Why I Wrote My Latest Book, Community of Leaders

I have seen firsthand the visceral difference between a community of leaders and a toxic culture.

In The Leadership Contract, first published in 2013, I shared the story of my colleague, Zinta, who succumbed to lung cancer. She believed her cancer was exacerbated by the stress of working in a toxic environment.

I’ve never forgotten Zinta. Her story has fueled my commitment to exploring and writing about leadership as a collective, community-driven endeavor. Her experience underscored the urgent need for healthier, more supportive leadership cultures—communities where leaders support each other and create positive environments for their teams.

Throughout my career, I’ve had the privilege to be part of some amazing leadership cultures, where everyone rallies together around a common purpose to do the extraordinary. These were moments where I felt I was at my best and where they provided the most meaningful and impactful career and life opportunity. Unfortunately, I have also learned that these moments are rare, and may come around once or twice in one’s career.

I’ve dedicated myself to writing about leadership accountability and leadership cultures because of that visceral difference between the heights I know we can achieve when we work together—and the toxic depths we can sink to when we fail to live up to our obligations to one another.

I realized that building a strong culture takes collective action.

I’ve now been writing about leadership accountability and organizational culture for more than 10 years. In The Leadership Contract, I began with individual accountability: what each individual leader must do to live up to their obligations to their team and organization. Then, in Accountable Leaders, I began to explore team and organizational accountability.

My new book, Community of Leaders, is a natural progression from the concepts introduced in these two books. As I’ve continued to speak, write, and think about shared accountability, I recognized the need to explore how leaders can collectively create stronger, more resilient leadership cultures. This book addresses that gap by focusing on the importance of building a community of leaders within organizations.

My work with organizations around the world has demonstrated that it takes collective effort to execute strategy.

I haven’t spent the last 10 years just theorizing in an office by myself. I’ve worked with organizations around the world to develop accountable leaders and build strong leadership cultures. This work has revealed a consistent need: while individual leadership is crucial, it’s the collective effort of a leadership community that drives the execution of strategy, sustainable change and success.

This realization inspired me to write Community of Leaders as a guide for organizations to cultivate this collective leadership strength. My work and research has consistently shown that a strong leadership culture—a culture of collective accountability—is what sets successful organizations apart from those that struggle to keep up.

Does your organization practice accountability at every level?

To succeed and thrive, an organization needs accountability at every level—individual, team, and collective accountability. My three books on leadership accountability each address a different step in the process of building a world-class culture:

• The Leadership Contract (2013):

This book introduced the concept of leadership accountability, urging leaders to make a deliberate commitment to their roles and set the tone for their teams.

• Accountable Leaders (2020):

This book built on the foundation laid by The Leadership Contract, focusing on scaling leadership accountability across teams and organizations. It provided practical strategies for leaders to instill accountability at every level.

• Community of Leaders (2024):

Community of Leaders takes these ideas further by exploring how leaders can come together to form a cohesive, supportive, and accountable leadership community. It adds to the series by addressing the collective dimension of leadership accountability, providing a framework for leaders to work together more effectively and create lasting, positive change within their organizations.

NEXT STEPS:

Get the scoop on what it takes to execute strategy and drive culture change: Order Community of Leaders today: Leadership Accountability | Drive Strategy, Performance and Change ( readcommunityofleaders.com )

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