The Unfinished Leader : Balancing Contradictory Answers to Unsolvable Problems

With the demands of technology, transparency, and constant connectedness, and calls for higher performance, leaders from the front line to the C-suite face complex dilemmas that cannot be easily denied or postponed. These perplexing, recurring issues are familiar to anyone in a leadership role today, including: How do I balance my functional or business unit goals with the needs of my peers and the whole company? How do I support and promote others while still advancing my own career? How do I emphasize teamwork and still reward the “stars”? Can I really devote enough time and energy to both family and work? These are not “problems” but paradoxes—situations in which there will never be a single correct solution—and while they make many leaders feel overwhelmed and challenged, this remarkable book provides help. The Unfinished Leader is a modern handbook for recognizing, facing, and inspiring others to expose the real issues that underlie paradoxes in modern organizations. Leaders must first recognize situations they will never be able to “solve” and understand how to confront the barriers—in their own heads and their organizations—that push them towards seeking ultimate solutions that don't exist. Leading through complexity requires giving up the illusion of control, consistency, and closure, while embracing the reality of being permanently “unfinished.” Drawing from interviews with 100 CEOs and top leaders from a wide range of companies—such as Avon, Nike, Colgate, DeutschePost DHL, Johnson & Johnson, PepsiCo, and many more— The Unfinished Leader provides the mindsets and tools to recognize contradictory requirements, understand competing demands, and still be able to take action. No one can find or even should look for perfect solutions to impossible situations. The Unfinished Leader will help leaders at all levels understand and excel at their true task: guiding themselves and their teams through ongoing paradoxes, reconciling competing outcomes, continually changing and adapting, and thereby building lasting success. " A leader's work is never done -- not only because of long to-do lists and frequent meetings, but because every leader must confront complex dilemmas that don't have easy answers, and in fact may not have any right answer at all. In business, as in life, the most perplexing issues aren't like math problems with a single solution. They are paradoxes: situations in which there will never be a single right answer, and they will be familiar to anyone in a leadership role. Should your company prioritize long-term investments, or short-term profitability? Will your incenitive plan measure and reward the performance of individuals, or teams? How can you devote enough time and energy to both your family and your coworkers? The Unfinished Leader is a guide for managing through paradoxes like these to ensure success across the organization. Leaders must first learn to recognize the problems they won't be able to solve, and confront the obstacles -- in their own heads and in the organizations where they work -- that will push them (wrongly) towards finding single solutions that don't exist. Then, they must develop the mindsets and skills that enable them to balance contradictory directions, fulfill competing demands, and adapt their approach over time. Based on over 30 years of consulting work with senior executives, as well as a series of exclusive interviews with 100 CEOs and top leaders in a wide range of companies about the paradoxes they face, The Unfinished Leader provides tested advice. The authors include vivid stories highlighting leaders and the real-world challenges they've faced at organizations such as Avon, Nike, Colgate, DeutschePost DHL, Johnson & Johnson, and many more.No one can, or should, look for perfect solutions to impossible solutions. The Unfinished Leader will help leaders at all levels understand that their true task is to guide themselves and their teams through impossible-seeming, ongoing situations--and, by reconciling competing outcomes, drive lasting success for themselves and their teams " -- Provided by publisher "A leader's work is never done--not only because of long to-do lists and frequent meetings, but because every leader must confront complex dilemmas that don't have easy answers, and in fact may not have any right answer at all. In business, as in life, the most perplexing issues aren't like math problems with a single solution. They are paradoxes: situations in which there will never be a single right answer, and they will be familiar to anyone in a leadership role. Should your company prioritize long-term investments, or short-term profitability? Will your incenitive plan measure and reward the performance of individuals, or teams? How can you devote enough time and energy to both your family and your coworkers? The Unfinished Leader is a guide for managing through paradoxes like these to ensure success across the organization. Leaders must first learn to recognize the problems they won't be able to solve, and confront the obstacles--in their own heads and in the organizations where they work--that will push them (wrongly) towards finding single solutions that don't exist. Then, they must develop the mindsets and skills that enable them to balance contradictory directions, fulfill competing demands, and adapt their approach over time. Based on over 30 years of consulting work with senior executives, as well as a series of exclusive interviews with 100 CEOs and top leaders in a wide range of companies about the paradoxes they face, The Unfinished Leader provides tested advice. The authors include vivid stories highlighting leaders and the real-world challenges they've faced at organizations such as Avon, Nike, Colgate, DeutschePost DHL, Johnson & Johnson, and many more. No one can, or should, look for perfect solutions to impossible solutions. The Unfinished Leader will help leaders at all levels understand that their true task is to guide themselves and their teams through impossible-seeming, ongoing situations--and, by reconciling competing outcomes, drive lasting success for themselves and their teams"-- Provided by publisher