Triple Crown Leadership

Surprise.  I read another book.

This one was Triple Crown Leadership - Building Excellent, Ethical and Enduring Organizations by Bob and Gregg Vanourek (a father and son team).

I guess I should not have been surprised that the triple crown was a reference to horse racing (but I was).  And ironic part of me could not connect ethics and horse racing (perhaps because my puritan parents would be mortified by any form of gambling and it did not seem in line with high integrity).  So I did not really like the horse racing examples they used. 

But still, I enjoyed the book immensely.   It was all about great leadership and many things I believe in.  The gist of the message is leadership is a stewardship responsibility.  Leadership is long term.  Leadership requires ultra dedication.

It is a book about ethics and values and what place they have in leadership and business (clearly they have a huge place and successful people and organizations have them)

One of my favourite sections was one on alignment.  Alignment is much harder and more important that vision.  99% of the time is spent on alignment so figuring that part out is the key.

The points are illustrated with real world examples of businesses in various situations (like J and J and the Tylenol recall).  This helps readability and brings points across better.

I loved the many quotes scattered throughout the book - it gave me lots of material for my twitter feed and Facebook updates.  I had previously blogged a review on the Tao of Twitter bemoaning the 140 character limit.  One quote above that limit:

"I look for three things in hiring people.  First is personal integrity, second is intelligence and the third is energy level.  If you don't have the first, the other two will kill you."

Warren Buffet  (I like Buffet - not because of his wealth but because of his common sense and long term approach)

and

A river cuts through the rock not because of its power but because of its persistence.  James Watkins