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5 Ways of Thinking to Be a Better Leader · a web book

Your team is always learning how to work around you.

This short book is about the few seconds before you react: the story you tell yourself about a missed deadline, a quiet meeting or someone who disagrees. Catch that first thought, and you lead differently.

Chapters
53 short ones
Worked cases
47
Reading time
2½ hours
Price
$9.99
Get the book, $9.99 Read the first page

Written by a founder who owns 12 businesses, 7 of them online. One price, no upsells. Read it tonight, in your browser.

The cover of 5 Ways of Thinking to Be a Better Leader. A web book: read it online and download a copy. Nothing is posted to you.

Read the first page

Before you lead others, learn how you think

From the introduction

Before you communicate, you think. Before you make a decision, you think. Before you react to a problem, you have already formed an interpretation of what is happening. Before you decide that someone is difficult, underperforming, unreliable or worth investing in, you have usually told yourself a story about that person. What happens next is often shaped by that story.

That is why I believe leadership begins much earlier than most people realise. It begins in the way you think.

You can learn every leadership technique in the world, but if the thinking behind those techniques is poor, the cracks will eventually show. You can learn how to give feedback and still give it badly because you are angry. You can learn how to delegate and still struggle to let go because you do not trust anyone. You can learn how to motivate people and still create a team that is afraid to tell you the truth.

The five ways

Five ways of thinking. One better question each.

Each part of the book swaps the question you ask by habit for a better one.

  1. 01
    Think beyond yourselfFrom What do I feel about this? to What does this situation require from me?
  2. 02
    Think in contextFrom What happened? to What is actually happening here?
  3. 03
    Think in outcomesFrom What are we doing? to What are we actually trying to achieve?
  4. 04
    Think two steps aheadFrom How do I solve this? to What does this solution create next?
  5. 05
    Think like a builderFrom How do I get people to perform? to What am I building that helps people perform?

In every chapter

The idea, then what to do with it

Each chapter starts with one idea about how you think. Then it gives you something you can use tomorrow.

  1. 01
    A caseA short example from a real kind of workplace: a cafe, a warehouse, a salon, a shop floor, an office.
  2. 02
    What to doA few plain steps for the next time it happens.
  3. 03
    What to sayThe words, ready to use, for the conversations that usually go wrong in the first sentence.
  4. 04
    Try it this weekOne small action, usually under fifteen minutes. Tick it when it's done.
A case from Chapter 13: a warehouse manager splits what she knows from what she thinks before deciding about a quiet colleague.
What to say: instead of asking what is going on with someone, two lines to try, then one thing to try this week.

Where it helps

For the moments nobody trains you for

You were promoted over people who used to be your friendsCH 7
You keep putting off a hard conversationCH 32
You end up doing the work yourself because it's fasterCH 29
Your staff keep asking you what to doCH 51
Someone disagrees with you in front of everyoneCH 51
Someone good hands in their noticeCH 51
Your best performer treats people badlyCH 37
A customer who pays well keeps asking for moreCH 51
You can't take a day off without your phone ringingCH 36
Something goes wrong in the middle of a busy shiftCH 50

Look inside

This is what you get

Real screens from the book. It's a web book: you read it, and you write in it.

The opening of Part Two, Think in context, on a laptop.
01
Six parts, 53 short chapters.Most take a few minutes, so you can read one between meetings.
The five-way decision framework, filled in with an example about a staff member who was late three Saturdays.
02
The five-way decision framework.Work through a real decision, then save it to your decision log. Shown filled in with an example.
The five questions better leaders ask, from Chapter 48.
03
The five questions.If you remember nothing else from the book, remember these.
Chapter 13, Separate What You Know From What You Think, on a phone, with one line highlighted.
04
Made for your phone.The lines worth keeping are marked.
The ten-minute reset worksheet with a 10-minute timer, filled in with an example.
05
The ten-minute reset.For when you're angry or tired, before you reply.
The 30-day practice: tick off each day, one habit a week.
06
A 30-day practice.One habit a week. Tick off the days.
The Part One reflection question with space to write an answer.
07
Write your answers in it.They save in your browser, and you can download them.

Who it's for

Anyone who leads people, however few

It's for you if
  • You run a team: in a shop, a kitchen, a salon, a warehouse or an office.
  • You were promoted to lead the people you used to work next to.
  • You own a business and every problem with your staff still ends up on your desk.
It's not for you if
  • You want HR templates or legal advice. It's neither.
  • You want quick tricks. In the book's words, it is "not about five tricks or five leadership hacks."

Who wrote it

A founder who still gets it wrong sometimes

From the conclusion

"You will still make bad decisions. I do. Anyone who leads long enough will."

The author

The author owns 12 businesses, 7 of them online, and leads the people in them. They chose to keep their name off the cover.

Before you buy

Your questions

01What exactly do I get?

An interactive web book. You get a private link to read it online and a copy to download. 53 short chapters in six parts, each with a worked case and what to do, most with the exact words to say. Plus three worksheets and a 30-day practice.

02How long does it take to read?

About two and a half hours in total. Most chapters take a few minutes, so you can read one in a break and come back to it when the situation comes up.

03Does it work on my phone?

Yes. Open your private link in your phone's browser. Your place, your ticks and your notes save in that browser.

04I'm not a manager. I run my own small business.

Then it's for you too. If people work with you or for you, you lead them. The examples cover staff, customers and the day-to-day decisions of a small team.

05Do my notes go anywhere?

No. Everything you write stays in your browser, on your device. You can download it as a text file whenever you like.

06Is it HR or legal advice?

No. It's about how you think and lead. When you deal with discipline or dismissal, follow your local employment law and your organisation's policies.

07Can I get a refund?

No. You get the whole book straight away, so there are no refunds. If it won't open, email us and we'll fix it or send it again.

The whole book comes down to one habit

Catch the first thought.

$9.99one price, no upsells
Get the book, $9.99

Read online or download a copy. No refunds: you get the whole book straight away.