrick Morgan

  Best book on Leadership I've ever read. Impressive research validating their phenomenal model. Extremely well explained. Lucid, liberating and inspiring. Will be re-reading this one.
• 
  Renee Rogers

  Best book on leadership of this decade!