Paid to Think : A Leader's Toolkit for Redefining Your Future

by Goldsmith, David

• ISBN13: 9781936661701
• ISBN10: 1936661705
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2012-10-23
• Publisher: INGRAM

Summary

Have you ever thought about the fact that a craftsman has more and better tools to solve challenges on the job than the leader of a business or organization does? Leadership "tools" are usually defined as computers, spreadsheets, data, and even experience, but in reality, leaders need thinking tools that are hard to come by, so they find themselves hunting and pecking for answers in books, at seminars, through on-the-job training programs, from mentors, and at business schools, and still, they're left with gaps. Surely, most leaders are good at what they do, but the daily challenges of their jobs, like accelerating growth, increasing productivity, driving innovation, doing more with less, and balancing work with life don't come with some sort of leadership toolkit...until now.

In Paid to Think, international consultant David Goldsmith presents his groundbreaking approach to leadership and management based on research revealing the twelve specific activities that all leaders perform on a daily basis, and he provides you with each activity's accompanying tools and instructions proven to boost your performance and that of your entire organization.

Take the uncertainty out of everyday leading, convert ideas to realities, and maximize your intellectual value. Learn how decision makers at some of the world's most successful organizations have already used Paid to Think's universal and easily transferable tools—regardless of their industries, sectors, geographic locations, or management levels—as their greatest advantages in achieving more, earning more, and living more.

Author Biography

David Goldsmith is a consultant, advisor, NYU instructor, speaker, telecast host, and author. He is the president of MetaMatrix Consulting Group and holds an MBA from Syracuse University. Through his work with leaders from around the globe, Goldsmith is the developer of the Enterprise Thinking model, a holistic approach to leadership and management based on the activities and tools that all decision-makers need to solve challenges and create opportunities.

His expertise and advice is sought by leaders and managers worldwide, in businesses of all sizes, nonprofits and associations, and organizations including the military, government, and education.

Goldsmith was named by Successful Meetings magazine as one of the Top 26 Hottest Speakers in the speaking industry. He received NYU's Outstanding Professor of the Year Award for developing and teaching two core courses, and his history of business success earned him The Citizens Foundation of Central New York's Entrepreneur of the Year Award and the Central New York 40 under 40 Leadership Award.

He serves on the national board of directors of the Institute of Management Consultants and hosts the organization's telecast series, Consultapalooza. Goldsmith is also the founder and telecast host of the New York State Chapter of the National Speakers' Association. In addition to authoring more than 500 published articles, he is a regular columnist for several organizations and publications.

He resides in Manlius, NY, with his wife and two sons.

Table of Contents

Foreword	p. xv
Introduction You're Paid to Think	p. 1
The Value of Thinking	p. 4
Enterprise Thinking	p. 7
Your Challenges Are Universal	p. 8
What Enterprise Thinking Means to You and Your Organization	p. 9
An Overview of the Enterprise Thinking Categories and Corresponding Activities	p. 10
The Universality of Enterprise Thinking	p. 13
The 50,000-Foot Perspective	p. 15
An Underlying Precept That Improves Decision Making	p. 16
The Benefits of Interplaying Concepts and Tools	p. 19
What's Ahead	p. 20
Rethinking	p. 22
Challenging Your Current Viewpoints	p. 23
Untying the Knot	p. 43
Strategizing	p. 45
Developing Plans	p. 47
Creating Strategy	p. 50
The Process of Strategic Thinking	p. 51
From Thought to Reality: How Do You Create a Successful Strategy?	p. 53
Using the CST Model to Develop Plans	p. 55
Solving the Right Challenges by Asking the Right Questions: Redefining	p. 67
The Critical Path Method (CPM) Chart: A Tool for Building Superior Tactical Plans	p. 80
Transforming With Projects	p. 86
How Projects Fit into the CST Model	p. 88
The Tools Leaders Use to Fulfill Their Project-Related Roles	p. 88
Doing Projects Right: Directing Everyone toward Desired Outcomes	p. 95
Two Fatal Mistakes	p. 115
Managing Your Priorities	p. 118
Managing Time	p. 120
Managing Priorities	p. 122
From Conversion to Proficiency: Becoming a Priority Manager	p. 123
The Link between Priority Management and Thinking	p. 136
Creating New Products and Services	p. 138
The Benefits of Expanding Your Perspective	p. 140
Improving Your New Product Development Process	p. 143
The ET Development Funnel	p. 147
Pre-Work to the Process	p. 150
The Benefits of Building the Infrastructure First	p. 157
Establishing Alliances	p. 177
False Partners	p. 178
Name Your Allies	p. 179
Expanding Opportunities with a Variety of Alliances	p. 181
Why Build Alliances?	p. 182
Six Forms of Alliances	p. 186
Two Tools for Building Alliances	p. 192
The Pre-Development Funnel 1	p. 202
Alliance Killers	p. 203
Leveraging Technology	p. 211
What Technology Means to Your Organization	p. 212
Advancing Your Organization by Leveraging Technology	p. 212
The Leverager's Dilemma: Addressing the Downside of Technological Change	p. 218
Leveraging Technology Levels the Playing Field	p. 221
An ET Tool for Selecting and Implementing Technology	p. 222
Implementing Technology Successfully	p. 228
Leveraging Technology in Different Ways to Advance Your Organization	p. 238
Learning	p. 245
Acquiring New Knowledge	p. 249
Different Levels of Learning	p. 249
The Five Enterprise Thinking Learning Triangles	p. 251
ET's 5 Learning Triangles	p. 253
Gaining a 360° Awareness of Your Organization	p. 260
What You Can Do Starting Now	p. 262
Looking Within: How Do You Prefer to Learn?	p. 270
Ways to Become More Aware and More Knowledgeable	p. 273
Enhancing Global Awareness	p. 276
What Does It Mean to Be "Globally Aware"?	p. 277
The Connection between Global Awareness and Career Growth	p. 278
Global Awareness Improves Decision Making	p. 280
How Global Awareness Turbocharges the Enterprise Thinker	p. 283
The Approach to Becoming Globally Aware	p. 285
Sources of Global Information	p. 295
Putting Global Awareness to Practical Use	p. 298
Watching Competition	p. 314
The Typical Approach to Competitive Intelligence	p. 315
How Well Do You Really Know Your Competition?	p. 317
Where to Look: Your Competition Is Not Always Your Competition	p. 318
The ET Competitive Intelligence Process	p. 324
How Well Does Your Competition Know You?	p. 337
Performing	p. 339
Leading the Charge	p. 342
The Building Blocks of Leadership: Activities versus Attributes	p. 344
An Improved Perspective about Leadership: The White Horse Leader	p. 345
The ET Leading Process-Leading the Charge	p. 348
Five Ways to Boost Your Effectiveness as a Leader	p. 360
The Unspoken Realities of Leading	p. 367
Empowering Others	p. 382
Empowering Others at 50,000 Feet	p. 383
The Enterprise Thinking (ET) Empowering Process	p. 385
The Misnomers of Motivation and Morale	p. 399
The Transparent Career Ladder	p. 400
Techniques and Concepts for Empowering Others	p. 405
Innovating Everywhere	p. 416
Encouraging Creativity	p. 417
What Does "Innovating" Mean to You?	p. 418
Concepts and Rationale Behind Innovation	p. 419
Decision-Making Factors	p. 432
Developing the Mindset of an Innovator	p. 435
Creating a Culture of Innovation	p. 439
Selling Continuously	p. 464
The Role That Selling Plays in Great Leadership	p. 465
The ET Leadership Sales Approach	p. 467
Pathways for Selling Continuously to Other People	p. 473
Building the Type of Organization that Sells Itself	p. 477
Overcoming the Challenges of Leadership Sales	p. 480
Knowing Your Role in Regard to Traditional Sales	p. 492
Cornerstones for Engaging Others	p. 494
Forecasting	p. 523
Forecasting the Future	p. 525
The Art and Science of Forecasting	p. 527
Living Mentally in the Future	p. 528
Forecasting Tools	p. 532
The Pentality of Forecasting	p. 557
Ways to Improve Your Forecasting	p. 562
Avoiding the Eleven Mistakes of F-O-R-E-C-A-S-T-I-N-G	p. 575
Forecasting and the Other Categories of ET	p. 578
Next Steps	p. 581
Conclusion	p. 583
What You Can Expect Moving Forward	p. 585
Five Stages of Becoming an Enterprise Thinker	p. 590
Notes	p. 601
Glossary	p. 611
Index	p. 627
About The Authors	p. 647
More Resources	p. 649
Acknowledgments	p. 653
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