A Time to Lead: Mastering Your Self…So You Can Master Your World, the informative new book by Canadian executive coach Craig Dowden, answers a crucial question for today’s leaders and knowledge workers: how can you move beyond buzzwords to understand and operationalize terminology that’s become over-familiar?
You know the drill: everyone has been bombarded by advice regarding any number of well-meaning and undeniably important terms: authenticity, feedback, empathy, humility, mindset, strengths, resilience, emotional intelligence, and so many more. The danger is that with multiple meanings and contexts, they risk losing their power.
Craig’s new book works on two levels: 1. As a clearly-written handbook demonstrating how terms such as these work on a day-to-day basis within leadership contexts, with references to interviews, case studies of his consulting/coaching clients, and social science citations to bolster his points. 2. An ongoing, chapter-by-chapter CEO Masterclass with Alan Mulally, the highly-respected former CEO of Boeing Commercial Airplanes and Ford Motor Company. Having so much detailed and original work by Alan is a major coup and selling point for A Time to Lead. Among other things, Alan succinctly explains throughout the book his “Working Together”® Management System. (Craig refers to Alan as his ‘Co-Pilot.’)
Craig explains that the book became a collaboration between him, Alan, and Alan’s colleague Sarah McArthur, who earlier this year became co-editor-in-chief of Leader to Leader. I work with her in my role there as managing editor, and had the pleasure of working with Alan and Sarah on their article “A Conversation with Alan Mulally about His “Working Together”® Strategic, Operational and Stakeholder-Centered Management System,” in our Spring 2022 issue.
Sarah introduced me to Craig when she invited him to write for us, and the result is another article that I was privileged to edit, his “Mastering Authentic Leadership: A Foundational Quality for Working Together,” in our new Fall 2022 issue. Craig and I also had a stimulating conversation for a virtual webinar he held in July.
Along with Alan Mulally’s indispensable CEO Masterclass, Craig has tapped into the brains of other key thought leaders, getting advice and input from the likes of Douglas Stone, coauthor with Sheila Heen of Thanks for the Feedback: The Science and Art of Receiving Feedback Well, and earlier the major bestseller Difficult Conversations. I was also pleased to see Craig mention or reference a number of other leaders who have written for Leader to Leader, such as Dorie Clark, Bill George, Ken Blanchard, Marilyn Gist, Joseph Grenny, Jack Zenger and Joseph Folkman, and Ed Hess.
And the Foreword was written by Marshall Goldsmith, the bestselling author and longtime associate of Sarah and Alan, who has also written for Leader to Leader many times. Marshall’s actionable advice get to the point: “Here are my suggestions for you, as a reader. Digest each chapter—one at a time. Stop at the end of Craig’s section on each element and reflect on what it means in the context of your own leadership journey. Then slowly take in each of Alan’s Masterclasses. Learn from his incredible success and then translate what you have learned from Alan into your own life.”
A great gift that Craig presents to his readers in A Time to Lead is the approach/device of an all-in-one-place container for reliable information about what you need to know to thrive in today’s difficult leadership environment. If the subject was automobiles, you would want to keep it in your glove compartment. For leaders, keep it on your desk or in your bag or briefcase for handy and ready reference.