Whom Is This Book For, and How Should It Be Used?

This isn't a book where you will find validation of how excellent you think you are. Rather, it's about taking an honest look in the mirror and discovering how your story is perceived by others. After all, wouldn't you like to know how others see your leadership? Wouldn't that be helpful to your career development?

Most leaders are much more than what they appear to be. This book is meant to help you to be good, not to look good. You need to delve below the surface of your leadership and uncover the why that underlies it. If you go deeper within—to what you value as a leader, how you think and how you act—and move beyond what you think others want to hear to what you truly believe, this book and process has the potential to be transformational.

It is for all current or aspiring leaders who want to take control of their own leadership story. If, as a leader, you are interested simply in getting tasks done more efficiently, then this book may not be for you. It's not about project management.

Instead, it introduces a process to facilitate the self-reflection required for you to understand your leadership story. Included is a collection of activities and tips to help you build, shape, and communicate your story.

If you are interested in making a deeper, stronger emotional connection with those you lead, and you want to find greater energy and inspiration as a leader, then this book is for you. It is about developing a positive effect on the people you lead. Do you know whether your people resent or crave your leadership? Wouldn't you want people to crave it?

You cannot fake leadership. It must be sincere and real and reflect who you are. You must search your soul for what you truly believe and not just massage what you want others to see or hear. Chapter I will outline types of leadership and lack thereof.

You may choose to simply skim through the steps of this process with an eye toward identifying how you look or sound as a leader. If so, the result will likely be a superficial treatment of your leadership story. In life, in career, when does doing something halfway feel good, and when does it ever create added value? In Creating Personal Presence, Dianna Booher argues that personal presence is composed of four dimensions: Look, Talk, Think, and Act. She notes that most people emphasize the Look and Talk dimensions and assume that they are who you are. She points out that the Think and Act dimensions are the most important, and the most difficult, because they exist at a deeper level. That is the level I'm talking about here.

For this to be transformational, you're going to need to do some soul-searching. And it might be uncomfortable at times. The real value: it's transformational not just for you but also for those you lead.