Leadership Wise: Why Business Books Suck, but Wise Leaders Succeed

by John W. Foreman

Why do so many business books feel useless the moment they come in contact with your day job? Business books often contradict one another, each providing advice that's only helpful some of the time, and exhaustingly, your boss is going to cherry pick only the books that suit their way of working. Additionally, too often leadership books push fundamentally changing your personality to look like some idealized leader, often some dude. That dude may not even be a business leader! They might be a marine, a mountain climber, or a politician. Their stories might inspire you to summit Everest, but they're not going to help you figure out the looming company merger or what to do with that struggling manager In Leadership Wise, Chief Product Officer at Podium, John Foreman, delivers a different and refreshingly practical take on business leadership. The author moves beyond what a leader should look like, to discuss how you can make better decisions over time to help your organization accomplish its goals. Regardless of a reader's personality and background, John provides practical advice for how anyone can become a great leader just as they are by making more effective decisions over and over again. It's not about becoming a 5-star general or a mythical titan of industry, it's about making better decisions more often. In the book you'll An engaging and hands-on exploration of how to lead real people in real companies by making the best decisions possible with the information you have, Leadership Wise belongs on the desks of managers, executives, directors, entrepreneurs, and founders everywhere.

Genres: Business

240 pages, Hardcover

Published September 6, 2023

About the author

John is the Chief Data Scientist for MailChimp.com. He's also a recovering management consultant who's done a lot of analytics work for large businesses (Coke, Royal Caribbean, Intercontinental Hotels) and the government (DoD, IRS, DHS).

These days John does all sorts of awesome data science for MailChimp, and he blogs for fun about analytics through narrative fiction at AnalyticsMadeSkeezy.com. Spoiler alert: the characters who do meth are frequently confused or in peril. John does not do meth.

Reviews

[Abby Eyre · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book gave me a framework for decision making in a clear and concise way with excellent examples. I’ve started using options based thinking and communicating options to those with whom I work, and I can already see a change in reaction. People feel more heard and are better able to contribute in collaboration, as well as give their opinion.

I appreciated how raw the author was about difficulties he has faced as a leader. He’s clearly very intelligent, but writes in a way that makes becoming a successful leader feel accessible. I also liked that it was succinct and eliminated the fluffiness that most business books spend the second half dragging on about.