We’d like to think that our social lives and businesses are meritocracies, but they clearly aren’t. The best ideas don’t always win, and much depends on how one presents themselves. In a world where people make quick judgments about leaders, quickly conveying trust matters more than ever before. Communications expert Nick Morgan teaches us how to master those soft skills of leadership.
Generally, this book is filled with solid advice about public speaking in settings large and small, how and when to use your gut instead of reasoned judgments, and how to focus on using gestures to bring in trust. Morgan’s style is academic and generally conveys the professorial authority that he gained throughout his career. I fully recommend it to anyone who wants a solid education on leadership without enrolling in academic courses.
The biggest problem I have with this genre of books, however, is that with all the focus on style, it doesn’t address a key question: How do we know whether a position is smart? I’d like both style and wisdom to go together in good decision-making, and a hyper-focus on style leaves me cynical that people actually focus on substance. Like most of the genre, this book completely neglects that question.
This is a good, comprehensive book to learn the soft skills of leadership. Without the appropriate soft skills, many good ideas will die despite being well-formulated. However, not all ideas are good, and we need some way besides style to distinguish the good ones from the bad ones, despite the best intentions. We need a way to relate wisdom and style better to make quick yet important judgments.
Power Cues: The Subtle Science of Leading Groups, Persuading Others, and Maximizing Your Personal Impact
By Nick Morgan
Narrated by Stephen Bel Davies
Text copyright (c) 2014
Harvard Business Review Press
Audio copyright (c) 2023
Ascent Audio
ASIN B0BWWZWWXZ
Length: 7:45
Genre: Business, Presentation
www.amazon.com