© 2010 by L. E. Boswell writing as Simon Silverback. All rights reserved.

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To all I love

Without condition

To all I love

Without omission

Never doubt

Squirrels for nuts contend, and, wrong or right, for the world’s empire kings ambitious fight. What odds? To us ‘tis all the selfsame thing: a nut, a world, a squirrel, and a king.

—Charles Churchill

Here Skugg
Lies snug
As a bug
In a rug

—Benjamin Franklin


The trunk sways
The root’s deep
Safe are we
In our leafy keep

—Old Skugg

Contents


Foreword, by Robert L. Lorber

Preface

Introduction


Part One: Leadership Theory

Part Two: 14 Secrets on Crossing a Road

1. Know why you are crossing the road

2. Know when to cross the road

3. Stick to your niche

4. Lead, follow, or get squashed on the road

5. Indecision is a decision with consequences

6. Too many quick decisions are worse than no decision

7. Doubt is as keen a sword as confidence

8. Old strategies often do not work for new situations

9. Stay the course?

10. A car changes all plans

11. Balance planning with action

12. Be a risk taker

13. Never be afraid to reverse a bad decision

14. Be persistent—to a point

Part Three: 20 Secrets from the Nutground

15. Bury many nuts, harvest few

16. Surround yourself with ideas

17. Not all ideas bear fruit—or nuts

18. Invest today for payback tomorrow

19. Plan ahead, but not too far ahead

20. Every winter is a harsh winter

21. Adapt

22. Be prepared to deal with a lot of nuts

23. There are never enough nuts

24. Select the right nuts

25. Never count nuts while you gather them

26. Beware the nut-counters

27. Unity of purpose, not unity of thought

28. Let everyone wander around

29. Never be a leader in all things

30. Never be a leader at all times

31. Never eschew lesser tasks

32. Never fear failure

33. Never fear success

34. Never seek excellence in all things


Part Four: 10 Secrets at the Bird Feeder

35. Never attack a competitor’s strength

36. Be wary of traps

37. Know your strengths—and weaknesses

38. Compete!

39. Be opportunistic

40. Take advantage of competitor inefficiencies

41. Be wary of competitors

42. Avoid distractions

43. Be wary of easy pickings

44. Innovate!


Part Five: 4 Secrets from a Squirrel’s Tail

45. You’re not in this alone

46. Maintain balance

47. Watch your back

48. Appear larger than life


Part Six: 10 Secrets in the Trees

49. See the forest—and the trees

50. Always put a tree between yourself and danger

51. Have lofty but achievable goals

52. Select the right tree(s)

53. Embrace change

54. Be flexible in all things

55. Integrate work and play

56. Seek and take advice

57. Retreat and replenish

58. Avoid dogs—and dogma


Part Seven: 4 Secrets about Owls

59. Accept an owl’s wisdom

60. Reject an owl’s wisdom

61. Beware an owl’s beak and talons

62. Avoid the rubber acorn


Last Leaf

Appendix A: Translator’s Notes

Appendix B: Famous Humans on Squirrels

Foreword

At first glance, you may think this book is not to be taken seriously, something you will look at briefly and put away without much second thought. A book written by a squirrel?

You’ve got to be kidding. Leadership is an important, serious subject in all aspects of our lives: business, government, education, sports, religion, and family.

Everyone has his or her own perspective on leadership, after all, so why should the perspective of a squirrel be less important? If there is even one acorn of wisdom here, even one idea makes us better.

I’ve been blessed to able to work with business leaders from all over the world. I’ve worked closely with hundreds of CEOs of corporations, senior business leaders at all levels, university leaders, a few country leaders, and community leaders, and most of them will love the fun concepts in this little book.

I know you are skeptical; there are thousands of books on leadership, and now one from a squirrel’s perspective? I was skeptical too at first. The manuscript was shoved under my door, no more than a loosely bound pile of leaves, with markings as curious and unintelligible as hieroglyphs, looking more like the work of a sudden gust of wind than the work of a leader and fellow mammal. But once translated, the book grew on me, as I hope it does on you. I love creative new ways at looking at how we can help become better leaders in all aspects of our lives.

You may not agree with everything you read, but I can guarantee that you will have fun, learn, and never think of leadership, or squirrels, in quite the same way again.


For me and most of the people I work with in my consulting practice, leadership is about serving others. I’m not just talking about CEO’s, presidents, and directors. I’m talking about anyone who is in a role that influences other people. Leadership is about making the world a better place for all of us, and my hope is that as you read some of the concepts in this book,, you will be a better leader in all aspects of your life.

Please enjoy this practical, quick read, and hey, it’s the best leadership book ever written by a squirrel.

—Robert L. Lorber

Preface


You have seen us in the trees, scampering (as you would put it) from branch to limb, seemingly without purpose, one of nature’s furry wind-up toys. You have seen us chasing each other around tree trunks, like idiots (you would say). You have seen us frantically trying, and often failing, at the simple act of crossing a road. And you have seen us bury nuts and acorns everywhere, with little or no hope of ever finding them all again. You think us at best dull of brain and at worst a pest to be driven away or killed. We are the clowns on the lawn, the menace at the bird feeder, the kill on the road.


So why should you look to us for advice on leadership? I will spare you the long story, the one our parents used to tell us, ad nauseum, as the winter winds howled outside and we huddled with the others in our nest at the top of the great oak. The short of it is simply this: we are born to leadership, and you are not. What you humans know of leadership would barely fill an acorn cap, and you seem to jump from one theory to the next as deftly and as blithely as we leap from limb to branch. But where we have purpose you have only direction. So your first lesson is this:


Leadership without purpose is like a compass in the hands of a fool: any direction will do.


But I get ahead of myself. If you have picked up this book—or better yet, purchased it— you are probably a person who likes a little whimsy, or a little book, or both. Good, because the first thing a leader must be able to do is chitter—I mean laugh. And the second is to get to the point—quickly.

So let’s get on with it.

—SIMON SILVERBACK

Introduction


This little book focuses on leadership secrets that we squirrels use every day, and you humans so often ignore. As Part 1 so clearly points out, however, this is not a book about leadership theories, so beyond this brief introduction you will find nary a mention nor a footnote on Burns, Jago, Fiedler, Jenkins, Hegel, Weber, Carlyle, Smith, Machiavelli, Stogdil, Confucius, or Plato. Neither will you find mentions of path-goal, contingency, situational, or charismatic-leader theory and the like. No again if you expect mentions of recent books on leadership. I haven’t read them. I’m a squirrel for skugg’s sake. Most would crush me with their weight. And frankly, they don’t taste all that good, either.


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