This book was required reading for the Serving Leaders Collaborative I am going through. One benefit of going through this program is being exposed to books that I would have probably never read on my own. From Values to Action is a book by Harry M. Jansen Kraemer Jr. You can read his long list of accomplishments here.Harry is the former chairman and CEO of Baxter International Inc., a multibillion-dollar global health care company.
In the book, Harry shares his journey from starting off in a cube and working his way up to CEO. It helped me realize that I can lead wherever I am at and that become a values based leader is what will ultimately set me apart from my peers.
This book reminded me a lot of one of my favorite books that I have read this year, Love Works. The first half of the book focuses on becoming a values based leader in your personal life. The second half of the book is devoted to teaching you to become a values based leader in your organization. Learning to lead through your values is extremely important and often overlooked in our world. I’d recommend this book to anyone starting off their careers in a cube to a CEO of a large company.
My biggest takeaway: Perhaps there is no greater benefit of becoming a values based leader than setting the standard for the rest of the organization so that it, too, focuses on what matters most.
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Some Highlights:
- The four principles of values-based leadership is self-reflection, balance, true self-confidence, and genuine humility.
- No matter how far you have risen, you should never forget where you started.
- Perhaps there is no greater benefit of becoming a values based leader than setting the standard for the rest of the organization so that it, too, focuses on what matters most.
- One of the biggest benefits of self-reflection is identifying what comes first and what comes last.
- Once you’ve established your priorities then making decisions based on what matters most becomes easy.
- Until you measure how you spend your time, you cannot make meaningful changes that will positively impact the quality of your life, and, by extension, your leadership.
- You will not be a good leader unless you are also a good manager. How can you possibly be effective as a leader if you don’t have a track record of executing and implementing?
- If we have 40 percent of the information we need, we will probably choose the right direction. However, if it turns out that we are headed in the wrong direction, we will adjust.
- Your reaction to change has a direct impact on how you lead and your effectiveness as a leader.
- Unless you make social responsibility a priority early in your career, you will find it difficult to focus on it in a significant way later on.
