Published in the United Kingdom by:
Improov Publishing
Lalstone House,
22 Maes Y Gwenyn
Vale of Glamorgan
CF62 3LA
www.leadershipcake.com
Leadership Cake copyright © 2013 Steve Rush
First printed October 2013
Content edited and designed by Tanya Brockett, Hallagen Ink
Cover designed by Ben Steer, Inov8 Design
The right of Steve Rush to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted by him in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. This book contains material protected under International and Federal Copyright Laws and Treaties. Any unauthorized reprint or use of this material is prohibited. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system without express written permission from Improov Publishing. Improov Publishing is a trading name of Improov Consulting Ltd.
www.Improovconsulting.com
ISBN: 978-0-9927127-0-9
ISBN: 978-0-9927127-1-6 (ePub e-book)
ISBN: 978-0-9927127-2-3 (PDF e-book)
This book is dedicated to all of the great (and not so great) leaders I have had; to my fantastic wife Claire; and to my children: Charlie, Harry, Ellie and Hudson—who are leading and inspiring my future.
Contents
Preface
Introduction
1 Recipe for Cake
2 Four Essential Ingredients for Cake
Communication
Authenticity
Knowledge
Empathy
3 Let them Eat Cake
4 Icing on the Cake
5 Crumbs & All—The Aftertaste
About the Author
Preface
Leadership.
“Here we go,” I hear you cry, “another book on leading people and teams.”
I understand that for many of you having any length of experience in leading others and teams, there are so many models, philosophies and structures you could follow, it is challenging to decide which one is the right one.
My approach is very simple: In my twenty-two years of leading people, from small teams to large global businesses, the “many models” approach is a good one. This means that no one model on its own will suffice, but you should take elements from as many models as you can to help you define your thinking.
My research and experience tells me that it is not about the model, nor is it about the role, the organization, or the task, but it is about whether the individual who “LEADS” that team has all the necessary ingredients. It is also about mixing those leadership ingredients in the right quantity to be the most effective and successful leader he or she can be.
The leaders I have worked with, when asked, “what is it that makes you a leader,” generally did not identify with any specific characteristics, traits or styles that led to their leadership career. In most cases, their leadership experience had emerged from their life and work experiences both consciously and subconsciously. Without fail I used to hear, “I wish I’d had a recipe for success years ago.”
This book explores the principle that leadership is created just like a cake; it’s a whole creation, born out of a list of ingredients, all of which are essential to create the perfect cake. The cake is a metaphor for you, and the ingredients and construction are you and your style. Our recipe will help you become a great leader.
Get your ingredients, mixing and baking right, and you are a great leader; get them wrong and you (and your Cake) can taste awful.
Introduction
It was a cold and crisp Sunday morning in November. My wife and I were relaxing in bed just chatting through our planned events of the day. As many attentive husbands do, I was attempting a deep conversation with my wife, but at the same time I was trying to think about the coaching interventions that I had partly completed the week before and still had playing on my mind. I was due to continue the meeting the following morning.
My lovely wife Claire comes from a traditional family in the north of England. She is a stickler for keeping hold of traditions and is also keen to pass on those customs to our children. She was explaining to me the tradition of “Stir-up Sunday.”
Stir-up Sunday is an informal term for the last Sunday before the season of Advent where she would ask all of the family to add an ingredient into a bowl and in turn stir these ingredients to make the perfect Christmas cake. This way, come Christmas day, the cake and its ingredients will have blended together and matured perfectly.
Picture the scene: I’m thinking dysfunctional leader ... mixed up approach with their team ... some overplayed strengths that are now limitations, etc. In the background, Claire is embellishing the story of Stir-up Sunday.
Then I suddenly hear and connect with the words, “if you don’t get the ingredients spot on, measured perfectly from my recipe, it won’t be right, it won’t taste as it should, and in fact, it won’t be a Christmas cake at all.”
With that I leapt startled from the bed, “That’s it ... cake,” I proclaimed. “Leadership Cake!”
She was a little confused I have to tell you. “What on earth are you going on about,” she cried.
I preached, “The recipe to be a great leader: all leaders need a recipe for their Leadership Cake. In fact, if their ingredients aren’t right, or mixed well, their cake is not a Leadership Cake.”
So thank you, Claire, for the inspiration, and I apologize for being distracted, but Leadership Cake was born on Stir-up Sunday.
Recipe for “Cake”
Where Can I Find My Leadership Recipe?
In this book, I will explore with you the concept of “you” as a leader and what you need to possess to be a great leader. We will also discover what to avoid and how to build and develop greatness in your leadership career. The stories I share will raise your awareness to some of your personal attributes that could work for you and also against you if you overplay them.
We will do this together, thinking about “cake” as a metaphor for you. Leadership Cake—full of the freshest, well balanced and thought through ingredients: baked to perfection and palatable to all those who experience you, crumbs and all.
So, let’s think about “cake.” I’m no baking expert, so in order to make the near perfect cake, where would I start? A cookbook maybe? Well, certainly I would suggest you look up a recipe.
When it comes to creating a recipe for leadership, there are about as many ideas as there are cookbooks for cakes, but there are some core ingredients in our Leadership Cake that you can’t do without.
Every cake needs flour, eggs, sugar and butter; otherwise it’s not a cake, right? Just as if you were baking a real cake, you can’t leave out the core ingredients in your Leadership Cake. We will discuss our Leadership Cake ingredients later, but where do we find the recipe so we at least know what to put into it?
I have experienced leadership in action and when it works and when it does not. The recipe for success can often be found within our experience and those who were leaders before us.
My mother has a recipe for cake that my wife and children use today. It has been passed down over generations and adapted and modified based on experience, access to newer ingredients and the change in one’s palate. It’s also true that people’s taste and expectations may have been modified over time.
Leaders of the nineteenth century may today be viewed as archaic dictators. There are leaders who we may have looked up to twenty years ago. Without updating their ingredients, however, they may now seem outdated and stale.
If you have been dependent on a certain cookbook, it may well determine what your “Cake” tastes like. As bakers we want our recipients to enjoy cake. Bakers want to get feedback that their cake was pleasing to the palate. As leaders we want our outcomes and results to be received in the same way, particularly with how we operate or lead our people and businesses.
When I work with business leaders and teams, there are many names shared that are synonymous with being great leaders. Here are a few that are at the forefront of people’s minds:
Mahatma Gandhi was born an ordinary chap with strong determination to be great at whatever he did. After completing a law degree from London, he became the most important part of the Indian struggle for freedom from the British colonial rule. His policy of non-violent protest through civil disobedience and unrest eventually succeeded when he led his country to independence in 1947.
The most notable ingredients in his Leadership Cake were: resilience, knowledge, people-skills, motivation, and communication. His approach to leading was “by example.”
Winston Churchill was Prime Minister of Britain from 1940 to 1945. He led Great Britain against Nazi Germany during World War II. He worked well with the allies and consequently defeated the regime of Hitler.
Churchill’s Leadership Cake was made up of: fearlessness, authenticity, determination, empathy, unyielding perseverance and undying devotion to his goal.
Jack Welch was an American chemical engineer, business executive, and author. He was Chairman and CEO of General Electric (GE) between 1981 and 2001. During his time at GE, the company’s value rose four thousand percent. Jack’s Leadership Cake was full of: energy, edge, execution, passion, knowledge, and communication. This provided his leadership team with an ongoing legacy.
Richard Branson is the founder and chairman of Virgin Group. The Group has grown from a music mail order business in 1970 to one of the most recognized and successful brands of all time, with four hundred companies under his leadership. Richard’s Leadership Cake consists of: a healthy dollop of vision, courage, authenticity, discipline, motivation, communication and empathy for his staff and clients.
Bill Gates is chairman of Microsoft and is cited as the leader of the personal computer revolution. In his early career, it was reported that his leadership style was very combative, but after changing his ingredients and rethinking in his Leadership Cake, he became more collaborative, created a culture of restless curiosity, and used his knowledge, communication and desire to achieve.
As you can see from the four leaders that I have shared, there are lots of different ingredients in the making of Leadership CakeLeadership Cake