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Summary: Balance managerial tendencies against the needs of workers
Review: Expert educators Roy Williams (Adjunct Professor of Leadership, Vanderbilt's Peabody College) and Terrence Deal (University of Southern California) combine their considerable expertise and experience in When Opposites Dance: Balancing The Manager And The Leader Within, to knowledgeably examine the four natural styles of managing and leading (rational, political, humanist, and culturist) and explore how to balance managerial tendencies against the needs of workers within the context of current and volatile situations for optimum productivity. An exceptionally well written, personality examining, and goal-oriented self-help aid, When Opposites Dance is very highly recommended reading for corporate managers and executive policy makers.
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Summary: Know Who You Are and Who You Are Dancing With
Review: I found the book superb! It gives a logical spectrum to evaluate yourself and others you deal with. It helps to organize needed communication skills to effectively interact with people of different mindsets. I graded a strong politicist and could see how I need to understand different styles and incorporate them rather than confront in a win/lose scenerio. The book also clearly shows the need for both leaders and managers and that talented, aware people can move between the two. While a book focused on life-approach styles, it subtlely suggests the needed balance in peoples lives between inward(spiritual) and outward(action)components. Those that weren't balanced accomplished goals but significant problems came their way that diminished their effectiveness. The book is useful in business, government, education, the church and anywhere social interaction is required for success.
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Summary: Thanks Dr. Williams
Review: In over 40 years of leadership and management covering manufacturing, textiles, furniture, municipalities and hospitals, this book is the clearest, most effective management/leadership book ever. Takes Dr. Deals' book to new and exciting directions. Predict great things for this effort. What is next?
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Summary: Thanks Dr. Williams
Review: In over 40 years of leadership and management covering manufacturing, textiles, furniture, municipalities and hospitals, this book is the clearest, most effective management/leadership book ever. Takes Dr. Deals' book to new and exciting directions. Predict great things for this effort. What is next?
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Summary: Military Application
Review: The path to the publisher's door is crowded with authors anxious to reveal "the way" to develop strong leaders and effective managers. Most offer guides that are unreadable beyond page 50 because they reveal nothing more than a reshuffled list of the habits of successful CEO's or a new George Patton story. A generic title could be: "I Am Publishing This So I Won't Perish".Professors Williams and Deal have broken out of the pack with "When Opposites Dance". What is new is the combination of the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator and Deal's "Cognitive Frames" - with a bit of Jungian psychology - to explain the importance of a manager achieving a balance between the Adam and Eve in his life. The clear logic of the premise will allow the most combat-hardened military leader to begin to look for his feminine side without cringing. What really sets this book apart is its readability. The use of twelve well-known Americans as illustrative examples (college freshmen will recognize most of the names) will hold the reader's interest. If you are seeking to develop your own management/leadership style, and particularly if you are training others in the art, buy this book. Military Leadership Instructor
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Summary: Military Application
Review: This book should be mandatory reading for every MBA candidate. Boards of directors across the country are wondering why their best and brightest can't get the job done. The answer, in many cases, is that there are too many managers and not enough leaders. Dr. Williams and Dr. Deal provide an interesting and insightful examination of that issue.
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Summary: When Opposites Dance
Review: When I pick up a book I want relevance, clarity, and inspiration. I got all three in this book and that is why I just ordered 10 more copies for my friends!
It is a fabulous read for anyone who takes seriously their journey with self awareness and leadership. The personalites anaylzed are well-known and interesting, the chapters are concise and well-organized and the take-home value is immediate and longlasting.
I would recommend it for anyone who desires a practical mechanism for personal growth and leadership maturation. I intend to use it with all the staff members of the church where I am a pastor. Matter of fact, it would be a great resource for leadership teams to use in team-building opportunities.
Dan Francis
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