Book
The Three Commitments of Leadership: How Clarity Stability, and Rhythm Create Great Leaders
Authors
Tom Endersbe is the former Head of Field Implementation and Training at Ameriprise and is presently CEO of Endersbe, Heron and Associates. Jay Therrien has led learning and development for three Fortune 100 companies. Jon Wortmann is a nonprofit leader and consultant to educational, nonprofit, start-up, and Fortune 100 organizations. He is the co-author of Mastering Communication at Work.
Twitter Review
The 3 Commitments of Leadership is a short read that explores 3 aspects of leadership & gives insight on how to excel at them.
— Teach A CEO (@TeachACEO) March 18, 2012
Gems
“The most overlooked fact with any learning event is that if the lessons are not put into practice within 48 hours, the information will not stick.”
“Leadership is the act of creating new realities.”
“To be the kind of leaders who people will give their lives to work with, in addition to what we commit to achieving, we must also focus on the experience we create for the people we lead.”
“Each of us learns how to lead through the practice of leading by staying committed to others through the inevitable challenges of building a team that actually wants to work together and produce results.”
“That is often the Achilles' heel of a leader: we try to treat everyone the same.”
Summary
Three Commitments of Leadership is a short book that has broken down the complex study of entrepreneurship into three important principles: clarity, stability and rhythm. Clarity is “creating a common understanding of what success looks like.” Stability is “providing the resources people need and building a culture of trust.” Rhythm is “fostering a flow of work and an environment that feels natural.” The book contains a breakdown of each of the commitments along with case studies and anecdotes for readers. Also, the book teaches readers how to build a team a leaders and create a culture of leadership.
The Entrepreneurial Librarian's Take
While this book is certainly good and unique perspective on leadership, it isn't the final authority on leadership. The topic and subject of leadership is complex and this book certainly adds to the discussion of leadership. The authors seem to target busy leaders which is why the book seems to be distilled down to less than 200 pages. It is also written in a conversational tone which makes it easier for leaders to pick up the book and finish it in one or two sittings. Any one who has no time can read through the Executive Summary or their presentation “The Best Leader in the World: It Could Be You”. Overall, a good book to pick up and a different outlook on the most important aspects of leadership and should help any leader or aspiring leader increase their ability to reach their goals.
