Your First Leadership Job How Catalyst Leaders Bring Out the Best in Others

Becoming the Very Best First-Time Leader

Congratulations! You?re now in charge. Perhaps it?s your first time as a leader, or maybe you want to fine-tune your skills. Either way, you?ve begun one of the most rewarding chapters of your career. But, like many beginnings, the first few years can be challenging. Fortunately, you don?t have to tackle this challenge on your own. Your First Leadership Job gives you practical advice straight from others who have walked in your shoes. Not only does it include dozens of tools to ensure your success, but it?s also based on the authors? and DDI?s extensive experience and research, which ultimately has led to the development of millions of leaders around the world. In fact, a quarter-million leaders will be developed this year alone via DDI training.

Your First Leadership Job is divided into two sections. Part 1 introduces the concept of catalyst leader?one who sparks energy, passion, and commitment in others. Your transition to catalyst leader is a major step in your leadership journey. This book provides essential tips to put you on the catalyst path. Ultimately, leadership is about the many conversations?frequent, clear, authentic, and occasionally difficult?that you will have daily.  Your First Leadership Job builds awareness of the fundamental skills you?ll come to rely on to make every one of these interactions successful. 

Part 2 devotes 13 chapters to critical core leadership competencies, including coaching for success, hiring the best employees, turning dreaded appraisals into discussions that propel performance, and handling difficult employees. It also includes a chapter for first-time female leaders.

Look at Your First Leadership Job as an indispensable companion to becoming an awesome leader?one who will make a positive, lasting impact on your team, family, and career. Visit www.yourfirstleadershipjob.com to learn more.

Foreword xi

Preface xiii

Part 1: Catalyst Leadership 1

1 Now You’re a Leader 3

The Journey Begins

2 Boss or Catalyst? 9

What Makes a Great Leader?

3 Navigating the Transition to Leadership 17

The Mind-Set You Need to Succeed

4 Your Leadership Brand, Part 1 28

Be Authentic

5 Your Leadership Brand, Part 2 35

Bring Out the Best in People and Be Receptive to Feedback

6 Leadership Is a Conversation, Part 1 46

How to Make People Feel Heard, Valued, and Motivated

7 Leadership Is a Conversation, Part 2 66

How to Build Trust and Ownership

8 Your Five-Step Conversation Road Map 75

Taking a Practical Approach to Get Results

9 Nothing Else Matters Unless You Get Results 87

How to Execute with Focus, Measurement, and Accountability

Part 2: Mastery and Leadership Skills 113

10 Hiring and Selecting the Best 115

Behavior Predicts Behavior

11 What Your Boss Really Wants from You 130

Become an Adviser

12 Engagement and Retention 135

Creating the Environment to Energize People

13 Meetings 149

Make Them Count!

14 Coaching 161

Learning from Success

15 Feedback Fundamentals 173

Specific, Timely, and Balanced

16 Handling Difficult Employee Situations 181

Focus on the Behavior, Not the Person

17 Delegation 191

Be a Delegator, Not a Dumper

18 Performance Management 201

An Ongoing Cycle, Not an Event

19 You and Your Network 209

Nurture Your Business Relationships

20 Influence 221

Look Up, Down, and Across

21 A Woman’s First Leadership Job 229

Own the Moment

22 Leadership Changes the World 241

The Difference Is You

Part 3: Bonus Chapters and Tools 245

(available online at the DDI microsite)

Citations 247

Acknowledgments 253

About DDI 255

About the Author 256

Index 259 

TACY M. BYHAM, PHD, is the CEO of Development Dimensions International (DDI). Tacy has worked with dozens of global organizations, creating custom solutions to improve their leaders' performance. She believes that better leadership is not only about the workplace, but also about better communities and, ultimately, a better world.

RICHARD S. WELLINS, PHD, is a global expert in leadership development. Your First Leadership Job is Rich's fifth book on talent management, including the bestseller, Empowered Teams. His research has been featured in Fortune, BusinessWeek, CNBC, NPR, BBC, and Forbes.