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Rating: 
Summary: May make you a better person, but not a better leader.
Review: What's in a name? A title like Understanding LeadershipCompetencies implies a theoretical treatise on the radical notion thatcompetencies (a.k.a. capabilities, a.k.a. success factors) can be defined for executives and managers. Or perhaps the title belongs on a how-to guide to identifying such competencies - the relative merits of focus groups and Behavioral Event Interviews, the problems of defining the competencies measurably, the issues of core and level-specific models, and other thorny questions. Or it could even herald a thought-provoking analysis of competency-based leadership development, including methodologies for aligning an organization's strategic goals with the assessment, education, performance management, and succession of senior and emerging leaders.In this case, Understanding Leadership Competencies is Option D: None of the Above. Instead, Guggenheimer and Szulc are pursuing an equally laudable goal: present a convincing leadership competency model, then help readers build those competencies through resources and self-assessment techniques. For the aspiring leader, such a book can be a godsend, particularly if it's brief, cheap, and based on an incisive model. Understanding Leadership Competencies is 88 pages long. It sells for $10.95. And its model is - well, see for yourself. * Passion * Humor * Courage * Integrity and Trust * Energy/Vitality/Enthusiasm * Building a Team * Setting Priorities * Creativity * Vision This way madness lies. Passion, Courage, and Energy/Vitality/Enthusiasm are so closely related as to be identical, and are even defined in terms of each other (e.g., "People who have energy, vitality and enthusiasm are involved and pursue goals passionately.") Seven of the competencies are qualities, but two (Building a Team and Setting Priorities) are activities that should result from a quality. And Humor is famously difficult to define; as E.B. White once noted, "Humor can be dissected, as a frog can, but the thing dies in the process and the innards are discouraging to any but the pure scientific mind." The thought of constructing behavioral indicators for Humor boggles the mind. "This individual elicits workplace merriment with his/her quips, japes, and drollery." "This individual tells high-performing jokes about chickens, ducks, and similar winged fauna." "This individual understands that the correct definition of `irony' is not `like iron'." Ultimately these competencies are never tangibly defined. Although Guggenheimer and Szulc use standard dictionary explanations (literally; they actually quote Webster's Dictionary throughout), some leaders may have qualms about developing a Vision competency defined in part as "something seen in a dream, trance, or ecstasy." Furthermore, readers are offered no substantive ways to measure or model behaviors associated with the nine competencies. Instead, Understanding Leadership Competencies provides elementary questions readers should use to define the competencies themselves, such as, "In your view, what is leadership?", "What should [our team] be doing more of?", and "Do all the employees in your organization understand how vision relates directly to them? Cite three examples." Most importantly for a business environment, the competencies are never connected to outputs, high performance, or ROI. These are not competencies with organizational impact. Arguably they needn't be. The authors have deliberately chosen a self-defining, extremely personal conception of leadership, to help you "bring a different leadership perspective to your professional, community, family, and civic responsibilities." But if a leader's competencies are to have any genuine effect, then they must be linked to the requirements of the people and organization the leader leads. Understanding Leadership Competencies might give you some tools to help you articulate your own values and goals. It won't do as much to help you lead.
Rating:
Summary: May make you a better person, but not a better leader.
Review: What's in a name? A title like Understanding LeadershipCompetencies implies a theoretical treatise on the radical notion thatcompetencies (a.k.a. capabilities, a.k.a. success factors) can be defined for executives and managers. Or perhaps the title belongs on a how-to guide to identifying such competencies - the relative merits of focus groups and Behavioral Event Interviews, the problems of defining the competencies measurably, the issues of core and level-specific models, and other thorny questions. Or it could even herald a thought-provoking analysis of competency-based leadership development, including methodologies for aligning an organization's strategic goals with the assessment, education, performance management, and succession of senior and emerging leaders. In this case, Understanding Leadership Competencies is Option D: None of the Above. Instead, Guggenheimer and Szulc are pursuing an equally laudable goal: present a convincing leadership competency model, then help readers build those competencies through resources and self-assessment techniques. For the aspiring leader, such a book can be a godsend, particularly if it's brief, cheap, and based on an incisive model. Understanding Leadership Competencies is 88 pages long. It sells for $10.95. And its model is - well, see for yourself. * Passion * Humor * Courage * Integrity and Trust * Energy/Vitality/Enthusiasm * Building a Team * Setting Priorities * Creativity * Vision This way madness lies. Passion, Courage, and Energy/Vitality/Enthusiasm are so closely related as to be identical, and are even defined in terms of each other (e.g., "People who have energy, vitality and enthusiasm are involved and pursue goals passionately.") Seven of the competencies are qualities, but two (Building a Team and Setting Priorities) are activities that should result from a quality. And Humor is famously difficult to define; as E.B. White once noted, "Humor can be dissected, as a frog can, but the thing dies in the process and the innards are discouraging to any but the pure scientific mind." The thought of constructing behavioral indicators for Humor boggles the mind. "This individual elicits workplace merriment with his/her quips, japes, and drollery." "This individual tells high-performing jokes about chickens, ducks, and similar winged fauna." "This individual understands that the correct definition of 'irony' is not 'like iron'." Ultimately these competencies are never tangibly defined. Although Guggenheimer and Szulc use standard dictionary explanations (literally; they actually quote Webster's Dictionary throughout), some leaders may have qualms about developing a Vision competency defined in part as "something seen in a dream, trance, or ecstasy." Furthermore, readers are offered no substantive ways to measure or model behaviors associated with the nine competencies. Instead, Understanding Leadership Competencies provides elementary questions readers should use to define the competencies themselves, such as, "In your view, what is leadership?", "What should [our team] be doing more of?", and "Do all the employees in your organization understand how vision relates directly to them? Cite three examples." Most importantly for a business environment, the competencies are never connected to outputs, high performance, or ROI. These are not competencies with organizational impact. Arguably they needn't be. The authors have deliberately chosen a self-defining, extremely personal conception of leadership, to help you "bring a different leadership perspective to your professional, community, family, and civic responsibilities." But if a leader's competencies are to have any genuine effect, then they must be linked to the requirements of the people and organization the leader leads. Understanding Leadership Competencies might give you some tools to help you articulate your own values and goals. It won't do as much to help you lead.
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