Leading What Matters Most - by Phil Geldart (Hardcover)

About the Book

Leading people should be your greatest asset not your biggest problem.

Bridget led a multibillion-dollar company that had grown incredibly fast. Now, she was facing some serious challenges. At the very top of the list? The need to put the customer dead center in everything her company, Talon Tech, executed. This, she knew, would be a monumental challenge.

Over the course of her successful journey to address these issues, she discovers:

• the important role she and her executive team must play
• the power of experiential learning to challenge behavior
• the incredible importance of front line leadership
• the power of conviction as an agent of change
• the impact of ensuring leaders focus on three priorities: model, coach, and require

Travel with her as she learns to wrestle through, and master, the challenge of being as great at harnessing the potential of her workforce as she is at the creative and operational side of Talon Tech.

Book Synopsis

Almost six weeks into the implementation of new strategies based on the consulting report, Bridget's leadership team continued to hear rumblings from their direct reports. Sales continued to push back saying the way they were doing things was working fine, the company just needed to figure out how to fill their orders faster. Operations complained that they didn't have time to implement these new procedures and keep up their current production levels. Customer service grumbled about customer complaints taking up too much of their time. And everyone wanted to know why leadership wasn't fixing these problems. Bridget was beyond frustrated.

They had been following the recommendations they had received from a highly recommended consultant group--but everything they were doing seemed to exacerbate rather than solve the issues.

Bridget pulled up Talon Tech's latest earnings report and groaned. Until just a few months ago, Talon Tech's success had seemed unstoppable, and her leadership as CEO had been key to that success. But they had hit a wall, and if they didn't learn how to scale that wall quickly, Talon Tech's success would slip away.

The review process had forced Bridget to acknowledge that weak leadership and a poor people-centric culture were the root cause of the issues they were facing: a litany of customer service issues, churning through top talent, and challenges from remote work. The board wanted and deserved answers.

Bridget knew she could no longer stay in her comfort zone--developing the next technological feat. She needed to balance her technology-centric mindset with a people-centric mindset, and she knew she couldn't do that alone.

"The moment of truth," Bridget thought as she stepped out into reception. "Good morning, Ray. Welcome to Talon Tech," she said with a smile.

"Good morning, Bridget," he said shaking her hand warmly, "I'm glad to be here and look forward to working with you and your team."

From the Back Cover

1. Poor leadership
2. Underdeveloped staff
3. Concerning deficit in company-wide advancement

"Ouch," Bridget winced as she reviewed the consulting report. She knew something was no longer working at Talon Tech, but she had not understood the full extent of the issues until now.

That she was the pivotal reason for Talon Tech's incredible rise as a premiere, multibillion-dollar technology company meant nothing if that success was not sustainable. The report and the board's demands forced Bridget to acknowledge that her extreme focus over the past decade, on executing the next great technological feat had resulted in churning through top-talent at an alarming rate, which negatively impacted all areas of the business.

There was no denying that weak leadership and a poor people-centric culture were at the center of it all. If Bridget was going to remain Talon Tech's CEO, she needed to turn things around quickly, and she knew she couldn't do it alone.

It was time to make the call ...