That’s on Me
Book

That’s on Me

Seasoned Executives Confess Their Rookie Mistakes

Mike McHargue
Greenleaf Book Group Press, 2024
First Edition: 2024
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Editorial Rating

9

getAbstract Rating

  • Comprehensive
  • Applicable
  • Concrete Examples

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Consultant Mike McHargue reports that leaders’ most common errors include managing meetings poorly, making dictatorial decisions, hiring and firing badly, and failing to provide negative feedback and clarify company values, priorities, and purpose. In his book, experienced leaders offer lessons learned: Hire talent slowly and fire underperformers quickly. Solicit and share feedback. Clarify the purpose and results of meetings. McHargue’s storytelling format enlivens these frontline experiences and highlights top leaders’ hard-won advice.

Summary

Leaders commonly fail to correct their workforce’s mistaken beliefs about the organization’s purpose and priorities.

Many leaders perceive their organizations’ values, priorities, and purpose incorrectly. And, when they do understand those crucial factors, they may have trouble getting their workforce to see things the same way.

Erik Peterson, former CEO of Corporate Visions Inc., ran into this problem when his company’s leaders struggled to get their employees to remember the organization’s values. When the company’s research demonstrated that personal stories were a memorable way to state and share corporate values, Peterson asked his employees how they exemplified them. Their vivid stories made the firm’s values memorable, comprehensible, and applicable.

The Griffin Media company also struggled to clarify its value for its workforce. The company owned both a food business and an Oklahoma television station. When Griffin divested from its food operation to focus on broadcasting, the move reinforced its purpose, guided its decisions, and helped it hire people best suited to its culture as a media company.

Dave Myers’s firm Apex Leaders minimizes...

About the Author

Mike McHargue, president and owner of Mike McHargue Consulting, is a principal consultant with Patrick Lencioni’s The Table Group.

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