Dr. Henry Cloud, a well-known clinical psychologist and
leadership consultant, always gives practical, applicable guidance based both
on experience and research. He continues
to provide this type of information in Boundaries for Leaders: Results, Relationships, and Being Ridiculously in Charge.
Written for organizational leaders, Cloud challenges leaders
to be “ridiculously in charge” by setting boundaries “that determine whether
the vision and the people thrive or fail.” He defines a boundary as “a structure
that determines what will exist and what will not.” A leader must step up and
take complete responsibility about what will and what will not be allowed in an
organization. He writes, “[A]s a leader,
you always get what you create and what you allow.”
Cloud’s seven leadership boundaries are: help people’s brains work better; build the
emotional climate that fuels performance, facilitate connections that boost
people’s functioning; facilitate thinking patterns that drive results; focus on
what behaviors shape results; build high-performance teams that achieve desired
results; and lead yourself in a manner that drives and protects the vision.
As a leadership coach, I found Cloud’s last chapter on “Boundaries
for Yourself” to be very helpful. He
provides some great suggestions for self-leadership and personal development--being
open to new insights and outside input, seeking feedback, embracing change and
resisting fear.
The personal examples from his consulting help to clarify
concepts and relieve the often repetitive and rather dense writing style. The basic ideas probably could have been
communicated with fewer words and more examples.
Even though it is often a hard read, the book provides helpful
leadership insights from an experienced and respected consultant that may be
applied in a number of organizational settings for positive change and growth.
Disclosure of Material Connection: I received
this book free from the publisher through the BookSneeze.com® <http://BookSneeze.com> book review
bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I
have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal
Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255
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