Douglas R Conant - TouchPoints: Creating Powerful Leadership Connections in the Smallest of Moments (J-B Warren Bennis Series)

Table of Contents

More Praise for TouchPoints

A Warren Bennis Book

Books in the Warren Bennis Signature Series

Title Page

Copyright

Editor's Note

Foreword

Why This Book

About This Book

Chapter 1: The Power of TouchPoints: The Action Is in the Interaction

Three Variables, One TouchPoint

My Issue, Your Issue, or Our Issue

The Potential of a TouchPoint

The Exponential Effect of a TouchPoint

Tough-Minded on the Issue, Tender-Hearted with People

What's Your Approach?

The Point Is

Chapter 2: The Commitment to Mastery: The Choice Is Yours

Barriers to Mastery

Make Time for Mastery

The Mastery Essentials

Missing the Mark

Check How You Are Doing

Make a Promise to Yourself

The Point Is

Chapter 3: Use Your Head: The Commitment to Inquiry

Models Guide Our Behavior

Models, Models, Everywhere

The Campbell Leadership Model

Make a Commitment to Inquiry

Be Consistent and Flexible

The Point Is

Chapter 4: Use Your Heart: The Commitment to Reflection

Lead with Your Head and Your Heart

Answer the Questions of the Heart

The Point Is

Chapter 5: Use Your Hands: The Commitment to Practice

The Power of Practice

A Shared Understanding

Lead with Listening

Follow Through with Speaking

Lift Your Game

The Point Is

Chapter 6: Mastering the Touch: How Can I Help?

Four Magic Words: How Can I Help?

The TouchPoint Triad

Follow Through: How Did It Go?

The Four A's of an Effective TouchPoint

How Can I Do Better Tomorrow?

The Point Is

Coda

Recommended Reading

Acknowledgments

About the Authors

Index

More Praise for TouchPoints

In this day and age, it's easy to assume that al leadership concepts have been discovered and written about. Then along comes TouchPoints, with an idea as simple as it is powerful: interactions with people matter, and you can become a much better leader by taking advantage of these opportunities. I'm putting this to work Monday morning.

Jon Spector, CEO, The Conference Board

Tremendous! Conant and Norgaard have written a masterpiece on leadership. Simultaneously fil ed with profound wisdom and practical application, this book demonstrates how our moment-to-moment interactions with others are real y opportunities to listen, learn, teach, and understand the pulse of our people and organization. This remarkable book wil forever change how we view the work of leadership.

Stephen M. R. Covey, Author of The New York Times and #1 Wall Street Journal best-sel ing book, The Speed of Trust

Thinking about leadership as managing an ongoing series of TouchPoints is a fascinating concept. What you once considered to be interruptions wil be appreciated as the serious stuff of business, to be managed and used every day.

Shel y Lazarus, Chairman, Ogilvy & Mather Worldwide

TouchPoints is a glorious gem of a book about the real work of leadersthe daily, in-the-moment, right-now actions that bring mastery to every interaction. Conant and Norgaard write with ease and elegance, presenting a powerful and positive message about how the smal est actions can have the biggest impact. TouchPoints is packed with practical tips on how you can use your head, hands, and heart to more ful y engage those you lead. It's a book you'l want to savor, use, and reuse.

Jim Kouzes, coauthor of the best-sel ing The Leadership Challenge; Dean's Executive Professor of Leadership, Leavey School of Business

Walk every shift on the factory flooryou wil learn more from that than what you read in the productivity reports. Make yourself available 24/7

and care about people, they are the business. This book is al about effective leadership, and effective leadership is what drives shareowner value and career progression. It's a read for al .

Bil Perez, former President and CEO, Nike

Some CEOs chafe at being held to account for the performance of vast pools of employees far from their immediate contact. TouchPoints closes the gap between leader initiative and empowered work groups by looking at how leaders can learn from team members, inform constituents of new directions, and inspire greatness by leveraging a rich portfolio of direct personal interventions throughout their enterprise. Doug and Mette draw upon their compel ing firsthand experiences for vivid, persuasive demonstrations of just how to do it.

Jeffrey Sonnenfeld, Senior Associate Dean for Executive Programs, Lester Crown Professor or Management Practice, Yale School of Management

TouchPoints is both simple and profound. How can you lead more effectively in the face of every day hurdles? By leaning into every encounter with new intention and skil . Equip yourself by reading this book.

Anne Mulcahy, former Chairwoman and CEO of Xerox

Conant and Norgaard have captured the essence of great leadership by emphasizing the importance of what happens every day in both formal and informal interactions. Al too often, leaders fal short of their potential because they focus more on time efficiency than personal impact. This book wil convince you that the latter is what matters mostand can help you make it happen.

Jon Katzenbach, Senior Partner, Katzenbach Center at Booz & Company

It is clear that the successful companies in East Asia are conscious of the ideas so clearly expressed in TouchPoints. Asian business leaders now have a book that they can give to the members of their organizationsparticularly to those who wil be taking over from the founders.

Wash SyCip, Founder, SGV Group

TouchPoints is a guide to bringing the humanity back into leadership and turning those constant interruptions into pockets of leadership development gold. It wil help you become a better leader and a better person.

Alvin Rohrs, President and CEO, Students in Free Enterprise Worldwide (SIFE)

The authors outline a masterful plan for conquering the hard work of leadership. Step by step, they reveal what it takes to remain connected to a true sense of purpose while facing the everyday struggle of leading.

Alan Hassenfeld, Chairman of the Executive Committee, Hasbro, Inc.

TouchPoints is an outstanding primer on the keystone concepts of making leadership much more effective in any situation. Given today's nonstop pace, these techniques and concepts are in fact essential for anyone. A must-read for the top of every leader's list.

Colonel Daniel K. Fetzer (USAF Retired), former Chief of Nuclear, Biological and Chemical Warfare Defense for U.S. CENTCOM under General Norman Schwarzkopf

Effective leaders know how to blend technology and people to advance their organization's mission and impact. This book provides insightful counsel on mastering the art of the strategic human touch.

Sal y Blount, Dean, Kel ogg School of Management at Northwestern University

TouchPoints has it right. Every interaction, every choice, no matter how smal , is an opportunity to demonstrate leadership. From the board table to the kitchen table, true leadership is a 24/7 job.