Reading is such an important skill in developing our capability, many of us having varying degrees of readership skills and some just don’t read enough.

There is an enormous catalogue of Leadership literature available for those seeking advice. Experts have written books on any issue you could imagine and libraries grow with different experts providing much advice, how big is your personal library?

If we put aside just 15 minutes a day to read we could read a book in two weeks, that’s 26 books a year; how much more valuable would we be if we read 26 books a year on the same subject. If we did we could be a subject expert in 5 years, just from 15 minutes a day.

My own library over over 250 books has an eclectic mix of authors and their stories, and advice on how to increase my effectiveness in various subjects from management to writing. Over a recent holiday, I invested in another book to add to man management collection and I found the read a valuable reminder of the essence of character within leadership.

 

Sir Terry Leahy, is a former successful CEO of Tesco, and he has put together a great read, called Management in 10 Words.

Normally a memoir is often about I and not enough about we, but Leahy has provided a terrific structure which allows to reader to learn from his experience.

When Leahy was asked why Tesco changed from a struggling supermarket to the third largest supermarket in the world he replied,

“It’s quite simple; we focused relentlessly on delivering for customers. We set ourselves some simple aims and some basic values to live by, And we then created a process to achieve them, making sure that everyone knew that they were responsible for.”

Leahy outlines his leadership lessons in the book, and he lists the Management in 10 Words and this is what he has to say:

1. Truth – organisations are terrible at confronting the truth. Truth is crucial to create sustained success.
2. Loyalty – The search for loyalty has at its heart, an age-old idea: you reward the behaviour you seek from others.
3. Courage – Good strategies need bold and daring. Goals have to cause excitement and perhaps just a little fear, but above all else they have to inspire; have these ambitions or remain as you are.
4. Values – Strong values underpin a successful business. They govern how a business behaves, what it sees as important what it does when faced with a problem.
5. Act -Intention is never enough. Plans mean nothing if they are not effectively enacted.
6. Balance – A balanced organisation is one in which everyone moves forward together, steered in the right direction, without being overrun by the juggernaut of bureaucracy
7. Simple – Change in any fast-moving company is not easy. Make things simple. Simplicity is the knife that cuts through the problems.
8. Lean – Do more with and for less.
9. Compete – Competition is a great teacher; don’t wait for it, go seek them out.
10. Trust – Trust is the bedrock of leadership. When people trust you they feel their interests are safe in your hands and they have confidence in your vision, ability, judgement, drive and determination to see things through.

Leadership is a verb, not a noun, yet it many managers these days seem stuck with the concept that leadership is a subject and needs planning. Martin Luther King never said he had a plan … he said, he had a dream, and we followed him.

Leahy has written a worthy addition to your library.