Leadership Presence

Leadership Presence
Kathy Lubar,Belle Linda Halpern | 2004-10-14 00:00:00 | Gotham | 304 | Leadership
BRING THE TECHNIQUES OF THE STAGE TO THE BOARDROOM.

For more than a decade, Belle Linda Halpern and Kathy Lubar have applied the lessons and expertise they have learned as performing artists to the work of their company, The Ariel Group. Halpern and Lubar have helped tens of thousands of executives at major companies around the country and the globe, including General Electric, Mobil Oil, Capital One, and Deloitte. In Leadership Presence, they make their time-tested strategies available to everyone, from high-profile CEOs to young professionals seeking promotion. Their practical, proven approach will enable you to develop the skills necessary to inspire confidence, command respect, build credibility, and motivate others. Halpern and Lubar teach you:

* How to handle tough situations with heightened confidence and flexibility
* How to build your relationships to enhance collaboration and business development
* How to express yourself dramatically and motivate others
* How to integrate your personal values into communication to inspire others and become a more effective leader

Learning the skills of the true performance experts, readers will understand why Leadership Presence is the key to dynamic and authentic leadership.
Reviews
Have not received this book. Finally requested a refund after van11 agreed to reship or refund if I removed my negative feedback on van11. Amazon has acted upon this request from van11.
Reviews
This book is a good value. I was a little unsure about it when I heard it was a leadership book based on acting, but the connections to acting are very well done. It really focuses on the depth and feeling behind acting and genuineness of being a leader. And not in a hokey way. Great stories. Great exercises. Great examples. An easy read and a good one, too.
Reviews
Much more than a book on becoming a "polished" executive. I used this book with a client who is the youngest exec in his high tech firm, and we found the chapters to be helpful in his overall leadership development. I appreciated the author's writing on leadership thinking and outlook as well has the suggestions on external behaviors that communicate "presence". Ultimately, presence comes from within.
Reviews
At weLEAD we naturally receive hundreds of books on the subject of leadership from virtually every perspective and approach. We will give Leadership Presence credit for a truly novel and effective approach. Unlike most leadership authors Belle Linda Halpren and Kathy Lubar do not come from a strictly business school, military or academic background. It may be the very reason why this book is so enjoyable to read! The authors are highly skilled actresses and taught acting skills in Repertory Theater. Many of the students they had were various professionals including teachers, doctors, businesspeople and others. Because these individuals were able to use the theatre skills they acquired effectively in the workplace, the authors founded the Ariel Group in 1992. Since that time the Ariel Group has presented workshops to over 30,000 executives. This book is a result of that effort and the results achieved.

The main theme of Leadership Presence is simple yet profound. The authors define Leadership Presence as the "ability to connect authentically with the thoughts and feelings of others in order to motivate and inspire them to achieve a desired outcome". Throughout the book you will find a special emphasis on the word "authentic". This is not a book about motivating or manipulating others by using acting skills or pretence. It is a book that focuses on learning to authentically connect with the minds and hearts of others to effectively lead. Far too many business leaders conduct themselves in ways they think their executive roles require, rather than being themselves based on their heartfelt values. The result is that they come across as inauthentic and this breeds a lack of trust. The authors spend an admirable amount on the importance of values and introduce the reader to what they call the PRES Model of Leadership Presence.

Leadership Presence was written to teach techniques that will help the leader to motivate, inspire and reach out to others. It will help the reader to enhance relationships, build collaboration and flexibly deal with challenging situations. The book is composed of nine chapters divided into four sections suitably called "Acts". Act I discusses how one can learn to be completely in the moment. Act II analyzes the skills available to build relationships. Act III examines the appropriate way to express emotions and feelings. Act IV focuses on being yourself and reflecting your values in your behavior. Most chapters end with a section on exercises or practice guidelines to cement the information taught in the preceding chapter. Numerous personal stories and examples provided by the authors keep the material interesting and practical.

If you are new to the study of leadership you will enjoy this book. If you have read dozens of books on the study of leadership, you will love this book because it views this complex subject from a truly innovative and helpful angle. Sometimes we can get so immersed in a subject we can't "see the forest for the trees". Leadership Presence is one of those unique books that will help you to step back and see the forest because it gets to the very heart of leadership...authentic behavior and values.
Reviews
Why is it when some actors take the stage they automatically command the attention of the audience? It doesn't matter if they are not the most important part of the scene - they still command the audience's attention even when in the background. These people have a sense of presence; their very being and bearing demands respect. That ability to command respect is what this book is about. How does a real leader create this sense of presence such that he or she automatically has the attention and respect of those they lead?

The authors define presence as "the ability to connect authentically with the thoughts and feelings of others". While business has generally ignored this sense of presence and assumed that people will be led simply because they are employees, the acting profession lives or dies by this sense of presence. Business is now struggling to create loyal employees who think for theirselves and have a sense of being a part of a larger community. Business is looking for great leaders.

To help find or create these great leaders there has been a plethora of books about the attributes of great leaders; they communicate well, they treat others as important, etc. The difference between most management or leadership books and this one can best be illustrated by the art of dance. A good dancer can be mechanically perfect. Every twist, every turn, every leap is exactly as it should be, but still the dance is boring. On the other hand a dancer who truly feels and moves to the music as it were a part of their self creates a thing of beauty to see. That is where this book differentiates itself from the other books on leadership. The others are typically descriptions of what makes good leaders - the mechanics of the perfect dance. This book helps the leader to establish a sense of presence that in turn causes a sense of immediate respect in others - the dancer who feels the music.

At the end of each chapter are exercises to help the reader to learn to apply the lessons. The authors fill a deep chasm in management theory with this book. "Leadership Presence: Dramatic Techniques to Reach Out, Motivate and Inspire" is a highly recommended read and required reading for those in leadership positions of any kind.

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