Spark

October 10, 2016
Leaders aren’t born, they’re made, claim the owners of Lead Star, a corporate consulting firm, in this encouraging, if familiar, business guide. Two former Marines and one former member of the Air Force, the authors credit their military service with hugely improving their leadership skills. They stress that nobody simply springs from the womb ready to lead. The key is to make the behavioral changes needed to be a leader, rather than assuming these qualities are inherent. Moreover, these are achievable by anyone who is sufficiently committed. “Sparks” are leaders who may not (yet) see themselves as leaders, but who have all the necessary characteristics: drive, motivation, and the ability to see past the problem sitting directly in front of them. The authors, using stories from their lives in business and the military, discuss seven behaviors as essential to becoming a Spark, including the ability to foster trust, accountability, and acting with intent. They’re putting different and friendlier language to leadership and have added many references to military service, which makes them credible, but once readers get past the more approachable terminology, they’re unlikely to find much different here. Agent: Esmond Harmsworth, Zachary Shuster Harmsworth.

November 15, 2016
Three former U.S. military officers advocate for transferring military leadership methods into the civilian business sector and beyond.Along with Sean Lynch, Morgan and Courtney Lynch (co-authors: Leading From the Front: No-Excuse Leadership Tactics for Women, 2006) run Lead Star, a corporate consulting firm that counts among their well-known clients Facebook, Accenture, Best Buy, and the United Way. The authors take issue with some widespread views about leadership and misinformation about the military and its culture. As Morgan writes, "most people think of leadership as a title, not as a set of behaviors, so they don't see themselves as leaders." While uniformed leaders are widely viewed as top-down rather than laterally distributed, the authors contend that the same qualities of high-level military leaders can be found at all levels of any institutional enterprise. Unfortunately, society values such leadership but does not teach it. Using what they have learned, the authors explore how to lead through the exercise of influence. They focus on the choices individuals make when they accept certain responsibilities, and they offer examples of how they came to grasp the significant principles involved in their own training and careers. Morgan relates how an officer she was terrified of went out of his way to help her deal with loss in her family, and Sean recounts how he found the courage to speak up for what he believed in. The capacity to influence grows from the values and principles many people hold dear, including self-control, a dedication to service, accountability, intentionality, and trustworthiness. Ultimately, though, true leaders must first learn to lead themselves before taking responsibility for others. Many of the qualities the authors espouse are those that many readers aspire to, no matter what their backgrounds. A straightforward presentation that promotes values of conduct most of us would be proud to share.

COPYRIGHT(2016) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

December 1, 2016

Coauthors Morgan and Courtney Lynch, who previously collaborated on Leading from the Front, run the corporate leadership consulting firm Lead Star with fellow coauthor here, Sean Lynch. The three draw on their personal military experiences in this short book on leadership. While the market seems oversaturated with experiential military leadership tomes (Turn the Ship Around!; It's Your Ship; Extreme Ownership, etc.), this brief book is easy to read. The eight chapters focus on the authors' short list of a leader's essential character traits, using their own stories as examples for the bulk of the content. The succinct summaries at the end of chapters solidify the concepts discussed and provide simple steps to move the principles from abstract thought to concrete action. Further resources and exercises that correspond to each chapter are made available in a printable format via the authors' Lead Star website. VERDICT Recommended as a solid introduction for individuals who are interested in pursuing a position of leadership and for libraries that service such a population.--Mark Hanson, Maranatha Baptist Univ. Lib., Watertown, WI

Copyright 2016 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.