This is a support page for a program I did for the Palm Beach County Law Enforcement Planning Council on November 15, 2005.
To download a copy of the PowerPoint slides for this program, click here.
The slideset includes all slides in the program as well as some additional slides.
Click here to download a PDF file with all the handout sheets.
Here are some recommendations for reading and development.
Peter Drucker's Effective Executive has been a handbook for folks responsible for a group for decades. The language in this book may be a bit dated, along with some of the examples, but the content is rock-solid and practical and the writing is as good as it gets. This is a true classic.
The Leadership Challenge by James M. Kouzes, Barry Z. Posner has been around in various editions for almost twenty years now. One reason for that is that it is an excellent overview of leadership in organizations and how you can do it yourself.
Analyzing Performance Problems: or You Really Oughta Wanna by Robert F. Mager, Peter Pipe is the classic book on the subject. It's been around for years and proved its worth to a couple of generations of bosses.
Working with people is at the heart of Supervisory Leadership. It would be wonderful if we were all talented in that area, but we're not. To help yourself get better, read Working with Emotional Intelligence by Daniel Goleman. Goleman is the originator of the Emotional Intelligence material. This book is a better choice for you than his first book, Emotional Intelligence because it was written to apply Goleman's findings to the workplace.
A key part of helping people develop is the cluster of skills that are often called "coaching." You can get a quick overview and introduction to them through the book Coaching Successfully by John Eaton and Roy Johnson.
There are a number of business books that deal with creating performance cultures and leading an organization through change. Here are two of the best.
Who Says Elephants Can't Dance?: Leading a Great Enterprise through Dramatic Change by Louis V. Gerstner
You'll also find a lot of great advice in the book Winning, by former GE CEO Jack Welch. This book developed out of the questions that audience members asked Welch at his many speaking engagements. It's got good practical focus. You'll find lots that's helpful here, no matter what size organization you're in.
Leadership by Rudy Giuliani is an especially good book about leadership for you for two reasons. First, in addition to simply being an excellent book about leadership in the public sector, it deals with the changes in the NYPD that Mayor Giuliani brought about and the way he managed the change and day-to-day operations.
Second, because the book covers the time before, during and after 9/11, it's an excellent overview of the way opportunity can catapault a prepared leader to an even higher level of performance.
Nineteen Stars by Kevin Puryear discusses the roles of skill, preparation and luck in a career by reviewing the lives of four top American generals from World War II. The lives of generals, Marshall, Eisenhower, Patton and MacArthur will give you insight into how you can manage in a variety of career situations.
