Rating: Average
The Savage Leader blurb excerpt: Great leaders are built from the inside out, not the outside in.
In today’s world, it takes more than being a great decision-maker, strategic thinker, and risk manager. It takes mastering the inner game to become a “Savage Leader.” In this book, Darren Reinke will show you how by guiding you through 13 key principles that will help you develop and master the inner qualities and traits you need to become a leader.
Inside each of us is a “Savage Leader”—we just need to learn how to unlock and unleash them.
My opinion: It was a little cliche and the title doesn't really represent the content. Although I agree with what Darren is saying, I don't think it was enough to warrant a book. Albeit a short book.
A nice light read and a gentle reminder on some important topics.
Lessons from The Savage Leader:
3 Attributes of Savage Leaders:
They possess a burning desire to achieve their own definition of greatness
They are willing to be introspective and change
They are willing to put the work in
If you lose your team's respect it's a straight line to disengagement and underperformance.
Principle #1 - Use values to anchor and guide you.
The key is to establish what your values are, apply them consistently, and avoid any temptation to deviate from them in search of shortcuts and easy wins.
Values change over time. It's important to take time to reflect on your values and ensure they are congruent with you of today."When you have a lifetime of engrained perspectives, it takes time to acknowledge what those values are, and assess how you to shift, prioritize, add new values, and possibly get rid of some old ones that no longer serve you."
Principle #2 - Adapt best practices for authenticity.
Allow flexibility in executing a leadership decree. Avoid the temptation to directly mirror the methods of thought leaders, mentors, and idols. Instead consider, filter, adapt and transform best practices into authentic practices based on your individual values, beliefs, strengths, experiences, and organization.
Next time your invest in personal development, take a moment to ask yourself:
Which lessons or tips will offer the biggest benefit to my life and career?
What would be the benefit(s) of applying them?
Which best practices fit my style and strengths?
How do I need to adapt each of the tips to fit me, so I have the confidence to happy them?
Which one(s) am I willing to commit to trying next week?
Principle #3 - Forge unbreakable bonds with your tribe.
We live in an era requiring agility, collaboration, and fast decision-making. Not command and control. If you want to engage, empower and inspire you need to be able to connect with people.
Savage leaders are inherently curious about the world and the people around them. They are curious to learn from everyone with diverse perspectives and eager to unearth new ideas, access new insights, and gain a better understanding of the people they work with.
Enduring success comes from activating the strengths of every member of the organization. Never influencing conversation or interactions with their biases.
The best leaders replace conversations, rooted in the old-school command-and-control structure that was focused on directing, to having interactions that center on the development of their team.
Principle #4 - Commit to lifelong learning and growth.
With rapid change, the new normal, savage leaders must accelerate the pace of their learnings, if they're to keep up.
Savage leaders take the extra step to distill insights from a variety of sources, codify them, and apply them immediately.
Instituting a book club helped foster an environment of peer-to-peer learning, closed specific knowledge gaps, and translated individual insights into a collective knowledge base.
Savage leaders cultivate skills they will need in the future, not just now. They are constantly hunting for new tips and training techniques to improve the game they are playing now, as well as the one they will play in the future.
Take a moment to consider a big goal you have, then objectively answer the following questions.
What is one skill that I need to get better at in order to ensure I achieve my goal?
What new knowledge do I need to gain to increase the odds of reaching my goal?
Who can I talk with that would have insight into what I am trying to do?
What facts or data could I research to help better inform me?
Principle #5 - Practice mental and physical reps to win when it counts.
Use affirmations and power pose's to boost your confidence.
Anticipate potential situations that might come up in pressure-packed moments and prepare by simulating the stress and nerves in training/rehearsal so you can thrive when it matters.
Principle #6 - Take action to maintain and regain focus.
In life and business, there is a finite set of things that we can control. Savage leaders must learn to cede control over the things (people, situations, outcomes) which they have no power to change.
Focussing on things you can't control only contributes to stress and wastes energy.
4 things you can do to help maintain or regain focus:
Journal
Meditate
Create an individual plan you can put into action when situations spiral out of control
Write a list of items that you can control (focus on those), and a list you can control (commit to letting go).
Principle #7 - Dig deep to persevere in dark times.
Do so by focussing on the process, not the outcome. Try setting proxy metrics that indicate progress towards your outcome goals.
Find your own reason to persevere. You will need more than a spark of motivation. You need a personal reason to keep going when presented with easier alternatives and the option to quit.
Principle #8 - Embrace and utilize patience as a secret weapon.
Patience is an underappreciated attribute in a world that's constantly evolving, changing, and that demands agility, flexibility, and rapid responses.
When you lack patience, it can leads to poor decision-making, place undue pressure on teams, and cause internal frustration.
Be patient in the pursuit of outcomes, not in taking action.
Acknowledging progress is a great way of cultivating patience. If people know they are improving they believe they will eventually reach their goals given enough time.
Principle #9 - Seek out discomfort to drive growth.
As we become established in our careers, our growth tends to stagnate. We also take fewer risks such as leading ambiguous, challenging projects or taking on elevated roles associated with a higher degree of failure.
Develop a mindset of comfort in the presence of discomfort.
Principle #10 - Own and challenge limiting beliefs.
Self-liming beliefs are the single largest impediment to growth and success.
When faced with a big idea or challenge try asking yourself an open-ended, possibility generating question as opposed to a binary, yes-or-no one. "If we were to do it, how might we make it work?" vs "will that work".
Principle #11 - Crush your doubts and reframe them for success.
Savage leaders recognize doubt as part of the growth process and find ways to squash it through tools such as positive self-talk.
If doubt exists, try reframing it as uncertainty or reflecting on past success to change your current state.
Principe #12 - Make your fear your friend.
Savage leaders face their fears by looking for and embracing familiar elements to guide them forward.
Break down bigger tasks into smaller more familiar chunks.
Visualize the fear in detail, build a contingency plan for what you would do in that situation, Consider the actions you would take, and who you could rely on to help. Also, develop a strategy and set of tactics to lower the probability of it actually coming to fruition.
Principle #13 - Use your past to transform the present.
Our lives are a tapestry of rich stories. Stories of triumph, failure, excitement, and loss. But often, we dismiss our stories, especially those from when we were growing up. We think of those moments as innocent forays from the past, but they have played a defining role in who we are today.
Time, experience, and reflection can help embed those experiences within our leadership style.
The Savage Leader Quotes:
“We don't create leaders from the outside in; we build leaders from the inside out."
"Values aren't established through a singular moment. Instead, it's a series of experiences and influences"
"Even if you're not in a traditional leadership role, you still have the power to influence, inspire, engage, and connect with everyone on your team."
"Savage leaders spend more time asking rather than answering questions"
"Success requires more than focus and effort in the moment; it commands mental and physical preparation too."
What Next:
If you are interested in this book, you may want to check out our list of Personal Development Books
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