The Act of Leadership: A Playbook for Leading with Humility, Clarity and Purpose

by Dan Haesler

Overview

Unlock your true leadership potential with this insightful guide

In The Act of Leadership, acclaimed leadership and performance coach Dan Haesler shares the insights, techniques and habits you need to thrive, professionally and personally. By combining real-life case studies, cutting-edge research and incisive coaching techniques this one-stop leadership playbook will help you better understand yourself and the people around you, so you can be not only the leader you want to be, but the person your people need you to be, both at work and at home.

As a leader, you might know exactly what you need to do, but might be less clear on how to do it. You might know you need to have that difficult conversation, but you’re less sure about how to have it. You might know you need to hold your team accountable, but don’t know how to do it in a manner that builds authentic engagement rather than mere compliance. The Act of Leadership goes beyond the theory. It is a coaching playbook designed to empower you to be the leader you want to be, and the leader your people need you to be.

Most books explain the what and the why of leadership, The Act of Leadership demonstrates the how. Author Dan Haesler takes a coaching approach, combining his years of experience as an educator and now coach to corporate leaders, elite athletes, teams and educators, to reveal the pivotal insights and enlightening case studies that will help you to define what kind of leader you want to be and understand how to get the best out of yourself and the people around you. You will also discover the importance of thinking and acting mindfully, instead of on autopilot, using the mindfulness techniques used by World Champions to lead in the moment, sharpen your intent, and increase your impact.

• Let go of your biases and assumptions and see the impact we have on others
• Take on a growth mindset to help you deal with setbacks and mistakes
• Create organizational change that actually succeeds, by engaging people so that change is done with them not to them
• Adopt a coach-like mentality and use engaging techniques to improve your day-to-day interactions with the people you lead

With each chapter serving as a one-on-one coaching session, The Act of Leadership will help you create new habits and new ways of being in your day-to-day leadership, as well as life away from work, that are actionable, immediately.

Perfect for leaders, professionals, educators, and athletes seeking to improve their own performance, The Act of Leadership will also earn a place in the libraries of anyone hoping to improve the lives of the people who follow them, in business, sport, and life.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780730392118
Publisher:	Wiley
Publication date:	08/09/2021
Pages:	288
Sales rank:	683,624
Product dimensions:	5.90(w) x 8.80(h) x 0.70(d)

About the Author

DAN HAESLER is a coach who focuses on creating happier, healthier and higher performance. He works side-by-side with people to help them, and the people around them, to thrive, professionally and personally. Dan’s clients include elite athletes and Olympians, as well as corporate and educational leaders.
danhaesler.com

Table of Contents

About the author ix

Introduction xi

Part I: The ‘you’ stuff 1

1 Is this book for you?: what kind of leader do you want to be? 3

2 Be mindful, not mindless: the importance of being in the moment 25

3 Assume nothing: the biases that stop you from seeing what’s really there 43

4 How to turn it around: why you don’t learn from your mistakes 61

Part II: The ‘you and them’ stuff 83

5 Mum was wrong: it really does matter what others think of you 85

6 Make it safe to stuff up: high performance is not about being perfect 103

7 Less carrot, less stick: find out what makes people tick 121

8 Be better at change: stop trying to get people on the bus 141

9 Less is more: create space so your team can step up 165

Part III: The tactical stuff 183

10 Stop wasting people’s time: running meetings that matter 185

11 No more sh!t sandwiches: have better 1:1s with your team 203

12 Have less difficult conversations: start having adult ones instead 223

Conclusion: Roger Federer still feels the need for a coach, and you don’t? Seriously? 241

Acknowledgements 257

Index 259

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

"Warm, witty but, above all, wise. This book is an essential companion for any leader."
—Damian Hughes, visiting Professor of Organisational Psychology and Change, author and co-host of The High Performance Podcast

"Sometimes it takes someone to simplify the chaos, to not just open one’s eyes, but open one’s mind as well. In a world ever changing, and ever challenging, Dan Haesler not only inspires you to be the best version of yourself, but provides the space and steps to become that for yourself and your team — especially if you think you’re at the top of your game!"
—Anna Meares, OAM, Dual Olympic Champion

"Haesler provides a no-nonsense, plain talking guide to modern leadership that draws from the best and most current sources in psychology and management sciences. Whether seeking to build new skills, tune up old ones, or just searching for a dose of inspiration, this is a book both managers and leadership coaches will deeply appreciate."
—Professor Richard M Ryan, Australian Catholic University, co-founder of Self-Determination Theory