The Act of Leadership: A Playbook for Leading with Humility, Clarity and Purpose

by Dan Haesler

Unlock your true leadership potential with this insightful guide In The Act of Leadership , acclaimed leadership and performance coach Dan Haesler shares the insights, techniques and habits you need to thrive, professionally and personally. By combining real-life case studies, cutting-edge research and incisive coaching techniques this one-stop leadership playbook will help you better understand yourself and the people around you, so you can be not only the leader you want to be, but the person your people need you to be, both at work and at home.

As a leader, you might know exactly what you need to do, but might be less clear on how to do it. You might know you need to have that difficult conversation, but you’re less sure about how to have it. You might know you need to hold your team accountable, but don’t know how to do it in a manner that builds authentic engagement rather than mere compliance. The Act of Leadership goes beyond the theory. It is a coaching playbook designed to empower you to be the leader you want to be, and the leader your people need you to be.

Most books explain the what and the why of leadership, The Act of Leadership demonstrates the how . Author Dan Haesler takes a coaching approach, combining his years of experience as an educator and now coach to corporate leaders, elite athletes, teams and educators, to reveal the pivotal insights and enlightening case studies that will help you to define what kind of leader you want to be and understand how to get the best out of yourself and the people around you. You will also discover the importance of thinking and acting mindfully, instead of on autopilot, using the mindfulness techniques used by World Champions to lead in the moment, sharpen your intent, and increase your impact.
With each chapter serving as a one-on-one coaching session, The Act of Leadership will help you create new habits and new ways of being in your day-to-day leadership, as well as life away from work, that are actionable, immediately.

Perfect for leaders, professionals, educators, and athletes seeking to improve their own performance,  The Act of Leadership  will also earn a place in the libraries of anyone hoping to improve the lives of the people who follow them, in business, sport, and life.

Genres: Leadership

288 pages, Paperback

Published August 16, 2021

Reviews

[Dominique Anderson · Rating 5 out of 5]

An excellent resource for leaders. My favourite chapter was the one about meetings! The author’s friendly tone makes the book accessible and easy to read. The practical worked examples are an important part of ensuring the book ‘hits home’ and affects change in the reader. The anecdotes used are interesting but also relatable. Suitable for corporate contexts. I am a teacher and this is a useful resource for leaders in school contexts. Practical scenarios provided and exercises given for the reader to reflect on. These include end of chapters reflections and during the chapter activities. You are coached throughout the entire book. Useful coaching questions are given in the book. Reliant on anecdotal examples and ‘research’ that doesn’t clog the text.

[Emily · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is quite a valuable learning tool. Some parts ramble on a bit, but overall quite good. I would say you get more out of this book by reading it in small chunks and trying to apply what you’ve learnt over a period of time.

If you try and read through the whole thing in one sitting (as tempting as it is), the book comes off as being overwhelming and rushed. But if you take your time on each of the sections and do your own pacing to apply things IRL, it’s a much more efficient use of the book without overloading yourself or the team you’re using as a Guinea pig.

[Emily R · Rating 5 out of 5]

Engaging, pertinent & will challenge your idea of what effective leadership look, sounds & acts like. I highly recommend to anyone who is in leadership (in any area: education, health, business etc) or wants to gain more knowledge around leading. The best thing I've read in 2021 - hands down!

[Emily Togher · Rating 5 out of 5]

An excellent book. A great way to stimulate thinking around your leadership skills, how to further develop them and a good way to also evaluate the environment you are in and how your leaders are doing.

[Gemma Harris · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fabulous interactive read with questions to get the reader thinking. Loved the Less is more chapter. I will
Be using more delegating at work and being useless with colleagues so they are able to learn without me having to save them. Thanks Dan!

[Arun Narayanaswamy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good examples on the leadership methodologies. Great read.
Like most of the books, this takes one acronym of “shift” and revolves around it. Generic but good.

[Roy Van Den Brande · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not groundbreaking. Another leadership book. But an enjoyable read and complete enough. A good primer.

[Angela · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not too bad. Some good tips with strategy/questions to use in various situations

[Juanita · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great book with lots of practical ideas. Loved the questions at the end of each chapter to make you think about what you just learnt.