Simple Solutions: Harness the Power of Passion and Simplicity to Get Results
Wiley, December 2006
Despite the seemingly endless challenges and pressures in today's workplace, many people are firm in their resolve to assume leadership roles and make a difference. One of the barriers they face is that there simply isn't a clear-cut path to follow. This inside look at a uniquely effective style of leadership remedies that and guides the reader along the path taken by these two proven leaders.
Written by Tom Schmitt, a longtime FedEx executive, and internationally renowned management attorney and community leader Arnold Perl, Simple Solutions explains how their style of leadership combines tried-and-true tactics that really work with new leadership metrics that are highly effective in today's high-performance benchmark company. Simplicity is the underlying concept of this style of leadership. The fast-changing and competitive world of business can look exceedingly complex. But Simple Solutions reveals how even the most complex problem can be broken down into simple components and solved using the right tools and the right amount of leadership passion.
Great leadership, as revealed here, is both highly practical and deeply inspirational because it mixes logical leadership skills with creativity and personality. Schmitt and Perl include real advice from effective leaders and real case studies that reveal the ins and outs of truly effective corporate leadership. You'll find expert guidance and real-world insight on making collaboration work, pursuing breakthrough goals, tailoring leadership styles to fit team needs, assembling great teams, and inspiring your people to ever higher levels of success.
But this is much more than a guide to leadership theory; not only does Simple Solutions reveal that the art of great leadership can be learned, it also teaches you that art. You'll learn how to take complex business ideas and turn them into simple solutions and how to apply those solutions to your own organization. You'll see how the heart of quality leadership is the ability to boil things down to their essence, see issues in their simplest forms, and find the simplest answers to problems.
When it comes to leadership, simple is better. If you're searching for answers in the maze of big business, try these Simple Solutions.
hardcover | ISBN: 9780470048184 | Publication Date: December 2006
Reviews:
"Arguably, from Lord Nelson to Napoleon to U. S. Grant, the great 'secret' of supremely successful leaders has been determined simplicity.
Simple Solutions is a brilliant and much-needed addition to a woefully thin collection on business issue number one: getting things done!"
--Tom Peters, coauthor of In Search of Excellence
"Schmitt and Perl's book begins and ends with simplicity, but in between lies a set of truly powerful ideas. This isn't a new theory on management; it's a guide to management practice that any practicing manager would benefit greatly from."
--Dave Godes, Associate Professor, Harvard Business School
"Schmitt and Perl have crafted a must-have book for all managers who want to have an impact. The clear, simple advice contained in
Simple Solutions is invaluable to anyone interested in improving his or her management skills. These ideas work."
--Mark A. Emkes, Chairman and CEO, Bridgestone Americas Holding, Inc. and Bridgestone Firestone North American Tire, LLC
"Simple Solutions is a good road map for leaders of all organizations because it provides concise and straightforward guidelines for leadership. It's not theoretical or longwinded, but gives real-world behavioral instruction to make leaders more effective."
--Richard H. Anderson, Executive Vice President, UnitedHealth Group
"The premise of Schmitt and Perl's book is the need to reduce complex problems to their simplest components, an approach I've seen produce powerful results. Managers at all levels would benefit from applying the principles outlined in this book."
--Pitt Hyde, Chairman, AutoZone
"In a complex world, we often complicate things more than necessary and forget that the goal is to do the right things as well as possible. This book is a terrific primer on identifying the right things and getting on with them."
--John Durrett, Managing Director, McKinsey and Co., Inc., West Coast
"A powerful and thought-provoking book filled with sound advice that would help the young or the experienced executive understand the importance of management and leadership skills. I wish that I had a book like
Simple Solutions to guide me through the transition from athlete to executive."
--Jerry West, President of Basketball Operations, Memphis Grizzlies
