Remarkable Leadership: Unleashing Your Leadership Potential One Skill at a Time / Edition 1

by Kevin Eikenberry

Overview

Remarkable Leadership is a practical handbook written for anyone who wants to hone the skills they need to become an outstanding leader. In this groundbreaking book, Kevin Eikenberry outlines a framework and a mechanism for both learning new things and applying current knowledge in a thoughtful and practical way. Eikenberry provides a guide through the most important leadership competencies, offers a proven method for learning leadership skills, and shows approaches for applying these skills in today’s multitasking and overloaded world of work. The book explores real-world concerns such as focus, limited time, incremental improvement, and how we learn.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780787996192
Publisher:	Wiley
Publication date:	08/17/2007
Series:	Jossey-Bass Leadership Series , #49
Pages:	288
Product dimensions:	6.30(w) x 9.20(h) x 1.20(d)

About the Author

Kevin Eikenberry is the chief potential officer of The Kevin Eikenberry Group, a learning consulting company that provides a wide range of services including organizational consulting, training delivery and design, speaking, facilitation, and performance coaching services.

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Table of Contents

Foreword xi
Jack Canfield

1. The Leader in You 1

2. Leadership Development in the Real World 8

3. How to Get the Most Out of This Book 17

4. Remarkable Leaders Learn Continually 21

5. Remarkable Leaders Champion Change 42

6. Remarkable Leaders Communicate Powerfully 63

7. Remarkable Leaders Build Relationships 80

8. Remarkable Leaders Develop Others 101

9. Remarkable Leaders Focus on Customers 125

10. Remarkable Leaders Influence with Impact 142

11. Remarkable Leaders Think and Act Innovatively 160

12. Remarkable Leaders Value Collaboration and Teamwork 179

13. Remarkable Leaders Solve Problems and Make Decisions 198

14. Remarkable Leaders Take Responsibility and Are Accountable 213

15. Remarkable Leaders Manage Projects and Processes Successfully 228

16. Remarkable Leaders Set Goals and Support Goal Achievement 242

Epilogue 261

References 263

Acknowledgments 267

The Author 269

About the Kevin Eikenberry Group 271

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

"Kevin accurately reminds us that whatever our job title or position, we are all leaders—and all have the potential to become truly remarkable. His belief in us and our ultimate success is real and can be read on every page. This belief is inspiring and empowering—as you read these pages his belief in you will build your own belief, an important ingredient in any successful learning journey."
—From the Foreword by Jack Canfield, author of The Success Principles

"Remarkable Leadership is a must-read for anyone wanting to improve their leadership skills. I highly recommend this book."
—Ivan Misner, New York Times bestselling author and founder of BNI

"Kevin is a true believer that leaders can be made. He has identified the key behaviors that remarkable leaders exhibit, and more importantly, he has given us practical ways to develop these behaviors. This book will be encouraging for those who desire to become remarkable leaders."
—Steve Boeckman, president and CEO, Great Lakes Energy Cooperative

"Remarkable leaders are not born—they are made and developed. That's why I loved this book. Kevin Eikenberry shares a set of powerful principles, skills, and action steps that develops leaders at all levels of the organization and anyone aspiring to be a leader. If you want to be a better leader or develop skilled leaders within your organization, then read this practical and powerful leadership manual and follow the action plan."
—Jon Gordon, bestselling author of The Energy Bus: 10 Rules to Fuel Your Life, Work, and Team with Positive Energy

"Kevin Eikenberry does a masterful job dissecting the key elements of effective leadership and makes a convincing case that becoming a master leader is always a work in progress, even for remarkable leaders. Becoming an effective leader means becoming an active learner, acquiring skills best mastered through carefully planned activities and practice. This book can help leaders at all levels build and strengthen their leadership skills."
—Vic Lechtenberg, vice provost for Engagement, Purdue University

More Praise for Remarkable Leadership

"Buy this book if you want to read about leadership. Use this book if you want to be challenged to move out of your leadership comfort zone and develop skills that will release your untapped potential.  Kevin has included every competency it takes to be a remarkable leader.  He not only identifies and explains them, but goes on to challenge you to assess and further develop each competency in your life.  From a human developmental standpoint, this book should be required reading, and learning, for anyone assigned the responsibility of being in leadership."
—Greg Shaffer, training supervisor, Chevron Phillips Chemical Company

"An important book that combines profound simplicity with practical instructions for leadership greatness.  Buy two copies - one for your desk and one for your bedside. Its poignant lessons will bear fruit at work and at home."
—Chip R. Bell, author of Customer Loyalty Guaranteed

"The best measurement of success is the number of choices available to you. In this book, Kevin Eikenberry infinitely increases those choices for you. Choose to devour this book. It's brilliant!"
—Jim Canterucci, author of Personal Brilliance

"In my assessment, Kevin Eikenberry is leading one of the most powerful and inspiring conversations about leadership now occurring on our planet. Remarkable Leadership brings the reader a concise distillation of all the most useful insights and actions regarding what actually works in leadership into one enjoyable volume. If you ever thought to yourself, ‘I could never be a great leader,’ reading this book will not only change your mind, it will launch you on a journey of fulfillment you hadn’t thought possible. At a time when many are cynical and resigned, Kevin’s book injects fresh new DNA into the intellectual gene pool of possibility. I urge you to read this book. Then go out and make a difference."
—David Chard, regional director, Edelman Asia Pacific Academy

"This book will equip you with all the skills you need to become a remarkable leader. Remarkable leaders can be made, if we choose to live and improve in our strengths zones. Regardless of title, position, or station in life, each of us can become a remarkable leader. This book gives you all the tools you'll need; the only question is, will you choose to use them, or will you settle for being mediocre?"
—Phil Gerbyshak, author of 10 Ways to Make It Great!

"Kevin Eikenberry knows what it takes to be a remarkable leader and shares his secrets, tips, and examples in this compelling and enjoyable book. Remarkable Leadership is elegant, powerful, and actionable. The book is full of excellent self-assessments and stories that illustrate what you can do to improve your impact as a leader. I love that Kevin zooms in on the leadership practices that can supercharge any company environment. Anyone can be a great leader by reading and following his guidance."
—Lisa Haneberg, author of Two Weeks to a Breakthrough and Focus Like a Laser Beam

"I can't think of a better book than Remarkable Leadership to put into the hands of aspiring leaders - or people who want to become more effective leaders. It's well-written, filled with practical suggestions, and, for my money, hits the truly important aspects of leading inside an organization."
—Rick Maurer, author of Beyond the Wall of Resistance and "Change Management News" blog

"What is so remarkable about Remarkable Leadership is that Kevin has found that the key to being a great leader doesn’t have to come with being a remarkable person.  His book can take the ordinary and human in all of us and help us meld ourselves into remarkable leaders.  His book invites all of us to find what kind of leader we can truly be."
—Rusty Rueff, CEO, SNOCAP, Inc.

"One of the most thought-provoking and creative activities I invest in as a leader is to have breakfast with Kevin Eikenberry. Innovative, cost-effective and practical ideas jump out of his head. Now, he has graciously written down an entire book of these ideas around leadership, creating a practical asset for all leaders. Kevin does a great job balancing a leader's need for a checklist with the need for practical tips and tools.  He combines ideas from many leaders melding them into cohesive lessons. For example, he helps you learn the difference between being a good leader who delegates and a great leader who empowers.  This is a book that will help you get from where you currently are as a leader to where you strive to be."
—Lou Russell, bestselling author and president of Russell Martin & Associates

"Kevin's ability to focus, empower and push leaders to a higher standard is what makes his insights illuminating.  He has proven one of our association’s greatest friends and trusted advisors.  I wouldn't just recommend his book.  I recommend you dog ear it, highlight it, scratch random thoughts in it and then buy a copy for your second-in-command as required reading."
—Tony Scelzo, founder of Rainmakers

"When you’re ready to unleash the remarkable leader within you, you must read this book and apply its simple yet profound principles. Kevin Eikenberry has broken down leadership in a bottom line, user-friendly way. By the time you are done with this book, you will realize that personal leadership is both your birthright and natural legacy."
—Tami Walsh, president of TeenWisdom.com

"Reading this book inspires you to want to be a better leader in all aspects of your life. What’s great about the book is that it gives you a hands-on, practical approach that you can use right from Chapter 1 to jumpstart your journey to becoming a truly remarkable leader. Learning is a choice and if you make the choice to read this book, you are investing in yourself; in making yourself a better leader, learner and active participant in the world around you. Remarkable Leadership is like your own leadership playbook for the 21st Century. This book is a must have for all managers and leaders!"
—Michelle Zant, Ph.D., education marketing manager, Arrow Enterprise Computing Solutions

"Remarkable Leadership aimes to guide readers step-by-step to transform into what many of us want to be—the boss. The book identifies 13 key points, or competencies, from learn continually to set goals and support goal achievement, offering methods of applying each to life. Eikenberry calls this developement The Remarkable Leadership Learning System."—from Forbes.com

Editorial Reviews

Predicated on the notion that leaders are not born, but are made and remade and made over again, author and consultant Eikenberry provides a guide to honing leadership skills that’s succinct and sensible, demonstrating that leading is as much about listening, asking questions and empowering others as it is about charisma and vision. Thirteen chapters enumerate what remarkable leaders do—"learn continually," "communicate powerfully," "influence with impact," "think and act innovatively," etc.—and how they do it. In hopes of narrowing the gap between those who aspire to remarkability and those who’ve already achieved it, Eikenberry provides plenty of "Now Steps," exercises for evaluating and improving one’s position that can be implemented in short order. Obvious but edifying techniques include storytelling practice, journaling and building a network of well-nurtured relationships. Eikenberry also offers online resources ("Bonus Bytes") tied to specific points in the text, available on the book’s web site. A solid leadership primer, this book will instruct, if not exactly inspire, anyone looking to manage others more effectively. (Sept.) (Publishers Weekly Annex, September 2007)

From the Publisher