The Connected Leader: Creating Agile Organizations for People Performance and Profit [Hardcover]

I read this book quickly and have referred to it several times since. My 'work' bookshelf is full of books that i have read that i never return to so that is really a complement.

I returned to the book as there are a variety of diagnostics and tips on working in the 'actual' organisation that Gobillot describes which is much like my own work environment. The book charts the need to think differently about influencing and leading beyond the 'formal'structures and describes ways of thinking about oneself, ones challenges and practical advice to have a greater impact as a leader.

Good enjoyable and well researched book with plenty of anecdotes (not to mention Dolly parton!)

I have heard Mr Gobillot deliver presentations a few times and he has a unique connection with the audience. He has been promising the book for a few years now and the wait has been worth it. The book set to become a best seller.

The title of this review refers to Emmanuel Gobillot's invitation to his readers to accompany him on a "journey" to explore six separate but related leadership propositions that he identifies in the Introduction (please see Page 5). They are best revealed within the context he creates for each. He asserts that a "formal" organization is one designed with structures and processes that focus (almost entirely) on task completion. "This organization is always slow to respond to unplanned context change.

"There is however another way to look at an organization. The `real' organization is made up of the networks of relationships people have within (and outside) the `formal' organization. As a network, this `real' organization is robust and flexible. To be a great leader is not to be able to lead the `formal' organization but rather to channel the vitality of the `real' [i.e. extended] organization towards the delivery of the `formal' organization's objectives. It is this ability that I call `connected leadership.'"

The "real" organization that Gobillot recommends is based on what Henry Chesbrough has so aptly characterized as an "open business model." (I find it curious that that are no references to Chesbrough nor to the open business model in this book.) In this book, Gobillot explains how to create an agile organization for people who achieve and then sustain profitable performance. He divides the material in Four Parts. First, he makes the case for the importance of connectivity and, especially, for engagement that nourishes effective communication, cooperation, and (most important) collaboration. Next, he explains what leaders in an agile organization must be and do to succeed. Then he identifies three "levers" that enable leaders to connect through trust, engage through meaning, and sustain performance through dialogue.

In the fourth and final Part, Gobillot examines the process by which to develop connected leadership at all levels and in all areas of the given enterprise. After each Part, he includes a summary of key points ("The 30-Second Recap" and "The Leadership Takeaway") followed by set of diagnostic tools. This material should be reviewed periodically by those who have designed and then established (with appropriate modifications, of course) a "real" organization.

Those who share my high regard for this book are urged to check out two books by Henry Chesbrough, Open Innovation: The New Imperative for Creating and Profiting from Technology and Open Business Models: How to Thrive in the New Innovation Landscape. Also Geoffrey Moore's Dealing with Darwin: How Great Companies Innovate at Every Phase of Their Evolution, Howard Gardner's Five Minds for the Future, Richard Ogle's Smart World: Breakthrough Creativity and the New Science of Ideas, Gary Hamel's The Future of Management, Noel Tichy and Warren Bennis' Judgment: How Winning Managers Make Smart Calls, Steven Feinberg's The Advantage-Makers: How Exceptional Leaders Win by Creating Opportunities Others Don't, and Seeing What's Next: Using Theories of Innovation to Predict Industry Change co-authored by Clayton M. Christensen, Scott D. Anthony, and Erik A. Roth.