Introduction:

How do you build successful companies and organizations in a time of accelerating change and complexity? How do you manage effectively in a time of increasing transparency?

Author, entrepreneur and business consultant Eric Douglas provides audiences an exciting new framework for understanding today’s “light speed” world where information is instantaneous, where global consumer power reigns, where innovation is constant, and where organizational transparency rules the day.

In this light speed world, leaders and managers need a new framework for building successful companies. In “Leading at Light Speed,” Douglas describes 10 Quantum Leaps that distinguish the high performers from all the rest.

A dynamic speaker, Eric’s insights give leaders important new ways to think about how to be successful in a light-speed world.

"In this original and thought-provoking book, Douglas shows how to run an organization with an emphasis on trust and innovation. His vision of aligning the core values, sharpening the focus, and accelerating the pace of change, all the while stimulating creative flow and spreading systems thinking is a joy to read for its clarity and its grounding in real-world examples."

- Anne Stausboll, CEO, CalPERS

Eric Douglas is the founder of Leading Resources Inc., a consulting company that develops leaders and leading organizations. Eric has authored other books, including “Straight Talk: Turning Communication Upside Down for Strategic Results,” published in 1998. He has also written more than 100 articles and leadership tools. Many of these leadership tools are available on this site.

“Leading at Light Speed” is available online through Amazon and Barnes & Noble.

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Overview of the 10 Quantum Leaps:

“Leading at Light Speed” describes 10 Quantum Leaps that distinguish high-performing companies:

Quantum Leap 1: Align the Core Values: Companies with clear core values outpace the rest. By focusing on core values, the leader shifts the organization from being personality-driven to being values-driven. Apple is a great example.

Quantum Leap 2: Sharpen the Focus: In a light speed world, leaders provide focus in a number of ways: They focus on outcomes, they instill clear performance measures, and they clarify governance roles. As people grow more focused, performance improves. Southwest Airlines is an example.

Quantum Leap 3: Lead Through Others: In a light speed world, each player on the court has to elevate the others. It’s critical to recruit and hire the right players, and orient them to the company’s core values and strategic focus. It means adopting a balanced style of leadership that builds trust – not fear. W.L. Gore and Associates is an example.

Quantum Leap 4: Manage Decisions Well: Decisions are the day-to-day inputs and outputs of an organization. To operate at light speed, leaders must gain a new vocabulary of decision-making. Consensus must give way to consultative decision making. Delegations must be clear. Otherwise, the sludge of bureaucracy creeps in and stops the organization from moving at light speed.

Quantum Leap 5: Accelerate the Pace of Change: Effective leaders in a light speed world embrace change and make employees active owners of change. They build “learning loops” into every system. They train employees on the cycle of change and how to be facilitators of change. Nissan is a good example.

Quantum Leap 6: Stimulate the Creative Flow: To move at light speed, leaders need to understand and tap into the dynamics of “flow.” It starts when people are first learning their jobs. With the right kind of feedback, people can become passionate experts about the work they do. 3M is a well-known example.

Quantum Leap 7: Spread Systems Thinking: In order to solve tough organizational problems, people need to frame the problems correctly, using systems thinking tools. Leaders need to train people to recognize and weed out “ignorance loops.” People need to understand that 80 percent of solving a problem is defining it correctly.

Quantum Leap 8: Communicate in 12-D: To lead at light speed, leaders need to communicate in multiple dimensions simultaneously. Four of these dimensions are internal; eight are external. Trust and empathy are key. How well you communicate in a crisis has far-reaching impacts, as British Petroleum discovered in 2010.

Quantum Leap 9: Start with Yourself: To inspire trust and spark, leaders need to display four personal qualities: heart, honor, humility and humor. Leaders with these qualities bring out the best in other people. In addition, leaders need to be excellent inter-personal communicators – with high emotional intelligence and the ability to listen and to speak in different “communication styles.”

Quantum Leap 10: Help People Assume Responsibility: Change occurs when people assume responsibility for change. Taking responsibility means making a personal choice – a choice that cannot be mandated. Incorporating these quantum leaps requires asking people powerful questions that enable them to choose to change.