The Complete Guide to Leadership
Version 12.1

Overview

Version 12.0 of The Complete Guide to Leadership was the biggest change for many years and saw every existing section updated and four new sections added. The improvements to the existing sections represented lessons learned from our clients attending Universal Leadership Skills and then applying what they had learned back in the workplace. The new sections reflected some of the themes we have been working on at Executive Events and Team Events over recent years and also the new training content we have developed for the Organisational Improvement Programme.

Version 12.1 is a further refinement of 10 of those sections.

The most significant changes (in both versions 12.0 and 12.1) are outlined below.

New sections

•	Leading the Next Tier Down
•	Tips for Being More Strategic
•	Tips for Organisational Design
•	Making the Best Use of Staff Survey Results

Leadership - Background to the ideas

We have added the work of Mary Parker Follett (1868-1933), a woman way ahead of her time.

Leadership and the Sigmoid Curve

The Sigmoid Curve is of particular relevance to Chief Executives and Directors. This section has been fine-tuned and some new content added. It's well worth a read. The questions to be asked are 'where is your organisation?' and 'what does that mean for you and your team?'.

Leadership and Motivation

The 'holy grail section' has some interesting new content:

•	Rewarding people can destroy motivation
•	Leadership is a dissatisfier
•	Motivating an organisation - advice for Chief Executives

Although we frequently explore these themes on Universal Leadership Skills, this is the first time we've put anything in writing.

Leading Individuals

This section was previously called Leading People. We have renamed it to align more closely with the Functional Leadership Model (Task, Team, Individual). Please don't ask why we didn't do this years ago. We have added some new content:

•	Some thoughts on recruitment

Leading your Team

There are two new practices and other new content in this section:

•	Practice 5 - Learn together
•	Practice 8 - Develop the Team Brain (aimed at teams other than the Executive Team)
•	Four phenomena that help understand Group Dynamics

You might also notice that the 13 Attributes of an Effective Team has become 14 Attributes of an Effective Team. Leading a team is a tricky business and takes time and effort.

Leading Reorganisation

This is not a topic we cover on Universal Leadership Skills so this section might be unfamiliar to some readers. However we do cover it on our 1 day Leading Change course.

The most significant addition is:

•	Reorganisation should be routine

This might be a little controversial so make sure you read it and understand the thinking behind it.

Leading the Next Tier Down

This is the first of the brand new sections and is essential reading for Chief Executives, Directors and their Direct Reports.

This also includes content on how to get the most out of your organisation's Leadership Forum.

Tips for Being More Strategic

This is another new section. Being more strategic is something many leaders aspire to. Here are some practical things you can do.

Tips for Organisational Design

We have observed over the years that many 'leadership problems' actually have a root cause in organisational design and are nothing to do with the people (the individuals or how they work together as a team). This new section explores this idea and provides some practical tips for how to address it.

Making the Best Use of Staff Survey Results

Our fourth and final new section covers not the mechanics of Staff Surveys but how to integrate them into the leadership processes of an organisation and then make the most of the resulting intelligence.

Full list of sections

1.	Introduction to Leadership
2.	Leadership - Background to the Ideas
3.	Leadership and the Sigmoid Curve
4.	Leadership and Motivation
5.	Leadership and the Giants
6.	Functional Leadership
7.	Flexible Leadership
8.	Leading Individuals
9.	Leading your Team
10.	Leading through Others
11.	Leading People in Remote Locations
12.	Leading your Boss and your Peers
13.	Leading Change
14.	Leading Reorganisation
15.	Directing versus Managing
16.	The Corporate Brain
17.	Leading the Next Tier Down
18.	Tips for Being More Strategic
19.	Tips for Organisational Design
20.	Making the Best Use of Staff Survey Results
21.	Leadership Miscellany
22.	Ongoing Support from the UIC