Many blindly go into leadership roles to achieve a level of social prestige and power over others. However, that attitude does not last long as the spoils of ego satisfaction fade away quickly. To contrast, the Arbinger Institute offers a better way: service to one’s fellow human beings, centered around getting results for the company. When an organizational catches on to this purpose, its effectiveness can skyrocket. This fictional story illustrates how such a mindset can transform a company and a life towards becoming more effective.
In this fable, a skilled manager is engaged in struggles at a new workplace and with his wife and son at home. A situation of limited burnout transpires. The business’s leader calls him into his office one day and teaches him the company’s management techniques, centered around this abstract concept of “the box.” The technique takes root to transform the manager’s life as he realizes his ultimate value is in who he is, not his products. He learns that investing in himself helps him invest in others.
The general approach is not to focus on one’s personal needs, insecurities, and ambitions, but instead to involve oneself in the larger life of an organization. The book admits that this is not a cure-all for every sort of management malfunction. People’s employments may need to be terminated sometimes; we’re all selfish at moments, often multiple times a day; and changing oneself does not always induce others to change themselves. However, the focus on personal self-improvement first is an adage carried throughout centuries of spiritual wisdom.
This book doesn’t dive deeply into what to do when organizational structures go bad. It’s addressed to organizational leaders to implement change from the top down. However, many of today’s organizations are flatter than ever before, and “leadership from behind” is an increasingly common mandate to today’s workers. Sometimes, senior leaders pose more of a hindrance than a solution, and aside from offering senior leaders more inspiration, this book does not offer detailed advice when that quagmire occurs.
This book is generally addressed to those interested in organizational leadership. Its applications are extremely broad to many aspects of modern work life. Its impacts may not extend quite as far as its marketing material suggests, and its framework might not be as novel as it purports. Nonetheless, its message needs to continue to be heard by all of us in the trenches. How we help people – i.e., results – is much more important and lasting than mere self-interest.
Leadership and Self-Deception: Getting Out of the Box
By the Arbinger Institute
Narrated by Steve Carlson
Copyright (c) 2018
Berrett-Koehler Publishers
ASIN B07H3G1KCN
Length: 6:01
Genre: Leadership, Management
www.amazon.com