G. Shawn Hunter - Small Acts of Leadership: 12 Intentional Behaviors That Lead to Big Impact

Praise for
Small Acts of Leadership
and G. Shawn Hunter

Engrossing and compelling. Shawn shows how anyone can step up and quietly take the lead with small, intentional acts each day.

Susan Cain, co-founder of Quiet Revolution and
New York Times best-selling author of QUIET

Small Acts of Leadership pops with brave energy and honesty. This is a big, audacious book; Shawn distills the best of leadership wisdom with the most recent science in human behavior to show that anyone can take small steps every day to great leadership. One of the best business reads of the year. A triumph!

Marshall Goldsmith, award-winning executive coach,
New York Times and Wall Street Journal
best-selling author of Triggers

Hunter has done the nearly impossiblehe has created a business book that is simultaneously wise, insightful, and incredibly enjoyable to read. Buy it now, read it, and reap the rewards.

Hap Klopp, founder of The North Face and
best-selling author of ALMOST

Small Acts of Leadership is a terrific and enjoyable read. It dispels the notion that great leadership is something bestowed upon people at birth. This book demonstrates that grit and perseverance, combined with a willingness to learn, are keys to taking ones leadership to another level. Reading this book and applying its principles will make you a better leader; reading it twice might just make you a transformational leader!

Tom DiDonato, senior vice president,
Human Resources, Lear Corporation

Every day we are confronted by complexity and urgency which leave us feeling we have no control over our own lives. Shawn Hunters new book shows us that a few simple actions will help us take control and reach our full potential. Clarity, simplicity, and real-world examples of success provide a high-impact solution to the challenges of the modern world of work.

Chris Roebuck, visiting professor of Transformational
Leadership, Cass Business School, London

This is Shawn Hunter at his very best. All grit and courage... telling stories that hit home, ring true, and point the way to a better you. This is a must-have toolbox for every manager.

John Ambrose, general manager, SumTotal
(a Skillsoft Company)

What if you had a trusted mentor and friend who was there to guide and support you on your leadership path? Thats what Shawn Hunter provides in Small Acts of Leadership . A gifted observer and storyteller, Shawn shares how small, mindful acts and clear intention can make the difference for you not just as a leader, but as a person.

Scott Eblin, author of The Next Level: What Insiders
Know About Executive Success and Overworked and
Overwhelmed: The Mindfulness Alternative

Shawn Hunter delivers a wealth of knowledge in Small Acts of Leadership . Key points from the business and psychology literatures are expertly distilled into a concise, thoughtful, and engaging narrative, allowing current or aspirational business leaders to read about critical new findings from research. Shawn also draws upon his vast experience of working with business leaders to provide relevant and entertaining examples to show how new learning from the book can be applied in real business situations. As a business school professor, I teach executives all over the world. I will definitely recommend that they read Small Acts of Leadership .

Jill Klein, PhD, professor of Marketing,
Melbourne Business School

SMALL ACTS OF LEADERSHIP

12 Intentional Behaviors That Lead to Big Impact

G. Shawn Hunter

First published 2016 by Bibliomotion, Inc.

Published 2016 by Routledge
2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN
711 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10017 USA

Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informabusiness

Copyright 2016 by G. Shawn Hunter

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission from the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews.

Print ISBN 978-1-62956-136-3
E-book ISBN 978-1-62956-137-0
Enhanced E-book ISBN 978-1-62956-138-7

CIP data has been applied for.

For Charlie, Will, and Annie. Thank you for making Mom and me laugh and learn each day. And remember, those small, positive acts of yours create joy and purpose in the world. Love, Dad.

As one of the most revered coaches in American history, John Wooden, the Wizard of Westwood, coached his UCLA Bruins basketball team to an unprecedented, and never-again-repeated, ten national championship titles in twelve years. This remarkable winning streak included an astonishing run of eighty-eight undefeated games in a row, and back-to-back 300 seasons.

If you had been lucky enough to get into UCLA and play basketball for the great John Wooden in the 1960s and early 1970s, you would have been surprised on your first day of practice. Instead of the opportunity to show your passing, shooting, and dribbling skills in front of the esteemed coach, your first lesson at your first practice would have been to learn to put on your socks, and lace and tie your shoes, properly.

Describing the first practice of every season, Wooden said in an interview that he would ask his players to take off their shoes and socks. Explaining that these were the most important pieces of equipment each player possessed on the court, Wooden taught his players how to carefully pull on each sock, making sure there were no wrinkles, particularly around the heel and toes, which might cause a blister.

Then, advising each player to hold his socks up firmly while lacing his shoes, he told the player to pull the laces securely from each eyelet, not simply yank the laces from the top. And always, always , double- knot the laces, Wooden said, having no tolerance for shoes that became untied during a practice or a game. Ever.

Wooden explained that, after each player spent a few minutes following his careful instructions, he would inspect the players work, and probably tell him that his shoes were too big, anyway, and instruct the player to show up at the next practice with shoes at least a half size smaller. Over the years, he had noticed that his players had the habit of buying shoes that were too big so the players could grow into them, just as they had been taught as kids. As a result, his players were often wearing shoes that were too big, allowing their feet to slide around during the constant stopping and starting as they ran around the court.

This is how the greatest basketball coach of all time started his first practice of each season.

This book isnt about how to put on your shoes and socks, but it is about doing little things that can lead to big impact. Small, consistent efforts, practiced over time, can yield big results for you, and the people around you.

The reason New Years resolutions fail is not because the goal is too great or the intention is misguided. Its because the discrepancy between where we are today and the envisioned future often appears so great that we cannot bridge the gap. If we resolve to spend five days a week at the gym, and we currently spend zero, then the gap is so great that we cannot immediately and easily cross it.

This book is about small steps and tiny tweaks in how we treat ourselves, how we carry ourselves, and how we think about other people, and the world, that can change the way we think and behave.