Edge! A Leadership Story
Bea Fields
Reviewed
by Tina Avon
When I read the concept for the book Edge!
A Leadership Story, I was very intrigued. I
had never heard of authors combining
fiction and non fiction in a storyline, especially on a subject matter
such as
leadership in the business world. I,
frankly, was a little skeptical. As it
turns out, my skepticism was unwarranted.
We are
introduced to our fictitious CEO,
Mitchell James in
the first chapter. Mitchell is well-known for his leadership abilities
and he
is expected to work his magic for Global Trade Management.
However, recently, some serious issues have
arisen within the corporation and we, the readers, have the opportunity
of
experiencing all of Mitchell’s thoughts, feelings, fears and
insecurities, as
he attempts to find a solution to the downward spiral that is
occurring.
Indeed, we are privy to his ‘courageous’ conversations with some of his
team
members, we get to sit in on the one on one discussions he has with his
VP,
Graham but, more importantly, we get firsthand knowledge of what the
“big boss”
is really thinking and feeling
during times of crisis – and this, I believe, added an important
dimension to
the overall storyline, one which made this book really stand out for
me. As a
matter of fact, my first response in reading this was “Wow! You mean
even the
boss gets insecure and worried?” For some reason, this came as a bit of
a
surprise to me, even if I thought I knew better.
As our
story progresses, Mitchell continues
to feel overwhelmed and must reluctantly reach out for help – which
will come in
the form of a leadership coach. Along
with his coach, this CEO takes
an honest
look at the issues that are currently confronting him – together they
determine
the obstacles that are standing in the way of his growth as a leader
and then
create a plan of action which will assist Mitchell in becoming the
leader his
company expects. As Mitchell goes
through these exercises, we are encouraged to ask ourselves the same
tough
questions and to determine what our own issues and obstacles may be, in
short
we are asked to evaluate our own leadership style. This book is an
extremely
interesting combination of “what if” and “what is”.
I especially liked the format – at the end of
each narrative (fiction) chapter, real-life coach and author Bea Fields
gives
us pointers and advice on each particular aspect of the leadership
role.
This
book can benefit both management and
employees as it offers keen insight into human nature showing us that
the grass
is not always greener on the other side of the corporate desk.
I
thoroughly enjoyed this book. I found the
narrative a little descriptive at
times, but the overall message of ‘can do’ attitude and willingness to
grow is
what I take away. I usually end up
reading business books that are informative, but dry and boring – Edge!
A Leadership Story is a nice
change of pace.