My latest book review is on the "Authentic Leadership" Rediscovering the Secrets to Creating Lasting Value by Bill George

I read a great book on leadership - Authentic Leadership: Rediscovering the Secrets to Creating Lasting Value by Bill George– If you are an ambitious and conscientious business leader looking for inspiration, mentorship and guidance in a business climate that has been stained by acts of arrogance, greed and stupidity, this is the book for you. I'm always looking for business books that will help me improve my leadership skills as well as inspire me to learn new tricks for daily business. This book does both. It's an inspiring message to follow our values, to look at the long term picture, and also has a lot to say on work/life issues.

Authentic Leadership is the “Leadership Manual" for a new generation of business leaders. In his book, Bill George encourages the leaders of tomorrow to ask themselves some of the most fundamental questions that many business managers and leaders are privately and sometimes publicly, asking themselves today. What is my mission in life? What do I want to get out of a career? Which company do I want to work for? How do I make priority calls between my personal life and my career?

Looking back at my years in active world of business, I realize just how fortunate I was to have the opportunity to reach my goal. I am the first member of my family to attend college, receive my bachelor's degree, and earn my MBA. While in college, I was one of my classmates to believe in both creating opportunities for others and finding a special company that could influence my values. Well It didn’t take me long enough to realize how the complete collapse of corporate governance and the extreme greed of certain corporate leaders that has been exposed in the past years made that both too clear. At the time, I had just radical ideas because I looked at leaders around the world as powerful people running large organizations, countries, and often wonderful families. As I look at leaders today, I can easily change the story because leaders do not address the deeper needs at stake. Bill George has boldly deviated those old ideally leaders but claimed his generation of business leaders as responsible the current ethics crisis in business today and is appealing for the emergence of a new kind of business leader, authentic leaders, to restore order to the global business climate. He relates his own successes and failures in a manner that is easy for young business leaders to identify with and even addresses many of the issues that you don't often find in business texts - such as finding the right balance between your home and work lives.

Like many young professionals, I caught by fire in a business world that moved at fast speeds and was driven primarily by short-term results. As I have never known any other way to do business, I found Mr. George's insights into how he developed his own personal brand of leadership over the course of his career compelling. I most appreciated the fact that, unlike the arrogant texts of some other high-profile CEOs, he does not claim himself to be a model for what you and I should or should not be. His goal is to share his own experiences and allow you the opportunity to form your own opinions about what Authentic Leadership means to you. In fact, he strongly argues that it is not the place of any author or educator to relay to you what is "right" and "wrong" in terms of leadership. Instead, developing your own brand of leadership, one that continues to evolve and change as you gain experience and deal with failure, is the only true path to becoming an effective, Authentic Leader. He makes some very convincing arguments as to how Authentic Leaders link the long term needs of customers and employees to enhancing share holder value and he demonstrates his own encounters with morally and ethically challenging situations that serve as a reminder that all of us will have to encounter crossroads at some point in our careers.

I highly recommend Bill George's book. It is personal, entertaining, motivational and, most importantly, actionable. Invest a few hours in this book and you will reap the benefits for years to come.

Those who connect with me on twitter or LinkedIn know I like quotations. Quotations are a way to state a view without having to take the blame for that view

One of the quotes I liked in the book: “Ask not what your country can do for you but what you can do for your country” by President John F. Kennedy

Thanks for reading my post...

Rony Delgarde

"I am learning how, who and what to delegate"

It was a very busy weekend for me. I worked 12 hours both Saturday and Sunday. Today I had a couple of interviews (and yes, I am looking for work and who is not looking these days?) then I attended the United Way Board of Director class, is a 10-week, 40-hour training program designed to develop and enhance leadership skills, increase diverse volunteer participation in nonprofit board and leadership positions, and increase placement and retention of individuals from metro Atlanta communities.

So I never stop learning. Now I am home doing a bit of email clean up, budget work and numbers review but other than that, I have been keeping with the media in Haiti for most part. I didn’t watch Monday Night football today but I plan to check online for the results, just playing technology….

Tonight I have been thinking about delegation. I know in order to grow, I need to learn how to delegate. I learned the theory of "delegate anything that someone else can do significantly easier, faster or less expensively than I can" from my Business class. I learned the theory of "include the why, not just the what needs doing" by practice.

The thought I have is on what is appropriate for me to delegate? What resources I have to delegate to? I am thinking of approaches to the challenge. I am going to monitor my time use for a week or so to see what things I might be able to delegate appropriately.

Sometimes in delegation, there is a relationship that is creating between the delegator and the delegatee (if that is a word..lol) and a learning curve for the delegatee. So I have to consider that in my analysis. One thing that can stop my growth is not accepting that others can often do something better than me (even though it is not necessarily to the same way I would have done it). I believe everyone has a unique talent and skill. As leaders, we all realize that is challenging sometimes to let go of our standard and accepting something less. Well, it has taken me a long time to realize that perfectionism can kill growth sometimes. So the ultimate key is to find balance and appreciate others for their contributions.

So right now, no answers, just thinking and analyzing.

I often hear one of my associates said they have no one to delegate to since no one works for them. Sounds familiar? Well, I believe they can delegate to peers, to suppliers, to customers or to the person they work for or people in other departments or their family members. The key is appropriate delegation. Sometimes I can solve a problem with just a quick call or an email that might take someone hours to figure out and then plan along the way.

So my tip for future leaders is to look at what you might have that you can delegate it’s also called “comparative advantage”

Please leave your comments, thank you!

Rony Delgarde