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Book Review

Practice What You Preach

- What Managers Must Do to Create a High Achievement Culture

The Free Press, New York, 2001 (250 pages in hardback)

Author David Maister

ISBN 0-7432-1187-1

How many times have you heard or read leadership thinkers or managers talk about values or culture? How many times have you heard them dogmatically emphasize the importance of modeling the right example? How many times did they offer concrete statistical proof to support their statements? Author David Maister doesn’t just talk about it…he proves it! The heart of Practice What You Preach is the result of an extensive worldwide survey Maister conducted in 139 offices throughout 15 countries in 15 types of businesses. Seventy-four questions were asked along with an analysis of financial information. Maister also conducted extensive interviews with the organizations managers and workers. In analyzing the top 20% of the most financially successful companies, he came to the conclusion that the behavior of managers played a large and powerful role. The survey demonstrates that employee attitudes are directly linked to financial success. Good managers effectively listened, demonstrated values, were trustworthy, good coaches, communicated well, treated others with respect and practiced what they preach! Maister also encourages managers to inspire their team by demonstrating and modeling the values they proclaim to others.

Practice What You Preach is interesting reading and sure to keep you engaged. Maister has a way of getting straight to the point with concise comments and points throughout the entire book. For those who desire to dissect the survey data, it is published at the end of the book in the appendices. Like pieces of a puzzle, Practice What You Preach reveals the results of the survey one point at a time and interweaves major lessons to be learned from a number of case studies. Building from the simplest analysis and lesson to the most complex, the impact of the book is cumulative. Maister also provides an excellent summary in the later portion of the book.

Rarely does an author of Maister’s caliber offer personal detailed data to support his conclusions along with relevant case studies. Perhaps David Maister sums it up best when he passionately mentions that the “story is richer” than simply reading the chapters which discuss the main conclusions. He continues, “I hope that most readers will come with me as I recreate the journey of discovery that this research took me on.”

It’s a journey well worth taking and it will enrich your understanding of effective management and leadership.

weLEAD rating highly recommended

You can read an exclusive weLEAD interview with David Maister here.

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