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Executive Bookshelf: Practicing Bold Leadership for Organizational Acceleration
In his new book, consultant Jim Tompkins prescribes inspirational leadership as the cure for executive overload and calls for a focus on core competencies and resilience
New York — May 29, 2007 — In this fast-paced world of overbooked schedules, overwhelming business challenges and information overload, the only honest answer to "How are you doing?" may well be, "Too busy to even think about it."
Leaders today must balance hectic business and personal lives that can leave them feeling like they are trying to squeeze 15 pounds of apples into a five-pound bag, says business consultant Jim Tompkins, CEO of Tompkins Associates.
As a result, Tompkins says, leaders too often find themselves facing extreme overload, powerless to cope with constantly evolving challenges, incapable of leading others and unable to concentrate on the big picture.
But in his new book, "Bold Leadership for Organizational Acceleration," Tompkins proposes a plan to help executives get out of overload mode, professionally and personally, so that they can be more effective leaders in all aspects of their lives.
Supply & Demand Chain Executive recently spoke with Tompkins about his prescription for addressing organizational and personal overload, and we began by asking him about his motivation for writing the book and addressing this particular topic at this time.
Tompkins: I have watched very good companies — and even great companies — become like deer frozen in the headlights of an oncoming car when they start to experience what I call "organizational acceleration." As they have downsized, everyone in the company, from the CEO down to the lowest-paid, newest employee, starts trying to fit 12 pounds of apples into a 10-pound sack. And then they add on top of that their personal lives, where they've got soccer practice and baseball practice and piano lessons and dance lessons, and there are simply not enough hours in the day.
On the way to work in the morning, we might write down the three priorities that we want to address today. When we get to the office, we put that piece of paper in our pocket, and then we start dealing with the voicemail and e-mail. We run to a meeting, we have another meeting, we've got a bunch more e-mails to answer, then another voicemail and another e-mail. Then we look at our watch and say, "Oh my goodness, it's 6:30, I was supposed to pick up Johnny at 6:15." And as we run out of the office, we reach for our car keys and pull out that little note that we wrote as we rode into work, with the three priorities that we wanted to accomplish that day, none of which we got done. Then we ask ourselves, "What did I do today? I know I worked hard, but did I do anything that was important? Did I really focus on the issues of the day?"
Leaders today must balance hectic business and personal lives that can leave them feeling like they are trying to squeeze 15 pounds of apples into a five-pound bag, says business consultant Jim Tompkins, CEO of Tompkins Associates.
As a result, Tompkins says, leaders too often find themselves facing extreme overload, powerless to cope with constantly evolving challenges, incapable of leading others and unable to concentrate on the big picture.
But in his new book, "Bold Leadership for Organizational Acceleration," Tompkins proposes a plan to help executives get out of overload mode, professionally and personally, so that they can be more effective leaders in all aspects of their lives.
Supply & Demand Chain Executive recently spoke with Tompkins about his prescription for addressing organizational and personal overload, and we began by asking him about his motivation for writing the book and addressing this particular topic at this time.
Tompkins: I have watched very good companies — and even great companies — become like deer frozen in the headlights of an oncoming car when they start to experience what I call "organizational acceleration." As they have downsized, everyone in the company, from the CEO down to the lowest-paid, newest employee, starts trying to fit 12 pounds of apples into a 10-pound sack. And then they add on top of that their personal lives, where they've got soccer practice and baseball practice and piano lessons and dance lessons, and there are simply not enough hours in the day.
On the way to work in the morning, we might write down the three priorities that we want to address today. When we get to the office, we put that piece of paper in our pocket, and then we start dealing with the voicemail and e-mail. We run to a meeting, we have another meeting, we've got a bunch more e-mails to answer, then another voicemail and another e-mail. Then we look at our watch and say, "Oh my goodness, it's 6:30, I was supposed to pick up Johnny at 6:15." And as we run out of the office, we reach for our car keys and pull out that little note that we wrote as we rode into work, with the three priorities that we wanted to accomplish that day, none of which we got done. Then we ask ourselves, "What did I do today? I know I worked hard, but did I do anything that was important? Did I really focus on the issues of the day?"
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