Mark Miller (15) (1959–)

Mark Miller takes a page from Aristotle's book and opens his story by noting that if we want to know what makes a team exceptional, we should begin by studying exceptional teams. He then proceeds to do so with a series of case studies from a variety of fields, showing how the same fundamental principles apply in each of them even if the terminology varies somewhat.

And the principles he identifies are indeed fundamental. First is selecting the right people to make up the team, who have the show more potential to fill the complementary roles required. Second is actualizing the potential of each individual team member through training or practice, leading to continual growth in their level of skill. The third is actually an integration of the first two, finding how each person fits into the team and practicing working together toward a common end. (Interestingly, all three of these principles have their counterparts in Aristotle's Nicomachean Ethics, so I guess Miller cribbed several pages from him!) Miller examines them all from multiple angles and gives several terms for each, so you can pick the ones that resonate with you and will be easiest to remember.

This might seem deceptively simple, but what Miller is actually doing here is modeling how to think inductively about anything, looking for those connections among seemingly disparate cases. He ably applies this integrative method of thought to exceptional teams, but the method itself may be of even greater value to the observant reader.

There is quite a lot of other good material in the book as he fleshes out how to follow through on putting these principles into practice. The only reason I don't give this a full five stars is that, while I think his basic approach here is excellent, his execution, though quite good, could have been improved upon in some areas. His discussion of enlightened self-interest was most welcome, for instance, but could be even better in some ways. Still, on the whole I would definitely recommend this book to anyone interested in the subject.

www.amazon.com/review/R3U2J4PWLO166K show less

This is a quick, entertaining read written in what has become the familiar style of a business tale. Mark Miller identifies the three key factors organizations need to address if they hope to attract top talent. Miller outlines what needs to be done, but don’t expect an in-depth explanation of how to transform your organization into a talent magnet. The book provides basic recommendations. The book is worth reading as a starting point for discovering what top talent is looking for when show more considering where to work. show less

I won this book in the FirstReads program of GoodReads. The opinions I share are my own :)

I'm torn about how to rate this book. The text offers good, useful frameworks for leading any organization. The text is also takes a long time to get to the point, and repeats the point a whole lot. Once I finished reading, I filled a couple pages with thoughts about how to apply these lessons to my own job, which helped make up for wading through the writing.

I'm both glad that I read this, and glad show more that I didn't pay for it. show less

An insightful look at developing a culture of leadership in any organization.

This book tells the story of a newly appointed CEO of a small company and his efforts to develop a culture of leadership in his organization. The CEO brings on a consultant to take over the HR department, who leads the team in a search for leadership practices and principles they can adopt. The team visits other companies, seeking out examples of strong leadership cultures in various types of businesses. Through show more these meetings with other companies and brainstorming, the team eventually identifies five key principles for building a leadership culture:

* Defining what "leadership" means
* Training leaders in the skills they need
* Providing leadership opportunities
* Tracking the progress of leadership development efforts
* Modeling leadership and leading by example

These principles are deceptively simple, and each could probably be the basis of a book on its own (and many of them have been). To get the most out of this book, you will want to read it more than once. When initially reading this book, the reader follows the story along with the characters, eventually arriving at the five principles. With an understanding of these principles in place, re-reading the book provides even more insight in putting them into practice.

I recommend this book to anyone interested in leadership, and especially to those looking to develop better leadership in their own organizations. show less