University of Minnesota - UMN Executive Leadership Insights
Keep Them on Your Side
Book

Keep Them on Your Side

Leading And Managing for Momentum

Samuel B. Bacharach
Platinum Press, 2006
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Editorial Rating

7

Qualities

  • Applicable

Recommendation

This sometimes surprising book presents principles that many managers will be able to apply immediately. Samuel B. Bacharach writes clearly and maintains his focus on a single cluster of ideas: His main points are that implementation is an essential part of leadership, momentum is an essential part of implementation, and as a leader, you can maintain momentum by focusing on its key elements, which he explains and illustrates. He includes examples from many disciplines and historical periods: his use of Lewis and Clark as leadership models was one of the book’s pleasant surprises. However, Bacharach is better at describing common dilemmas than at solving them. Once he’s persuaded you to balance “directive” and “facilitative” leadership, you still have the big challenge of figuring out how. Even though some of his concepts are not entirely new, getAbstract recommends this book to leaders who want to brush up on basic principles, and who appreciate seeing them refreshed and reframed.

Summary

Vision vs. Leadership

Your company has a new leader, and he or she describes a beautiful vision of the organization’s potential. The leader makes promises, but in the end, nothing changes.

You almost certainly have experienced this scenario, because it happens all the time. It illustrates one of the main pitfalls for leaders: You may think leadership is about vision, but it’s really about action. If you can’t get people to put their time, energy and resources into your vision, you can’t lead. Good leaders go beyond coming up with ideas. They act and pull others along with them. They create and sustain momentum.

Competencies for Action

To be this sort of leader, develop and practice two competencies:

  1. Political competence – Understand the political realities of your organization, what you can and can’t do, and who the key players are. First, build an agenda. Next, identify supporters and resisters. Some individuals on each side will identify themselves immediately, but you’ll need to conduct many discussions with people throughout your organization to discover who is in what camp. When you’ve lined up all your allies, convert...

About the Author

Samuel B. Bacharach is the author of numerous articles and several books on business, including Get Them on Your Side. He’s the McKelvey-Grant Professor at Cornell’s School of Industrial and Labor Relations.

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