The Best of John Adair on Leadership and Management

254 Pages·2008·1.34 MB·English

by  John Eric Adair

The Best Of
ADAIR
on Leadership & Management
‘He is
without doubt
one of the
foremost
thinkers on
the subject in
the world’
SIR JOHN
HARVEY-JONES
Edited by
Neil Thomas
IFC
THE BEST OF
JOHN ADAIR ON
LEADERSHIP AND
MANAGEMENT
EDITED BY NEIL THOMAS
Thorogood Publishing
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© John Adair 2008
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Foreword
Thanks to the excellent editorship of Neil Thomas this book contains
all the essentials of my thinking on leadership and management.
It is with great pleasure, then, that I welcome you to these pages.
You will find in them a wide range of practical suggestions, frame-
works and examples that are designed with one simple aim in view:
to help you to become a more effective leader and manager.
To that end Neil has divided my practical guidance on effective
leadership, teambuilding, creativity and innovation, problem
solving, motivation and communication – in a nutshell, ‘the human
side of enterprise’ – into two parts: Part 1 Self-management and
Part 2 Managing others.That makes sense to me. After all, if you
can’t manage yourself how can you manage anyone else?
At the core of my philosophy is the three-circles model. What the
model does in a simple (but not simplistic) and visual form is to
show you the generic role of leader, namely achieving the task, build-
ing the team and developing the individual. It tells you what you
are there to do. Those broad and overlapping functions are then
further expressed as eight more specific functions. You will notice
that this foundational framework also serves to integrate into one
the substance of both leadership and managership, as two eyes are
joined in sight.
Remember, however, that it is only a foundation – a basis upon
which to build your own house of leadership and management.
The way to grow as a leader - so that you come to fulfil your own
personal vision of what a leader should be, know and do – is to
01TIME MANAGEMENT iii
take time out from your busy life at regular intervals for reflec-
tion. If you don’t believe you have time to spare for such
self-development then read my section on time management with-
out further delay!
Reflection needs something to work upon. You will, I trust, find
the frameworks, charts, diagrams and forms in these pages useful
tools to aid you in that essential work of thoughtful evaluation.
It is when the sparks of understanding jump both ways between
the principles in this book and your own experience that you will
be learning to lead and manage more effectively. You will then be
on your way. For learning, of course, is a journey. It is one which
includes drawing lessons from the things that don’t go so well for
you, as well as your achievements and successes. That can be tough
– I speak from experience.
Search my many books and not once will you find that I say that
leadership is easy. So becoming an effective leader is not easy either.
The more time and effort that you put into studying and apply-
ing the principles in this book the more you will find that being a
leader and manager comes naturally to you.
Through accepting and developing your talent for leadership in
this way you will increase what you have to give to others and to
society. What the world needs now is what your organisation is
also seeking – ‘good leaders and leaders for good’ at all levels.
Besides practical guidance I hope that you will also find in these
pages some wells of inspiration to keep you going forward when
the journey is uphill. Drink from those waters and then you will
in your turn – by your words of encouragement and, above all,
by your example – be able to inspire others.
I shall be with you in spirit.
John Adair
iv THE BEST OF JOHN ADAIR ON LEADERSHIP AND MANAGEMENT
Contents
Foreword iii
PART ONE:SELF-MANAGEMENT 1
01 TIME MANAGEMENT 3
Introduction 4
Developing a personal sense of time 6
Identifying long-term goals 11
Making medium-term plans 13
Planning the day 16
Making the best use of your best time 19
Organising office work 21
Managing meetings 23
Delegating effectively 26
Making use of committed time 29
Managing your health 30
Summary and six-month follow-up test 34
02 SETTING AND ACHIEVING GOALS AND OBJECTIVES 37
Introduction 38
Personal goals and objectives 38
Professional/business goals and objectives 41
Summary and six-month follow-up test 45
03 DECISION-MAKING AND PROBLEM-SOLVING 47
Introduction 48
Decision-making skills 48
The manager as decision-maker 51
Key elements of effective thinking and decision-making 53
Other useful approaches 55
CONTENTS v
The concept of value in decision-making 58
Decision-making and weighing up the options 59
Summary and six-month follow-up test 62
04 CREATIVITY AND INNOVATION 65
Introduction 66
Creativity 67
Innovation 70
Summary and six-month follow-up test 85
05 PART 1:
PERSONAL REMINDERS AND THOUGHTS WORTH THINKING 87
Introduction 88
Time management 89
Setting and achieving goals and objectives 103
Decision-making and problem-solving 108
Creativity and innovation 110
PART TWO:MANAGING OTHERS 127
06 LEADERSHIP AND TEAMBUILDING 129
A. Leadership 130
Qualities of leadership 133
Functions of leadership 135
Leadership skills 142
Developing leadership skills 158
B. Teambuilding 159
Summary and six-month follow up test 169
07 MOTIVATION AND PEOPLE MANAGEMENT 171
Introduction 172
The 50:50 rule 173
Needs and motivation 174
Managers/leaders and motivation 179
Getting the best from people 182
Summary and six-month follow-up test 192
vi THE BEST OF JOHN ADAIR ON LEADERSHIP AND MANAGEMENT
08 COMMUNICATION AND PRESENTATION 195
Introduction 196
Issues in communication 196
Listening 199
Reading skills 201
Writing skills 202
Speaking and presentation skills 206
One-to-one interviews 211
Managing meetings 213
Within your organisation 215
Summary and six-month follow-up test 216
09 PART 2:
PERSONAL REMINDERS AND THOUGHTS WORTH THINKING 219
Introduction 220
Leadership and teambuilding 220
Motivation and people management 234
Communication and presentation 240
CONTENTS vii
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