James Belasco and Jerre Stead have teamed up to write the latest synthesis on the fundamentals of leadership. Soaring With The Phoenix is destined to be an enormous success as a handbook of solid logic and thoughtful prescriptions for organizations and individuals to break free of traditional management practices and create effective change by unleashing ownership and creative talent. 

James Belasco co-authored the Flight of the Buffalo with Ralph Stayer - a most incredible and valuable handbook for contemporary leadership. Flight of the Buffalo, in this writer's humble opinion, ranks with the great works of Senge, Hammer, and Peters as the bible of self directed action and ownership - a simple, straightforward and personally engaging look in the mirror to unleash creativity and powerful action. 

Soaring With The Phoenix takes us beyond - to a different level of sophistication - most obvious in Belasco's teamwork moving from the grit of Stayer's sausage manufacturing business to the halls of the techno-elite. Stead's claims to fame include Ingram Micro, AT&T Global Information Solutions and Legent. Belasco and his co-authors share the reality of re-inventing organizations by building relationships, coaching people, and creating extraordinary profit growth.

Soaring With The Phoenix, in the words of the authors, presents a plan to renew and 'revivolute' individuals and organizations - a road map for re-creating your soaring success. The program in a nutshell - 

Renew yourself and revitalize your business,

Reinvigorate employees' spirits,

Energize learning and create a learning organization,

Reach beyond strategy to shape your own future,

Create a culture that values performance and taking responsibility,

Fashion relationships with customers and associates that enable you to exceed their expectations,

Build a customer-focused, people based organization,

Leave a legacy that makes a difference.
 

There are two gems of insight from my first reading that are important to share. I know there will be many more but for now these two insights surface as invaluable tools to create a new reality in business. 

The first is a framework for action - whenever you are in doubt as to what to do - do this, period. Phoenix leaders make five essential contributions to the interconnected networks they lead:
 

They surface issues that confront the organization,

They engage the people in resolving those issues,

They prioritize and allocate resources to address those issues,

They unleash ownership so everyone accepts responsibility for dealing with those issues, and ...

They energize learning for everyone in the network.
 

The second insight - just a few words from Jerre Stead to put so much of what we do into perspective. 

 
"Helping great people do great things is really fun."
 

Soaring With The Phoenix - worth the price of admission so far and there's so very much more to dive into. (ed.)

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Soaring With The Phoenix, Renewing the Vision, Reviving the Spirit, and Re-creating the Success of Your Company, by James A. Belasco and Jerre Stead, Warner Books, New York, 1998.

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