Flex: The New Playbook for Managing Across Differences

Renowned executive coaches and global leadership strategists Jane Hyun and Audrey S. Lee offer lessons on the vital skill of "Flexing"—the art of switching leadership styles to lead people who are different from you more effectively, equipping managers for success with the multicultural workers of today and tomorrow.

Flex offers a proactive strategy for managers to navigate and leverage diversity effectively in this new global economy, showing managers how to: understand the power gap, the social distance between you and those in the workplace of different cultures, ages, and gender; flex your management style, by stretching how you work and communicate with others, and bridging the gap with more effective communication, feedback tools and building healthy teams; and multiply the effect, by teaching these skills to others and closing the power gap with clients, customers, and partners to create innovative solutions.

Creating flex in a company's management style will impact all aspects of developing the talent you have, attracting future talent and building relationships with customers in this competitive marketplace. Now, Flex: The New Playbook for Managing Across Differences shows you how.

This practical guide provides actionable leadership strategies for today’s leaders:

• The Power Gap: Learn to identify and close the social distance that separates you from team members across cultural, generational, and gender differences.
• Leadership Development: Move beyond a one-size-fits-all approach and master the art of “Flexing”—adapting your management style to unlock the full potential of a diverse workforce.
• Talent Management: Discover proven methods for developing the talent you have, attracting the best new hires, and retaining a high-performing, multicultural team.
• Communication Styles: Go beyond theory with practical feedback tools and techniques for strengthening trust and improving communication with employees, clients, and partners.

The workplace around the world is changing—growing increasingly multicultural, female, and younger. Experts often tell CEOs and managers what not to do, and corporate diversity programs can often appear to be like defensive measures against lawsuits and harassment charges. While technology has connected all of us as a global workforce, it has not equipped us with the capability to interact genuinely with people. In order to be successful in this new global business environment, we need to rethink the way we lead others.

Flex offers a new approach—a proactive strategy for managers to understand and leverage difference effectively in this new global economy.

Flex shows managers how to

• understand the power gap—the social distance between you and those in the workplace of different cultures, ages, and gender;
• stretch your management style and bridge the gap with more effective communication and feedback tools; and
• multiply the effect by teaching these skills to others and closing the power gap with clients, customers, and partners to create innovative solutions.

Creating flex in a company's management style will affect all aspects of developing existing leaders, attracting future talent, and building relationships with customers in this competitive marketplace. Flex shows you how.

“If you are in leadership or want to remain competitive and you don’t have a culturally diverse board or staff, you are part of the past. We need to focus now on understanding the need for developing this untapped pipeline. This remarkable resource will set you on the right path.” - Dr. Frances Hesselbein, President, Leader to Leader Institute

“Flex provides the new era attributes of leadership that highlights the leadership agility require to master success in a global environment.” - Ronald C. Parker, President and CEO of The Executive Leadership Council

“A solid, common-sense guide to creating a successful and diverse workplace in terms of culture, age, and gender....clear and illustrative.” - Publishers Weekly

“Hyun and Lee’s book accomplishes what few guidebooks for employers do: It empowers leaders not only to manage differently, but to think differently by cultivating cultural fluency that will enable them to work more effectively with diverse teams.” - Sylvia Ann Hewlett, CEO, Center for Talent Innovation, author of Forget A Mentor, Find a Sponsor

“FLEX provides a way for leaders to re-define how to lead by understanding, embracing and seeking out differences.” - Karyn Detje, Chief Talent Officer, Tory Burch

“Flex is the first real field manual for managing across differences. Its lessons are relevant to people at every level and stage of their career. Flex is required reading for every manager who wants to empower his/her employees to reach their full potential.” - David A. Thomas, PhD Dean and William R. Berkley Chair Georgetown University, McDonough School of Business

“Read this book. If taken seriously, you will certainly challenge yourself to change the way you lead in today’s global marketplace.” - Steve Reinemund, Dean of Business, Wake Forest University, Retired Chairman and CEO, PepsiCo

“Flex is about thinking -- managing one’s thinking to meet the demands of business relationships inside and outside of your organization. From the conceptual rationale to the practical how-to, take this journey with the authors!” - J.T. (Ted) Childs, Jr., Principal, Ted Childs LLC

“…a solid, common-sense guide to creating a successful and diverse workplace…Their guide is clear and illustrative…” - Publishers Weekly

“Coauthors Hyun and Lee provide the modern manager with a playbook on how to switch among leadership styles to get the most out of employees.” - Library Journal

“Hyun and Lee offer convincing evidence to illustrate how to enhance communication skills across various workplace divides.” - Kirkus Reviews