Joseph R. Folkman - Speed: How Leaders Accelerate Successful Execution: How Leaders Accelerate Successful Execution

Speed is another terrific example of how Joe Folkman and Jack Zenger look at real-world data in the leadership space, dissect core behaviors that make leaders more effective, and then provide practical ways to execute. Its not enough that they have provided decades of thought leadership, they are still in the thick of it... bringing simple yet substantive insight to help leaders be better in the modern workplace. Speed is a must for any leader who wants to raise the bar.

Joe Garbus, Vice President, Talent and Leadership, Celgene Corporation

Wow, they did it again. Jack and Joe use their unique research-based approach to demonstrate the clear link between leadership speed and the benefits to individuals, teams, and organizations. Its clear to me that in our environment of a continuously increasing pace of change, having equally speedy leaders in our companies will be a critical success factor.

Pablo Riera Tboas, CEO Grupo P&A, CDO Galifornia Foundation, Spain

With the relentlessly increasing pace of change, speed and agility have become organizational survival skills. Speed is a terrific book with a wealth of practical advice on how to lead with speed without diluting executional excellence.

Michael A. Peel, Chief Human Resources Officer, Yale University

Making decisions quickly is one thing, making the right decisions is anotheronly Speed shows you how to do both. Remarkable new tools from the acclaimed Zenger-Folkman team!

Marshall Goldsmith, author of the #1 New York Times bestseller Triggers

Zenger and Folkman have done it again. In Speed , they acknowledge the benefit of leading at a faster pacebut they make it clear that fast is not the same as frantic . Speed must be accompanied by accuracy or all bets are off. Backed by extensive research, the book shows how the most successful leaders achieve an optimum balance of both fast pace and effective execution. A great read!

Ken Blanchard, coauthor of The New One Minute Manager and Collaboration Begins with You

For an organization to succeed in todays world it needs to move quickly. However, organizations cannot be fast with leaders who move slowly. For those who aspire to increase their leadership speed, this book provides simple, powerful solutions.

Frances R. Hesselbein, President & CEO, The Frances Hesselbein Leadership Institute, and former CEO of Girl Scouts of America

In todays radically shifting environment, speed differentiates. It is no longer enough for leaders to have a great plan; if they cant move fast, its worthless. In such a context, leaders must notice trends early, respond swiftly, and iterate quickly. This book demonstrates how the most effective leaders are those who can move fast and execute well.

Michael J. Arena, Chief Talent and Development Officer, General Motors Corporation

Wow. The authors found a competency that few have talked about, but that is crucial for todays leaders. Opening this book is like unwrapping a gift boxthere is a real prize inside.

Beverly Kaye, founder, Career Systems International, and coauthor of Love Em or Lose Em: Getting Good People to Stay and Help Them Grow or Watch Them Go: Career Conversations Employees Want

A fun, interesting read that leads with data. It dispels the common myth that speed and quality are mutually exclusive and shows it can be both. Indeed, the most effective leaders have figured this out!

Craig Helmen, SPHR, Assistant Vice President, Organization Effectiveness and Leadership Development, Allianz

Copyright 2017 by John H. Zenger and Joseph R. Folkman. All rights reserved. Printed in the United States of America. Except as permitted under the United States Copyright Act of 1976, no part of this publication may be reproduced or distributed in any form or by any means, or stored in a database or retrieval system, without the prior written permission of the publisher.

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ISBN 978-1-259-83738-8
MHID 1-259-83738-6

e-ISBN 978-1-259-83739-5
e-MHID 1-259-83739-4

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W e express appreciation to our clients from whom we constantly learn and draw inspiration. Their willingness to test out new ideas and magnify our research is the fuel that propels us forward. We have especially admired those who move at a brisk pace while never compromising quality.

We also want to recognize colleagues within our firm. They have supported our passion for moving rapidly and teased us about our statements that this will take only five minutes when in reality it ended up taking several hours. They are exemplars of the magical combination of a rapid speed with a penchant for high quality.

Finally, we express appreciation to our publisher, McGraw-Hill; especially to Donya Dickerson. She has been our partner with several books over the past decade. Her enthusiasm and support are a calming influence amid the flurry of details that go into producing a book.

In skating over thin ice, our
safety is in our speed.

RALPH WALDO EMERSON

M uch change has occurred in the past few decades in virtually every area of our lives. One of those changes is the dramatic increase of speed in daily business activity. Speed in business is partly a reflection of the overall increase in speed in every area of life. Shopping is faster, delivery is faster, meals are faster, and accessing information is quicker.

• Technology is a major enabler of speed within business. The Internet, smartphones, and personal computers enable access to information that used to take a week to occur in seconds.
• Competition now comes from all over the world, with every firm seeking to be first to market? Why? Because there is a first to market advantage that nearly always results in a dominant share of the market. There is the saying, the second company to market is the first loser. Staying on top demands speed. Cell phones were invented in the United States, then Nokia (Finland) and RIM/BlackBerry (Canada) took a dominant lead, only to be passed up by Apple and Samsung. It was all about speed in developing and marketing a more fully featured phone.
• Finally, being fast is fun. For the individual, not only do you get much more done, you enjoy a greater variety of work and activity. You get the plum assignments.

The authors of this book are cofounders of a firm that provides leadership development programs to some of the largest and most successful organizations in the world. One of the tools we advocate is a 360-degree feedback instrument consisting of 49 items that describe how leaders behave on a variety of topics. These subjects include the leaders qualities, such as character, initiative, innovation, problem-solving skills, passion for producing results, interpersonal skills, and strategic vision. These skills and behaviors are commonly referred to as competencies. The questionnaires are given to those who report to a manager, peers, and the managers boss, and managers personally complete the assessment. All assessments are anonymous except the immediate bosss.