The Languages of Leadership Book Summary - The Languages of Leadership Book explained in key points

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The Languages of Leadership summary

Name: The Languages of Leadership
Rating: 4.2 (327 reviews)
Author: Wendy Born

Wendy Born

How to Use Your Words, Actions and Behaviors to Influence Your Team, Peers and Boss

4.2 (327 ratings)

19 mins

Brief summary

The Languages of Leadership by Wendy Born explores the ways in which leaders communicate and the impact it has on their effectiveness. The book offers insights into the power of language and how it can be used to inspire and motivate teams.

Topics

Leadership

Table of Contents

The Languages of Leadership
Summary of 6 key ideas

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Key idea 1 of 6

What’s in it for me? Master the techniques used by strong, inspiring leaders everywhere!

No matter what line of work we’re in, we’ve all probably suffered under the leadership of a truly terrible boss at one time or another. Bad bosses come in many forms. There’s the tyrant who insists on doing things his way or else! There’s the lazy, checked-out boss who lets everybody else do all the work and grabs all the credit. And then there’s the micromanager who does everything herself because she assumes nobody else is capable of producing at her level.

But on the flip side, you’ve probably also had at least one boss who was a genuine inspiration. Maybe that boss even became a mentor, guiding you down a satisfying career path. If you had to stay in one job for the rest of your life, there’s no doubt about which boss you’d rather work for.

Great leaders didn’t get where they are by accident. It took a lot of hard work and, along the way, they had to contend with dozens, if not hundreds, of different individuals. To stand out, they had to prove their leadership skills every step of the way. But what are the leadership skills that help great leaders stand out? In these blinks, you’ll learn about the Languages of Leadership – ways of speaking and acting that will help you stand out.

In these blinks, you’ll discover

why great leaders are vulnerable and strong;
who’s in your circle of influence; and
why you don’t want to be an isolated leader.

The only way to improve leadership skills is by focusing on ourselves, not others.

Being a leader these days is hard.

Our organizations are complex. Our attention is pulled in a dozen different directions at once. And the people we work with can be scattered all around the world. Problems can arise at the drop of a hat.

When they do, it can be tempting for a leader to blame his employees, or his organization. Everything would be fine if only people did their jobs, if only the boss would make her mind up, if only the organization was structured better.

But in blaming others, we’re making a mistake. There is only one thing we can freely change and improve: ourselves.

The key message here is: The only way to improve leadership skills is by focusing on ourselves, not others.

It all starts by caring, or taking things more personally. If we don’t take things personally, we can grow detached from our work, lose our motivation, and even make unethical decisions.

The trick is not to take work so personally that we bite off more than we can chew and burn out. It’s a balancing act. And here’s how to tackle it.

In The 7 Habits Of Highly Effective People, Steven Covey introduces the key concepts of the circle of concern and the circle of influence.

The circle of concern includes all those things that concern you but you have no control over. Included in this circle are your co-workers. The circle of influence, on the other hand, focuses on everything you can actually do something about. Things you can directly improve. To take things personally, in the right way, you need to focus on the things in this circle.

For example, imagine you work in accounting. You’re great with numbers, you deal with them all day long. But you have a problem dealing with people. You worry about your lack of interpersonal skills. So you avoid going out of your comfort zone and stick to numbers rather than people. Now, if you were to take things more personally, you’d realize that improving your people skills is important and worthwhile. What’s more, you’d notice that this is something in your circle of influence. It’s something you can control yourself.

You could make an effort to socialize more. Instead of responding to every question by email, get up and meet your coworkers face to face. Or you could volunteer for projects that include working as part of a team. Just by working on this one thing, your circle of influence grows.

Changing your leadership style starts with assessing your current leadership level.

Think back on some of the best bosses you’ve ever had. Now, think about the elements of your own leadership style that work best. Notice a pattern? We all mirror our behavior on the people we admire most. So if you want to inspire that same level of admiration in the people around you, you need to start by being the change you want to see.

But how do you do this? Well, you first need to assess honestly what your leadership style is.

Leader speaks the languages of courage and strength.

Successful leaders come in all shapes and sizes. However, they can all be classified into three different skill-sets: the Active Leader, the Directive Leader and the Perceptive Leader. Within each of these are various languages of leadership. To be the best leader, you have to draw on all of these at different times and in different situations.

Let’s start by examining how to become an Active Leader.

Directive Leaders are capable of engineering their environments and abdicating power to others.

Let’s move on to talk about the Directive Leader.

The key skill of a Directive Leader is maneuvering situations, circumstances and even people to best achieve goals. But how do you do this?

The Perceptive Leader speaks the language of trust.

Okay, now it’s time to talk about the final languages of leadership: The languages of the Perceptive Leader.

The key message in this blink is: The Perceptive Leader speaks the language of trust.

The Perceptive Leader encourages the language of vulnerability.

What do you think of when you hear the word “vulnerability?” You probably think it’s a weakness, right? Something that should be hidden at all costs. After all, a great leader needs to show she is strong and resilient, not vulnerable, doesn’t she?

Not at all.

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What is The Languages of Leadership about?

The Languages of Leadership (2019) outlines how the line between effective and ineffective leadership can be razor thin. It explains that with a few simple techniques, you can take ownership of your leadership style and become an inspiring, confident leader who stands out in today’s competitive work environment.

The Languages of Leadership Review

The Languages of Leadership (2021) delves into the various techniques and skills required to become an effective leader. Here's why this book is definitely worth reading:

It offers a comprehensive exploration of the practical strategies that leaders can employ to inspire and motivate their team.
Through real-life examples and case studies, the book highlights the importance of effective communication and emotional intelligence in leadership.
The book also emphasizes the role of empathy and self-awareness in leadership, shedding light on the human side of leading and creating a connection with readers.

Who should read The Languages of Leadership?

Junior and mid-level executives looking to move up the corporate ladder
Top-level executives seeking to inspire and motivate their team
Anyone who wants to build confidence and develop leadership skills

About the Author

Wendy Born is a facilitator, coach and motivational speaker with over 25 years experience in corporate and management roles. A graduate of the Harvard Kennedy School for Executive Education in Leadership for the 21st Century Leadership, her coaching services are in high demand from both individuals and corporations around the world.

Categories with The Languages of Leadership

Management & Leadership Communication Skills

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