This book gave me feedback that I didn’t know I needed to hear.
It took me on a journey of despair, embarrassment, inadequacy, enlightenment, learning and improvement. It was quite the journey
At one point I couldn’t articulate my response to it, all I could do was picture myself sitting with my head on my desk, with my arms out-streached in despair moaning, wailing and feeling sorry for myself at not ‘people-ing’ better. And I really want to people well. That’s what my exploration into self-aware leadership is all about, people-ing better, relating better and working better.
This book talks about the ally mindset: the ‘show up as a good colleague whenever you possibly can’ mindset. It does this through setting out 5 groups of behaviours: abundance and generosity, connection and compassion, courage and vulnerability, candour and debate and action and accountability. It talks about how we give time and space to people on a human level, how we listen to people and how we show up with our arms outstretched ready to accept people as they are, acknowledge their differences and appreciating that they have a whole life beyond work that we now know nothing about.
If you’re a manager of people or a leader of any kind, I would recommend this book as it will shed a light on the fundamentally important things that move work relationships from task sharing to work-life sharing
I also liked the way it’s written, there are 3 authors but it’s joined together well: it’s one coherent whole with 3 distinct voices sounding out at different times, sharing different stories from different perspectives.
I learned so much and I made a pact with myself to people better from this moment on. I’ve made little changes in my practice, specifically: asking more meaning questions, listening mindfully, caring evidently, giving time generously and remembering purposefully. I hope my colleagues feel this change and they know without a shadow of a doubt that I’m an ally, and always looking to people better
A 5 out of 5.
Remember you can also find audio visual versions on YouTube!