McKergow Mark - Host

By Stephen Josephs, Co-Author of Leadership Agility

Has this ever happened to you? Its the end of a day and youre contemplating the problems that demand your attention fires in operations, unpleasant surprises in a key customer account, complications in relations with your board, a troubling employee survey, and long-term strategic plans that are perpetually on hold. And then it hits you like a bolt of lightning. You push back from your chair and say aloud, What we need around here is a better metaphor!

Okay, the last part of the scenario is unlikelybut heres something I can almost guarantee: by the time you are midway through this book, you will have excellent new ideas about how to mobilize the collective intelligence of your teams. And because of how youll encourage those solutions to arise, your culture will automatically shift towards operating in a more solution-focused, proactive way.

Host invites us to try on a new metaphor for leadership, one that has far- reaching, practical benefits. This unique lens will dramatically add richness and effectiveness to how you execute your role as leader. For many of you, however, that promise may seem only remotely plausible and with good reason. It begs the question how could a metaphor, an idea, have that kind of power?

Without necessarily knowing it, its likely you already have examples of how metaphors powerfully operate in executives you know. Consider the leader who believes business is war. He thinks of himself as a general and turns to the business of commanding the troops in battle. He will prize The Art of War as a business book, just the way The Prince by Machiavelli might guide the boardroom maneuvers of those who believe business is a Game of Thrones. Metaphors not only define our identity; they tell us whats valuable, whats feasible, and what to do next. They exist as mental models, often unexamined and unchallenged by those who live by them. The two metaphors above carry unwanted consequences. Whats it like to work for The Commander or Machiavelli? Somewhere in our careers, many of us have learned this firsthand.

McKergow and Bailey call our attention to another metaphor deeply embedded in our business culture: leader as hero. Despite leadership-development experts advice to the contrary, many leaders still operate as though they are the heroes in the unfolding story of their personal and organizational journey.

The authors describe the limitations of that model and how it negatively affects a teams engagement and free flow of ideas. Heroic leaders are also prone to self- importance. Unless its part of your brand identity (think Miss Piggy and Donald Trump), self-importance is bad for business and for the health of your organization. Yet the hero metaphor survives. We actually do need a better metaphor.

Enter Host Leadership. From the C-Suite to small teams, when leaders explore Host, they will approach their leadership in a new way, as if they were hosts of a gathering dedicated to achieving benefits for the organization and all its stake- holders. Hosting such a gathering requires that they know and communicate its purpose and direction to its key players. Then the ongoing question becomes how to create the most supportive environment for collective innovation and enthusiasm to arise from the group.

As you read about the six roles of engagement, you will see the authors have given a great deal of thought to how our experience as hosts and guests transfers to leadership challenges. Because they write with such precision about the topic, this slender volume is built for speed. McKergow and Bailey know youre interested in applying concepts as quickly as possible. Indeed, they hit the sweet spot of just enough specificity to guide and inspire.

Albert Einstein said, Everything should be made as simple as possible, but not simpler. A former physicist himself, McKergows fondness for simplicity shows up in the elegance of his seminar designs. Participants go from contemplating intriguing ideas to applying and testing them in their specific leadership challenges at work. Similarly, the authors encourage you to work your way through Host with a project in mind. That way you can quickly put your ideas to the test. Helen Bailey complements McKergows theoretical brilliance with her deep experience in putting these concepts to the test in difficult business situations. Before she dedicated herself to helping businesses achieve their goals through coaching, she was a senior service-quality manager at a leading bank. She has experience in organizations of all sizes, and the illustrations of Host Leadership put into action come largely through her firsthand knowledge of putting them to the test.

McKergow and Bailey have written Host with the assumption you want to bring out peoples best work, channel your organizations collective intelligence, and deepen your capacity for wise leadership. Furthermore, they believe you want a way to develop your approach to leadership, one that feels like a natural extension of your experience and values. And, because you are busy, you want this wisdom delivered simply, succinctly and memorably in a readable book.

I believe the authors have delivered that book. Now that its in your hands, youre on the threshold of generating practical ideas you can put into immediate action. I recommend that, after youve taken your ideas for a test drive, you read the book again. Youll get a second infusion of depth and creativity.

Through the authors website, youll be able to share your ideas and get the benefit of others experience. This platform provides you with access to a community of practice with McKergow and Bailey as your masterful and dedicated hosts.

Enjoy!

Stephen Josephs, Ed.D.
Co-Author of Leadership Agility: Five Levels of Mastery for Anticipating Change Author of Dragons at Work
Novato, CA

A genuinely new view of leadership practical and profound.
Jack Canfield

Hostbrings together many practical leadership strategies to draw people togethereffective both in the Board room and on Mount Everest.
Sir Chris Bonington, mountaineer and author

Being a great host helps you to be a great networker. This practical book willhelp you build relationships and engagement both inside and outside yourorganization.
Dr Ivan Misner, founder, BNI

A great mix of research, philosophy, stories and insight into what real leadershipis about.
Mike Brent, Ashridge Business School

Having been a host and leader for nearly 40 years, the insights in Hostwere asrefreshingly relevant to me as they will be for any young manager, be they inhospitality or anywhere else where results through others are needed. Theseeasy-to-apply principles will last you a lifetime.
Philip Newman-Hall, Director/General Manager, Le Manoir aux QuatSaisons

Mark and Helen have brought together a range of ideas and stories from acrosshistory and the globe into a superbly written and practical primer for todaysleaders. The idea of the leader as host may not be a new metaphor but they haveset out the many varied and powerful ways that the host/leader can act to bringtogether people and performance. Key to this is the need for flexibility asexemplified in the stepping forward or stepping back positions and resolving themany paradoxes of leadership. The six roles that the host/leader needs to adoptalso add richness to their analysis. But above all it is in the many stories that thereader can truly understand the everyday issues that leaders face and how acting