The Disciplined Leader

What do the best leaders have in common? As president of MAP, John Manning should know. MAP has helped tens of thousands of top executives accelerate their leadership and management performance. Manning says the answer is one word: discipline. But for Manning, discipline has a very specific meaning.

All leaders have scores of things they could do. But a disciplined leader is one who identifies and focuses on the Vital Few: the 20 percent of activities that will drive 80 percent of the results. And the results that are most important are those tied to the organization’s most precious asset: its people.

The Disciplined Leader offers fifty-two succinct lessons to help you home in on your own Vital Few in three critical areas: leading yourself, leading your team, and leading your organization. Each lesson comes with recommended tactics and practical “Take Action!” tips for implementing it, so there are literally hundreds of pieces of must-know, time-tested advice here. The chapters are self-contained, so you can read them in any order and come back to the ones that resonate with you—your own Vital Few! This is a hands-on, nuts-and-bolts guide to leadership practice that’s built to inspire action, drive change, and achieve results.Introduction
Part I Where You Must Start: The Responsibility to Lead Yourself
#1 Make the Commitment
#2 Exercise Courage
#3 Manage Your Worries
#4 Know Yourself
#5 Be Truthful
#6 Have Humility
#7 Zero in on Your Values
#8 Recognize Your Talents
#9 Get Out of Your Way
#10 Push beyond the Comfort Zone
#11 Drop Defensiveness
#12 Eliminate the “Victim” Mentality
#13 See Mistakes as Opportunities
#14 Listen More, Talk Less
#15 Manage Your Time
#16 Tackle the Tough Stuff
#17 Plan Each Day
#18 Write Your Professional Development Plan
#19 Believe in Your Potential
Wrap-up to Part I
Part II Break Through and Get Results: The Responsibility to Lead Your Team
#20 Choose the Right Words
The Disciplined Leader
#21 Put Your Game Face On
#22 Be in the Moment
#23 Focus on What Is Right, Not Who Is Right
#24 Don’t Cross the Line
#25 Treat Everyone Fairly
#26 Honor Your Commitments
#27 Don’t Overuse the “I” Word
#28 Surround Yourself With Great Talent
#29 Hire Who Is Right
#30 Empower Employees
#31 Hold Your Team Accountable
#32 Check up Daily on Goals
#33 Give Effective Performance Feedback
#34 Spot Opportunities to Coach
#35 Demand More Solutions
#36 Encourage Disagreement
#37 Advocate for Your Team
#38 Recognize Your Employees
Wrap-up to Part II
Part III Extend Your Reach: The Responsibility to Lead Your Organization
#39 Develop a “What’s the Goal?” Culture
#40 Stay the Course
#41 Lead from the Front
#42 Learn from Success
#43 Put More Weight on “Why?”
#44 Cultivate Curiosity
#45 Pick Your Battles
#46 Avoid the Dangerous Gap between Good Ideas and Execution
#47 Avoid “Flavor of the Month” Syndrome
#48 Listen to Your Customers
#49 Keep Customers in the Crosshairs of Decision Making
#50 Know Your Competition
#51 Keep Ethics Strong
#52 Give Back
Wrap-up to Part III
Conclusion: Now Pay It Forward
Notes
Acknowledgments
Index
About the Author
About MAP“Peter Drucker famously said ‘Management is doing things right; leadership is doing the right things.’ John Manning shows you exactly how to identify those right things and get them done as effectively as possible!”
—Marshall Goldsmith, author of the New York Times and global bestseller What Got You Here Won’t Get You There

“Make space on your bookshelf for The Disciplined Leader. John Manning shows any leader, whether CEO or small department manager, how to identify the Vital Few keys to success and hold people accountable, thereby delivering results. The principles and processes are straightforward and can be acted upon immediately.”
—Lloyd Lenson, Chief Operating Officer, CORT, A Berkshire Hathaway Company

“We must all evolve as leaders, and this book provides an invaluable framework for keeping leaders focused on the right things, providing accountability tools for management to stay on track and ensuring the right balance between great ideas, strategy, and execution.”
—Elise Buik, President and CEO, United Way of Greater Los Angeles

“The information that John Manning provides here is an indispensable resource for any leader. This approach helped guide us from our start as a small regional firm to becoming a national company and ultimately a global organization.”
—Guillermo de la Viña, CEO, Sigue Corp.

“The Disciplined Leader is a concise compilation of tips that have helped us focus on what is most important. This book is a great resource for anyone wanting to build a stronger team and become a disciplined leader.”
—Tammy Miller, CEO, Border States Electric

“Being a disciplined leader is not about working more and harder than everyone else. It’s about ensuring that every action you take exudes consistency, courage, and humility. The Disciplined Leader is an invaluable guide to help today’s C-level executives succeed—it’s required reading for my entire management team.”
—David Berman, President, RingCentral

“The Disciplined Leader emphasizes the key leadership fundamentals of passion, commitment, and people while stressing the importance of focus. The lessons are powerful and relevant for anyone in a leadership or management position.”
—Kelly Wright, Executive Vice President, Sales, Tableau SoftwareJohn Manning is president of Management Action Programs, Inc. He has diverse experience in business leadership, having held executive positions in Fortune 500 companies in operations, marketing, and sales. Formerly the director of operations for McKesson Water Products, Inc., he was also part of a leadership team that took the company national. This move made McKesson one of the largest bottled-water companies in the United States.

Katie Roberts is a freelance business and marketing writer/editor. She is a former television reporter, award‐winning magazine editor and writer, and a nonprofit business organization founder/director.