07/03/2017
Decrying egotism at every level of business, Black, former CEO and director of Encore Capital Group, and Hughes, president of the firm Learning as Leadership (LaL), emphasize that potentially detrimental self-centered behaviors can be managed and even help guide a corporation to success. When Encore was struggling to survive a challenging business environment in the mid-2000s, Black decided to give Hughes’s unorthodox program a try. This book chronicles their experiences, using their interaction as examples of the LaL approach, and also delves into personality, workplace politics, learning from others, and career goals. As the two men relate, their relationship was rocky at first, with Black resisting the idea that his leadership style was negatively effecting his employees. When he finally recognized and faced this, it “fundamentally changed the trajectory of Encore.” He tells his side of the story with full candor and admission of his “unconscious habits” and how he overcame them. Hughes explains how Black and the Encore team implemented and thrived with the LaL process. This book is a useful read for anyone seeking to navigate the various egos at play within an organization. (Mar.)
"I've got a solution," Encore's CFO tells Brandon, "but it's unorthodox." It's 2005, and Brandon Black has just been promoted to CEO of Encore Capital, a company struggling to navigate an increasingly difficult business environment. Faced with a rapidly declining stock price and low workplace morale, Brandon knows he needs change-and fast. Following his CFO's advice, he and his executive team start working with Learning as Leadership (LaL) and its president, Shayne Hughes. Through their partnership, Encore's executive team learns to root out the unproductive ego habits that undermine collaboration and performance.
As they instill these more effective behaviors throughout the organization, Encore begins to solve problems collectively, prioritize resources without infighting, and focus on the initiatives with the greatest strategic value. When the financial crisis of 2008-09 forces 90 percent of its competitors out of business, Encore thrives, with its profits increasing by 300 percent and its stock price by 1,200 percent. Told from two lively first-person perspectives, Ego Free Leadership brings listeners along for Encore's incredible success story. They'll see a CEO overcome his unconscious resistance to modeling the change he wants in his team and discover a time-tested roadmap for eliminating the destructive effects of the ego in teams and organizations.
"I've got a solution," Encore's CFO tells Brandon, "but it's unorthodox." It's 2005, and Brandon Black has just been promoted to CEO of Encore Capital, a company struggling to navigate an increasingly difficult business environment. Faced with a rapidly declining stock price and low workplace morale, Brandon knows he needs change-and fast. Following his CFO's advice, he and his executive team start working with Learning as Leadership (LaL) and its president, Shayne Hughes. Through their partnership, Encore's executive team learns to root out the unproductive ego habits that undermine collaboration and performance.
As they instill these more effective behaviors throughout the organization, Encore begins to solve problems collectively, prioritize resources without infighting, and focus on the initiatives with the greatest strategic value. When the financial crisis of 2008-09 forces 90 percent of its competitors out of business, Encore thrives, with its profits increasing by 300 percent and its stock price by 1,200 percent. Told from two lively first-person perspectives, Ego Free Leadership brings listeners along for Encore's incredible success story. They'll see a CEO overcome his unconscious resistance to modeling the change he wants in his team and discover a time-tested roadmap for eliminating the destructive effects of the ego in teams and organizations.
Ego Free Leadership: Ending the Unconscious Habits that Hijack Your Business
Narrated by Brandon Black, Shayne Hughes, Amy Anouk
Brandon BlackUnabridged — 7 hours, 27 minutes
Ego Free Leadership: Ending the Unconscious Habits that Hijack Your Business
Narrated by Brandon Black, Shayne Hughes, Amy Anouk
Brandon BlackUnabridged — 7 hours, 27 minutes
Overview
"I've got a solution," Encore's CFO tells Brandon, "but it's unorthodox." It's 2005, and Brandon Black has just been promoted to CEO of Encore Capital, a company struggling to navigate an increasingly difficult business environment. Faced with a rapidly declining stock price and low workplace morale, Brandon knows he needs change-and fast. Following his CFO's advice, he and his executive team start working with Learning as Leadership (LaL) and its president, Shayne Hughes. Through their partnership, Encore's executive team learns to root out the unproductive ego habits that undermine collaboration and performance.
As they instill these more effective behaviors throughout the organization, Encore begins to solve problems collectively, prioritize resources without infighting, and focus on the initiatives with the greatest strategic value. When the financial crisis of 2008-09 forces 90 percent of its competitors out of business, Encore thrives, with its profits increasing by 300 percent and its stock price by 1,200 percent. Told from two lively first-person perspectives, Ego Free Leadership brings listeners along for Encore's incredible success story. They'll see a CEO overcome his unconscious resistance to modeling the change he wants in his team and discover a time-tested roadmap for eliminating the destructive effects of the ego in teams and organizations.
Editorial Reviews
Organizations fail when the ego needs of its leaders hijack its mission. In this compelling, true account, the CEO of a company on the verge of failure is guided through the deep learning that saves his leadership and his enterprise. A powerful, practical story of egos tamed and an organization resurrected.
An authentic read! I partnered with LaL to lead two large-scale organizational turnarounds: first as Center Director of NASA’s Langley Research Center, and then later as VP for Operations of the contractor operating the Nevada National Security Site for the Nuclear Security Administration. LaL led both my leadership teams through profoundly successful cultural transformations that produced breakthrough business results. In reading Ego Free Leadership, I could easily replace Brandon’s name with my own. This book captures the challenges—and solutions—of leading large scale change.
The framework presented in Ego Free Leadership has had a profound influence on my research and teaching over the past fifteen years. I’m thrilled to see it finally brought to life in this captivating story of one CEO and his team’s transformational leadership journey. This book is a must-read for any leader who wants to make a difference.
Black and Hughes offer an indispensable introduction into the power of authentic, ego-free leadership and the impact this can have on creating truly inspired organizations. If you can’t attend a Learning as Leadership course or get Shayne as an executive coach, this book is the next best thing!
Learning as Leadership has had a profound impact on the Edna McConnell Clark Foundation and on me personally as well as professionally. Reading Brandon Black and Shayne Hughes’ account of one CEO’s experience with the program deeply resonated with my own, and I highly recommend anyone interested in building strong, resilient leadership teams to pick up this book immediately.
This gripping story is propelled forward by the alternating perspectives of a CEO’s candid rendition of his and the company’s journey and of a deeply insightful executive coach. Black and Hughes share insights and tools that helped change the company—as well as Black’s life. The book immediately had me thinking of situations I am dealing with as a leader and how I might manage them (and myself!) differently.
Hughes and Black do an outstanding job of bringing the power of the Learning as Leadership methodology to life in this captivating and authentic account of a CEO’s journey for true leadership excellence.
Ego Free Leadership provides a blueprint for transforming you and your organization. Filled with practical, real-life examples, the authors walk you through a process that surfaces the pain points leaders and organizations have and provides counterintuitive ways to resolve or even transcend them. Anyone can benefit, regardless of culture or background.
In Ego Free Leadership, Black and Hughes take us through one CEO’s successful, inspiring, and instructive journey towards taking responsibility for his own messes. We learn how he put his ego in the service of, rather than in the way of, creating the kind of high-performance, mutually supportive organization to which we all aspire. Damn. I wish they had written it (and I had read it) decades ago.
Ego Free Leadership tells a powerful story of how vulnerability brings us closer to our people, teams, and goals. Hughes and Black offer a wealth of insights to business leaders seeking growth in themselves and their organizations!
I'm a big admirer of the work that Shayne Hughes and the team at Learning as Leadership perform. The practices and concepts for ‘going deep’ in the realm of leadership development are world-class and life changing. What is really happening, inside and out, for a leader trying to create deep change in himself and his organization? And what is happening, inside and out, for the leadership coach who is trying to help him? This groundbreaking book answers those questions by bringing readers into both sides of a transformative relationship. Hughes’ and Black’s story is instructive, rewarding, and inspiring.
Ego Free Leadership tells a fascinating, real life saga about how our ego traps us in a prison. So many of us significantly underestimate how our ego hijacks our leadership and organizations, causing us to accomplish much less than we could otherwise.
Ego Free Leadership chronicles the dynamic struggle of a CEO as his executive coach helps him face his ego triggers. It is unabashedly authentic, with unbridled self-evaluation and unvarnished honesty.
Ego Free Leadership brings fresh insights into what it means to lead, how we can get in our own way, and how we might help others develop their leadership. Even more, Black and Hughes deliver specific tools for attacking our worst ego-based problems, helping us become better leaders for our teams and organizations.
Brandon Black and Shayne Hughes have landed on a key insight: When leaders let go of ego, they unlock their potential. The story of how they improved culture and performance at Encore Capital is packed with useful lessons for coaches and leaders alike.
This book is an engaging and entertaining read, and much more. It reveals wise and powerful insights about how, despite our best intentions, we can be the biggest obstacles to our own success and the success of those around us.
Black and Hughes use real-life challenges to illustrate how the ego gets in the way of effective leadership and teamwork. Ego Free Leadership is an invaluable read for anyone interested in building a successful leadership team or organization.
Another self-absorbed CEO with a management guru—what could I possibly learn? Don't let your ego get in the way! Black, Hughes, and Encore’s bumpy yet remarkable journey provides unvarnished insights and lessons for all of us as we seek personal, leadership, and business development. I benefited yesterday and I will benefit today.
Product Details
| BN ID: | 2940169608625 |
|---|---|
| Publisher: | Blackstone Audio, Inc. |
| Publication date: | 09/19/2017 |
| Edition description: | Unabridged |
Read an Excerpt
Ego Free Leadership
Ending the Unconscious Habits That Hijack Your Business
By Brandon Black, Shayne Hughes
Greenleaf Book Group Press
Copyright © 2017 Brandon Black and Learning as LeadershipAll rights reserved.
ISBN: 978-1-62634-379-5
CHAPTER 1
THAT VOICE IN YOUR HEAD DOES MORE DAMAGE THAN YOU REALIZE
* * *
Our Preoccupation with Self-Worth
BRANDON
I stepped into the blazing August 2005 sunshine of New York City. The temperature was 95 degrees and the humidity hit me like a wave. I was headed to the biggest meeting of my career and had decided to clear my head by walking the ten blocks from my hotel. After a dozen paces, however, I was soaked in sweat.
My boss, Carl Gregory, was retiring as the CEO of Encore Capital Group, and the board of directors had agreed to make me his successor. I was fortunate to achieve a lot of success early in my career: I was managing thousands of people by the time I was twenty-seven, had helped Encore avoid bankruptcy, and was on the Nasdaq stage when we took the company public in 2003. Now, at thirty-seven, I was poised to be its leader. I was on my way to finalize the terms of my agreement with Nelson Peltz, a member of the board and Encore's largest shareholder. I had worked at Encore for five years, and Nelson and I had a good relationship. He had a reputation for being a ruthless negotiator, though, and several board members offered to advise me on how to handle the meeting. Instead, I did my own homework, even hiring a compensation consultant to benchmark my proposal. My request was fair and well deserved. I was confident I would prevail.
I arrived a few minutes before our scheduled start time of 2:30 pm, which gave me time to wipe the sweat off my face. We were meeting in a restaurant partially owned by Nelson. It was between the lunch and dinner service, and when we sat down, we were the only two people in the place. I laid out my rationale in fine detail.
"Well done, Brandon," Nelson said when I finished. "But this is a zero- sum game. Every dollar I pay you is a dollar that doesn't go to the shareholders. As the largest shareholder, I don't like that."
"I understand," I replied, "but a dollar means a lot more to me than it does to you."
"No," he said flatly, "a dollar is a dollar."
I couldn't believe his response. I made my arguments again, this time with added emphasis on the salary benchmarking, which was clearly impartial. He didn't budge and told me that his offer was final. Time to walk out or fold. I stood up, looked at the door — and then shook his hand. Nelson knew all along that there was no way I was going to walk away from this opportunity. He had all the leverage. Never take a knife to a gunfight.
I prided myself on my ability to convince others. I had often been the young executive having to overcome perceptions that I wasn't up to the challenge. Winning this negotiation was my chance to prove I could roll with the big guys. I couldn't believe how poorly it went. I got the job, but it still felt like I belonged at the kids' table.
The air outside was stifling, the heat and humidity mixing with my anger and embarrassment. I felt naive and inexperienced. I was supposed to meet another board member, Alex, for a drink. He had offered to help me negotiate with Nelson, but I refused. As I walked, I racked my brain for any plausible excuse to cancel.
The room at Smith and Wollensky's was crowded. Alex was at the bar and he waved me over. He raised his glass and toasted my success. I should have been thrilled. Instead, it felt like I had blown my first big opportunity. Should I have held out for more money? If I couldn't advocate for myself, was I really up to this job? I tried to shove my doubts away on the flight home to San Diego. Dana, my wife of just a few weeks, met me at the airport. We went through the details of the meeting, and she was relieved I hadn't tested Nelson's resolve.
Over the weekend we talked about how I planned on handling the challenges facing Encore. It was a period of unprecedented change on all fronts.
Our core business was under tremendous pressure. While the financial crisis of 2008 was still three years away, our industry had begun its own recession. Encore Capital acquires unpaid consumer debts, mainly credit cards, from banks and other large financial institutions. The company becomes the de facto creditor, and we work to collect money from those consumers who regain their ability to pay. On average, 80 percent of the consumer accounts we acquire pay us nothing. The other 20 percent pay us approximately sixty-six cents on the dollar. The critical variables that determine our profitability are the purchase price for portfolios of unpaid debt, the total dollars we collect, and the operating costs required to generate those collections. Between December 2004 and January 2005, the prices for portfolios increased by almost 100 percent, making new investments largely unprofitable. Prior years of very profitable investments had given us a small window of time to adjust our operating model. It was up to me to figure out how to adapt.
We hadn't anticipated such a dramatic shift and had no contingency plans. So, during the first eight months of 2005, we reacted by launching a variety of strategic initiatives designed to offset the price increases and diversify our revenue. Sort of like throwing spaghetti against the wall. We acquired the largest portfolio of unpaid receivables in the company's history, along with an operating site of 200 people; hired an experienced management team to create a new business vertical focused on a different asset class; acquired a company outside our core business; and opened our first international site in India. Bold moves for a company our size. The big question was whether my newly formed executive team had the leadership and business skills to make the moves pay off.
During the prior five years, as COO, I had worked closely with Carl and the company's CFO, Barry Barkley. It took time to build our leadership rapport, but the three of us found a solid working rhythm. I learned invaluable lessons from both of them. Now that era was ending.
Barry had retired in June, and Carl was stepping away in October. The new CFO, Paul Grinberg, had a world of experience and was one of the smartest people I'd ever met. But the two of us approached problems very differently. He came up with all the reasons why initiatives wouldn't work, while I could only see the finish line. I couldn't figure him out. Weren't we supposed to identify ways to grow the company? Why was he always so negative? If we were going to navigate our way through these challenging times, our relationship had to work, but we weren't clicking.
Paul wasn't the only new member on the leadership team. We had hired an Operations executive to replace me and added two leaders to oversee our new business ventures. All three were experienced, but new to our industry. I saw early on that they were struggling, but I needed to concentrate on my transition. They'd have to figure it out on their own.
As I talked this over with Dana, she was concerned that I wasn't being honest with myself. She thought I was overcommitted and wasn't organized enough to take care of all my new responsibilities. I told her I was perfectly capable of handling everything — and suggested she "focus on herself" instead.
"Now you're dismissing my feelings," she told me straight up.
From the beginning of our relationship, Dana refused to put up with my bullshit. Given that both of us were previously married, she insisted that we meet with a therapist to ensure we built a strong foundation for our relationship. She was always pushing me to be more authentic with her and with my six-year-old son, Trevor. I trusted her advice when it came to our family, but I was a different person at work.
"It'll be fine," I said, hoping to end the conversation. "I just need time to focus and work with the team. We'll get there."
"Really? I've heard that before. I think you should get some help."
I nodded but didn't respond. The job would be a challenge, but I was confident. I needed to learn more about managing balance sheets and dealing with shareholders, analysts, and regulators. But my leadership capabilities were strong. I'd been successful so far, right? Besides, my team needed to see I was in control and had the answers.
I was glad to get back in the office on Monday to focus on our key initiatives. Late morning, I had a meeting with Paul to talk about our acquisition.
"We'll close on time," he said, "but I don't know how we'll fit culturally. It can be hard for founders to take direction. Getting their management team to operate with our rigor is going to be difficult. When I tried to talk to them about metrics, they kept telling me not to worry, that they knew their business."
"Do I need to fly there?" I asked.
"I'd say 'yes,' but there are too many issues here."
"What are you talking about?"
"It seems like all I do is listen to people complain about project delays and who's to blame for missed projections. The new guy, Dave, doesn't understand our business. I was babysitting while you were gone the last couple of weeks."
"OK, I can fix that."
"While you're at it, can you deal with the Technology team? They keep fighting with Operations about why critical software enhancements are more than sixty days behind schedule. When we get in a room, IT blames Operations for constantly changing the scope of the project, while the Ops guys see the IT team as rigid and incompetent." He sighed. "I've got five more examples like that."
Paul could be a glass-half-empty guy, but this time I sensed real frustration. When I had tried to address similar concerns with the executive team several weeks prior, I got polite pushback and silence. Apparently, they still hadn't gotten the message. We were in a tough spot, and this team didn't seem to have the skills or maturity to understand the magnitude of the problem. Maybe Dana was right; they did need help. I asked Paul if he had any ideas.
"I've got a solution, but it's unorthodox," he said. "The focus is on identifying unproductive leadership behaviors and involves several week-long training sessions over a year. The organization is called Learning as Leadership, and the seminars are held in Sausalito, California. Instead of them coming here, we go to them."
I looked at him incredulously.
"It would be our team mixed with leaders from around the country," he continued hurriedly. "We get the benefit of their experience. I've done it before. It's amazing."
Where is this guy coming from? I wanted some quick help, not a multi-week distraction. Paul was so enthusiastic, though, that I didn't know how to politely turn him down. We asked two of Learning as Leadership's (LaL's) partners, Shayne Hughes and Lara Nuer, to meet with us in October, the same month I would formally become CEO. I would play along so Paul would feel like I was being a good "partner."
Shayne and Lara spent the first half of their visit meeting one-onone with my team to get a sense of our overall challenges. When I finally stepped into the conference room to be debriefed, I was prepared for them to be arrogant, self-absorbed, and overeducated. But they neither looked nor acted like consultants I had met before. My misgivings quickly began to fade once the discussion began.
Both seemed keenly interested in understanding my challenges. Lara asked penetrating questions: "What are your developmental areas as an incoming CEO? What is the impact of your team's dysfunctions on your business performance? What do you envision would be possible if you and your team could talk openly and constructively about difficult topics?" Several leaders on my team seemed incapable of "looking in the mirror," and Lara's questions were good ones for them to address.
Shayne and Lara explained how the LaL process explores the formative experiences we've had growing up, shaping our view of the world. In particular, the process investigates how our "ego" triggers counterproductive leadership behaviors that impede performance. That certainly rang true when I looked at my team — "childish" was how I thought of some of their behavior.
While they had thoughtful answers to my questions, I still couldn't get over the time commitment and format. "It sounds like one big networking event where we commiserate and waste time on other people's problems. Why would we ever do that?" Let's see how they respond to that.
"You told us not five minutes ago about an executive on your team who won't acknowledge his limitations during performance reviews," Shayne responded. "You think if we come down here and make him come clean in front of the team, he's going to respond productively? In a larger group, while interacting with leaders from different industries with similar problems, he'll have the anonymity to be honest with himself. His coach will challenge him offline. Then, when he's ready, we'll talk as a team. You won't waste time, you'll save time."
"I get it," I told him. "I was just testing you."
Shayne opened his mouth, closed it, and shook his head.
I needed to buy some time to reflect on the meeting. What started out as a courtesy discussion had turned into something for me to seriously consider.
"Let me talk with Paul and think about it over the weekend," I told them. "We'll get back to you."
I knew Paul was in favor, so that was the easy part. As much as I found the travel and the comingling with others to be odd at best, Shayne and Lara's logic was compelling. But could I really commit the team to the travel and time out of the office? I kept coming back to one indisputable point: I needed a leadership development solution. Nothing else we looked at seemed promising, and LaL had a seminar starting in November. I decided to give them a shot.
At our next executive staff meeting, I told my team that we would all be attending a five-day leadership seminar up in the San Francisco Bay Area. I reinforced the messages I took away from Shayne and Lara and let the team know that Paul had attended their program previously. When I finished, I looked around the room, expecting uniform acceptance, perhaps even a round of applause.
"Why didn't we talk about this as a group?" asked one executive.
"Who decided it was mandatory?" lamented another.
"Are you kidding me?" I snapped after several more complaints. "Many of you are new to the company and are in the largest roles of your career. We're investing a lot of money so that you can be your best. Discussion closed."
I wasn't back in my office twenty minutes before one of my vice presidents knocked on the door, raising more questions about LaL. I cut him off. "How about you just worry about getting your job done?" If you did that, I thought, we wouldn't need to spend money on development.
In preparation for our first program, LaL conducted a 360-degree feedback for each of us. A few weeks later, Shayne, now my executive coach, scheduled a debrief call to go through my results. The issues didn't surprise me: I debated people, didn't solicit information from others before making decisions, and always needed to be right. Common traits of a strong leader, I thought. "Don't worry," I told him. "The benefits outweigh the detriments. I debate with people to find out how attached they are to their ideas. The truly committed people continue the discussion, which gets us to the right outcome. If the final answer is what I suggested in the first place, it's only a coincidence."
"There are a lot of comments here about how people are afraid to speak up," he pointed out.
"This isn't a democracy!" He was starting to bug me now. This wasn't an issue that needed to be solved. "Don't you agree it's the CEO's job to make the big decisions?"
There was a long pause.
"Why do you think so many people gave the same feedback if it wasn't important to them?" he asked. "Is it possible these behaviors get in the way of your team reaching its full potential? Take your debating, for example. Is it possible that it is more about you being right than what's best for Encore?"
As far as I was concerned, CEOs needed to be confident. Having a strong ego was integral to being a successful executive. I decided not to debate this with Shayne.
"Maybe," I muttered, and then changed the topic to whether my team was taking their feedback seriously.
(Continues...)
Excerpted from Ego Free Leadership by Brandon Black, Shayne Hughes. Copyright © 2017 Brandon Black and Learning as Leadership. Excerpted by permission of Greenleaf Book Group Press.
All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
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