| Awakening the Leader Within by Kevin Cashman (John Wiley & Sons, Inc.; 2003) Book Review by David Taylor
Originally published in the November 2003 Issue of Link & Learn.
An executive coach with clients from successful organizations such as Medtronic, General Mills and Novartis, Kevin Cashman has worked with a number of great leaders over the past 20 years - and he has a story to tell. When contemplating the format for his latest book, Awakening the Leader Within, Cashman ultimately decided to craft a story, weaving elements from the many experiences of his individual clients into a singular work of fiction. In choosing to write a business novel, as opposed to a "how-to" manual, Cashman has successfully created a book that is both easy to read and a superb medium for delivering his message.
Awakening the Leader Withinchronicles the life of Bensen Quinn, the Chairman and CEO of a leading producer of sports apparel. Bensen will be instantly recognizable to many - a prototypical "leader" with an unrelenting drive to consistently exceed the numbers and increase shareholder value. Motivated by formative experiences in his childhood, Bensen's take-charge attitude and his ability to make tough decision have served him well in his rise to the top. What is less obvious to him is that these same attributes have also created a real and psychological distance between himself and his co-workers, friends, and family.
Bensen's life is irrevocably altered when he is confronted with family crisis over which he has no control. As he is assailed by unfamiliar or long-forgotten emotions, he finds himself struggling to cope with the irrepressible demands of the business and that of his own inner voice, which is beginning to ask questions for which he does not have ready-made answers. As he tries to make sense of this awakening of consciousness within him, Bensen is fortunate enough to meet a mentor. The gentle nurturing and guidance that this individual provides facilitates the transformation of Bensen into an authentic and purposeful leader, one who is committed to affecting change and creating value for himself and his organization.
The strength of Awakening the Leader Within lies in its design as an interactive coaching experience that includes several exercises for readers including:
- "Wake-Up Calls" -- developmental mileposts where readers are given the ability to quickly note their own thoughts and experiences that relate to a key event or concept raised in the novel, without taking us too far away from the story.
- "Growth Guide" -- an opportunity for readers to elaborate on our thoughts and feelings, and further our personal development.
It is apparent that Awakening the Leader Within is, in many ways, a response to the corporate accounting scandals that have occurred in the last several years. To that extent, the book is timely. Many CEOs have felt the need to meet the expectations of "Wall Street analysts… economists, compensation consultants, public relations staffs…fellow CEOs," according to former Medtronic CEO, Bill George, in a recent Fortune Magazine article - at the expense of their idealism and personal values. "The test of leadership," George adds, "is ignoring those outside voices and learning to hear the one deep within."
To address this need, Cashman has incorporated elements of Buddhist philosophy, self-actualization, and emotional intelligence into a process for personal transformation. Executives learn to accept and reconnect with themselves, their personal ethics and their values, and then to lead from this inner place.
In Awakening the Leader Within, Cashman also offers views on the need for corporate evolution. He touches on the need to give employees a greater opportunity to meaningfully connect with the work that they do in order to avoid the work-life dichotomy. He adds his voice to the growing number of individuals who recognize that the command and control model of leadership is obsolete, and that we need to have leadership at all levels that focuses on character, values and results. He also notes that we need a more robust business model, one that recognizes labor, for example, as more than just a line item on an income statement. Most importantly, he asserts that we need to be able to measure organizational performance and the long-term implications of our actions from both an ethical and financial standpoint.
The story also deals with a number of the questions that emerge when this degree of change is proposed, including:
- How do we go about making the up-front investment to change corporate culture and move toward customer and employee-centered innovations in a market where your competitors are not obligated to follow suit?
- How do we go about altering systems designed to maintain quarter-to-quarter growth and profitability, especially when executive compensation is so inextricably tied to the financial results?
- How do we measure the true cost of the pursuit of profit?
Critics of this book might dismiss it as an executive coach's overly dramatic and idyllic view of organizational development and behavioral change. But I feel that in writing Awakening the Leader Within, Cashman's intention was to plant the seed for a larger discussion - a discussion about the viability and sustainability of the current business model, and the absolute necessity to lead from within in order to achieve the sort of leadership and integrity that we require in today's business and social environment. To that extent, Cashman has followed his own teachings, revealing himself to be an authentic and purposeful leader in his own right. I would recommend this book to anyone ready to contemplate a more personal and holistic approach to leadership and to those looking to lead the movement towards the development of a more ethical and sustainable business model for their organization.
Reviewer: David Taylor is a Business Development Manager at Linkage, Inc., where he works with clients to fulfill their needs for leadership development and organizational development, utilizing the many solutions that Linkage provides. David received his B.A. in Economics and Sociology from the University of Western Ontario in London, Ontario, Canada.
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