Richard Sheridan - Chief Joy Officer: How Great Leaders Elevate Human Energy and Eliminate Fear

If Peter Drucker and Mr. Rogers had a baby, his name would be Richard Sheridan. Chief Joy Officer is the perfect blend of irrefutable management theory and irresistible human decency. Sheridan confronts you with the elevated purpose of leadership your MBA professors didnt have the guts or clarity to teach you.

Joseph Grenny, coauthor of Crucial Conversation: Tools for Talking When Stakes are High and Influencer: The New Science of Leading Change

Through captivating stories and remarkable authenticity, Rich takes us on a journey of how to build high-performance organizations on a cultural foundation of hope, love, and joy.

Scott DeRue, dean at the Ross School of Business, University of Michigan

What others call inspirational or even aspirational leadership concepts, Richard Sheridan calls the Joy of Leadership. Its encoded in Menlos very DNA.

Sam MacPherson, founder of The Lean Leadership Academy and Green Beret Way Leadership Experience

Chief Joy Officer is a tour de force in how you can become a positive leader. You will understand why positive leadership produces more payoffs than any other approach.

Robert E. Quinn, Ross School of Business, Center for Positive Leadership

Richard Sheridan shows leaders how they can leave fear behind and lead from a place of service and joy.

Raj Sisodia, cofounder and chairman emeritus, Conscious Capitalism International

For many, work is suffering. It doesnt have to be that way. Rich Sheridan tells us how to be the person who makes that happenno matter where we are in our organizations.

Wayne Baker, professor of Management and Organizations, University of Michigan Ross School of Business and Center for Positive Organizations

Read this book and you will want to be a Chief Joy Officer. Inspiring lessons from an exceptional leader of a company built on joy.

Jeffrey Liker, author of The Toyota Way

Like a hip consumer product, the organizational design at Menlo Innovations epitomizes great designa simple intuitive look and feel, based on universal principles, and underpinned by sophisticated approaches to management systems, personal development, and leadership.

Andy Eichfeld, former leader of the Lean Management practice at McKinsey

Rich Sheridan is a masterful storyteller who reframes what it means to be a leader at work. For him, joy isnt about happiness. Its about purpose.

Michael Pacanowsky, Gore-Giovale Chair in Business Innovation, Westminster College

A good leader has an obligation to create an inclusive and energizing environment, filled with authenticity, humility, transparency, and an iron resolve to drive fear and intimidation out of the organizationall shared in a way that only a master storyteller like Rich can.

Jim Morgan, senior advisor at the Lean Enterprise Institute, coauthor of Designing the Future , and former Ford global engineering director

Richard Sheridan has a great attitude for succeeding in business and life! If you take care of your people, they will take care of everything else that matters. The ONE thingthe ONLYthing is people.

Heidi Musser, executive vice president and principal consultant at Leading Agile, retired VP and CIO at USAA

This book is a recipe for humble, effective leadership... follow it and you will have a positive, fear-free, trusting, fun, and, most of all, productive workplace.

Ron Sail, former leader GE global employee services and chief cultural anthropologist at The Alchemy Group

Richard Sheridan has cracked the code: You can lead young people by fear or passionand fear doesnt work. If you give them your all, theyll give you everything. Sheridan shows you how, and why.

John U. Bacon, New York Times bestselling author of Bos Lasting Lessons

Work and joy are two words most people wouldnt associate with each other, but Rich Sheridan isnt like most people. It may challenge many of your common assumptions about business, and it will certainly make your mind spin with new ideas and possibilities.

Jim Ferrell, author and managing partner at the Arbinger Institute

We can all learn from the approaches and concepts in this book. We can all become more authentic, courageous leaders who bring gratitude, optimism, and belief to their work... every day.

Jack Salzwedel, chair and CEO of American Family Insurance

Focusing on how people work more than the content of their work is possibly the main aspect of a leaders job. But Richs story stretches further. You are what you think, and in struggling to practice this approach you the leader gets developed. Your customer, your team... they help you grow.

Mike Rother, author of Toyota Kata and The Toyota Kata Practice Guide

Full of insightful personal stories, Chief Joy Officer is a unique guide to what it takes to create joy in the workplace, from someone who has successfully done that at Menlo Innovations.

Steve Denning, author of The Age of Agile

Finally! A candid and humble leadership book packed with the degree of emotion that has forever been the key to outstanding leadership, but largely ignored.

Karen Martin, author of Clarity First and The Outstanding Organization

If its true the country should be run more like a business, the next president would do well to start by selecting Rich Sheridan to be our Chief Joy Officer.

Ari Weinzweig, cofounding partner, Zingermans Community of Businesses and author of Zingermans Guide to Good Leading

Chief Joy Officer is a clear articulation of the values that leaders must embody and practice to attain whats been referred to as servant leadership over the years.

Vijay Sankaran, technology leader, Ann Arbor, Michigan

Many business books provide the ingredients for success; vision, purpose, servant leadership, empowerment, and great culture. Rich shows you how to mix it all together, providing the perfect recipe for joyful success for both you and your team.

Mike Altendorf, retired CIO of Do it Best Corp

Rich Sheridan lays out a standard of excellence that leaders of all types should aspire to no matter what title they may hold. In the process, he has significantly raised the bar for every leader and every companyand done us all a great service.

Bo Burlingham, author of Small Giants and Finish Big

Portfolio/Penguin

An imprint of Penguin Random House LLC

375 Hudson Street

New York, New York 10014

Copyright 2018 by Richard Sheridan

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ISBN: 9780735218222 (hardcover)

ISBN: 9780735218239 (ebook)

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With love to Carol,

Despite your dislike of roller coasters, youve gladly joined me for the ride of a lifetime.