Slacker Manager

Remarkable Leadership: Take 5 With Kevin Eikenberry

by Phil Gerbyshak on August 21st, 2007

Kevin Eikenberry just released his second book, an amazing book called Remarkable Leadership. For TODAY ONLY you can get some amazing bonuses for buying Remarkable Leadership today. I love this book, and I know you will too. It’s a very complete handbook for managers and leaders of all shapes and sizes. You can see all the great bonuses at Kevin’s website.

Kevin gave me an unedited draft to provide an endorsement for the book, and here’s what I said then, and it’s even more true now that I’ve been through the completed version:

This book will equip you with all the skills you need to become a remarkable leader. Remarkable leaders can be made, if we choose to live and improve in our strength zones. Regardless of title, position, or station in life, each of us can become a remarkable leader. This book gives you all the tools you’ll need; the only question is, will you choose to use them all or will you settle for being mediocre?

So when Kevin told me he was trying, for 1 day, to unseat Harry Potter as the #1 best seller on Amazon, I knew the time was right to share this remarkable book with all of you.

As an added bonus for you the loyal readers of Slacker Manager, Kevin agreed to “Take 5″ and share his insights on remarkable leadership, above and beyond what’s in the book and the Remarkable Leadership blog.

Take 5 with Kevin Eikenberry

Phil: Define Remarkable Leadership.

Kevin: First, a remarkable leader as someone who is continually working to become more effective - continually learning and improving. Second, they recognize that remarkable leadership is not about the technical skills of forecasting, budgeting and technical knowledge of the work, but really about how they engender trust, build relationships, develop others, communicate more effectively—all of those other skills that we really think of when we think of great leaders that we’ve worked with in the past.

That’s a remarkable leader – a continual learner who focuses on the work of a leader and not just the technical aspects of the work.

Phil: Is Remarkable Leadership something we all can do, or is it something we have to be born with?

Kevin: We can all be remarkable leaders. Each of us was given a unique bundle of DNA – the genetic code that makes us uniquely us! There are skills that each of us possess that may predispose us to certain strengths as a leader and that is what we need to build from. There are no born leaders, any more than there are born mathematicians. We take the skills we have been given and develop our potential from there. That is why I wrote this book.

Phil: What’s one tip we can do right now to be a more Remarkable Leader?

Kevin: Take action. Identify one thing that you would like to improve on. It could be something you are already good at, or something that you struggle with. Either way, take some action to improve your effectiveness in some way. Remarkable leaders are always on the path towards learning and improvement, and that all starts with action.

Phil: Who is the most Remarkable Leader you know, and why?

Kevin: I get asked this question often and it isn’t really my favorite. I see remarkable leadership in everyone and it is hard to pick a favorite. Force me to and from history, for a variety of reasons, I think of Lincoln, Gandhi and Winston Churchill, again because of the continual focus on learning and growth. These are just three – and I could have just as easily picked people you have never heard of. I could certainly have picked you Phil.

Phil: What are other resources I can have to be a more Remarkable Leader?

Kevin: You mean besides the book and all of the resources we’ve offered readers on our website? Seriously, there are thousands of great resources available. Pick an area to focus on (And focus is VERY important), find a mentor who excels in that area and use my favorite bibliography – Google.

Thanks Kevin! GREAT stuff!

So take 5 minutes RIGHT NOW, and pick up a copy of Remarkable Leadership for you and a friend, and any of your other managers that could benefit from being a more remarkable leader.

What does remarkable leadership mean to you? Do you agree with Kevin that remarkable leadership can be learned?

Stay tuned for more about this great book as the days go by!

Share This

Related Stories

• Best Leadership Blogs of 2008
• Drop Everything And…Reflect
• What’s the difference between management and leadership?
• Kevin’s blog
• 6 Things You Don’t Know About…Phil Gerbyshak

POSTED IN: books, management