Leadership and Self Deception: Getting Out of the Box
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- ISBN13: 9781576751749
- Condition: NEW
- Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.
Product Description
Leadership and Self-Deception is the first book to identify a single, underlying cause of every form of leadership failure. Through the tale of Tom—a “shluck” in his manager’s words—readers learn that identifying and treating individual leadership problems as if they were separate and distinct is not enough to transform people into successful leaders. The authors suggest that the key to leadership lies not in what we do, but in how we “are.” They explore this compelling secret: Self-deception is the central player and trap underlying all leadership failures, relationship issues, and performance problems in organizations. Leaders who live in the box of self-deception are trapped: they cannot lead, no matter how hard they try and no matter how many skills and techniques they use. With convincing examples, the authors show clearly how self-deception operates and how to overcome it. While additional books take in people skills, this one goes deeper, fully illuminating the secret to leadership success.Amazon.com Review
Using the tale/parable format so well loved these days, Leadership and Self-Deception takes a novel psychological approach to leadership. It’s not what you do that matters, say the authors (presumably plural–the book is credited to the esteemed Arbinger Institute), but why you do it. Latching onto the latest leadership trend won’t make people follow you if your motives are selfish–people can smell a rat, even one that says it’s trying to empower them. The tough thing is, we don’t know that our motivation is flawed. We deceive ourselves in devious ways into thinking that we’re doing the right thing for the right reason. We really do know what the right thing to do is, but this constant self-justification becomes such an ingrained habit that it’s hard to break free of it–it’s as though we’re trapped in a box, the authors say.
Learning how the process of self-deception works–and how to avoid it and stay in touch with our innate sense of what’s right–is at the heart of the book. We follow Tom, an ancient-school, by-the-book kind of guy who is a newly hired executive at Zagrum Corporation, as two senior executives show him the many ways he’s “in the box,” how that limits him as a leader in ways he’s not aware of, and of course how to get out. This is as much a book about personal transformation as it is about leadership per se. The authors use examples from the characters’ private as well as professional lives to show how self-deception skews our view of ourselves and the world and ruins our interactions with people, despite what we sincerely judge are our best intentions.
While the writing won’t make John Updike lose any sleep, the tale entertainingly does the job of pulling the reader in and building a potentially abstruse argument reasonably enjoyable. The authors have a much better ear for dialogue than is predictable of the genre (the book is largely dialogue), although a certain didactic tone creeps in now and then. But ultimately it’s a hopeful, even inspiring read that flows along nicely and conveys a message that more than a few managers need to hear. –Pat McGill
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My boss bought a number of copies of this book to distribute among management, and I establish the thoughts it espoused reasonably helpful, although the sixth-grade reading level it’s written at can be a bit trying at times. The thought that perceiving persons you deal with in your daily life as people rather than objects can help you to be more effective is very valid.
Dr. C. Terry Warner, founder of the Arbinger Institute, as well as the Institute itself, are closely linked with BYU and the Mormon community, and when I learned this after reading the book, it place something of a terrible taste in my mouth; I wondered if this was a bonafide business book or simply soft-sell PR for the LDS groups. Simply substitute “in the box” and “out of the box” for “saved” and “sinner” and you have an entirely different book.
Since the book espouses approaches that aren’t tied to any point religion, and since the points it makes are very valid, I’d recommend taking a peek despite the BYU / LDS link.
Reader’s Rating: 3 / 5
After reading the book or should I say listening and reading, I can not stand it for many reasons. One there is a effort not to say what the real problem is, they just rename it and sell it off as something profound. The problem is not “self-deception”the new name, it’s egocentricity, self-centered, proud, and prideful. I learned about all these while at church, when I ongoing reading the book and the listening, I became irradiated and upset because I thought I was going to hear something profound and new, far from it and that’s what made me upset a name was selling something that had been around for centuries. The Arginger Institute should at least tell people that they just rewrote the concept of how to be a excellent person, respect yourself and treat others the way you want to be treated. Give me a break Arbinger get out of the box and look around you, you are not the only ones out there who can come up with a factious tale and apply be excellent to your national family tree and friends concepts. The names have been changed, the concept has been around since the beginning of time and I learned these as a child from my parents and leaders, no daycare for me, just a excellent Mom and a swat on the pants. And one additional things there are to many assumptions and drawn conclusions from unknown facts, facts that may not be right, and there are no foot notes.
Reader’s Rating: 2 / 5
I am not a huge fan of business books using the fable/parable approach to start with, but this was unreadable. The concept of self-deception is a powerful one, but for me, this book is not a tool that I find of value. But, if you really, really like business fables, you might delight in this as much as some of the additional reviewers.
Reader’s Rating: 1 / 5
This book is not really about leadership. It is about being nice to people. And remember, any problem you have with another person in life is your fault. So, make an apology, start over, and be nice.
Reader’s Rating: 1 / 5
I rarely take the time to write reviews. I’m taking the time to write one for Leadership and Self-Deception because it was such a poor book. The content in this book could have been contained in a pamphlet.
The leader takes a tale line approach that’s excessively long and becomes tiresome. The illustrations should be shortened significantly. There are only a handful of concepts covered; the rest is fluff and a waste of space (and my time). I would have much preferred a book detailing concepts backed by concise illustrations and supporting examples. Rather then using bloated anecdotes, I would have appreciated a more engaging and intellectually stimulating approach. I can’t imagine Stephen Covey, who endorsed the book, reading every page take in to take in. There’s just not enough content to warrant it.
If you have access to this book free of cost, it’s worth a skim. Otherwise, I recommend looking elsewhere.
Reader’s Rating: 1 / 5