By Max De Pree
James O'Toole calls Leadership Is An Art "the best book ever written on the subject of business leadership." That is high praise. Read this book. I think you will find yourself in the chorus of voices lauding De Pree and what he has to say about leadership; a choir that includes Peter Drucker, Tom Peters, Sam Walton and many more.
All of us have books that we could say are "in me." Ordering Your Private World is one of those books that has shaped my life. Max De Pree's Leadership Is An Art is another. De Pree's insights have seeped into the recesses of my mind and show up in my day-to-day leadership.
The New York Times Book Review declared, "His opus is as worthy as Scripture." And while neither Max nor I would give it that praise, it is a book worthy of attention, reflection, and implementation. De Pree said,
Authentic leaders see it as part of their calling to guide a group or organization in designing the kind of community they intend to become (page xii).
Max De Pree knows a thing or two about design; it is the hallmark of Herman Miller. The company has a storied history of finding, empowering, and collaborating with great designers to produce furnishings that improve life. De Pree helps leaders assess their understanding of design when it comes to life and leadership.
About the author:
Max De Pree (1924 - 2017) was CEO of Herman Miller, a furniture company know for innovative design and a perennial Fortune 500 powerhouse. A vibrant follower of Jesus, Max practiced, reflected, and wrote about great leadership.
De Pree was concerned about people. He was concerned about business. But perhaps he was most concerned with connecting practice to belief. And his reflections in Leadership Is An Art enable leaders to evaluate their own "design" with a view to improving their organizations, improvements that impact people and profits.
De Pree's own impact is seen in his books that still garner attention (Leadership Jazz, Leading Without Power, Called To Serve, and Dear Zoe) and felt through the leadership institute that bears his name (Fuller De Pree Center.
My recommendation:
Read it. Reflect on it. Act on it. Share it. Repeat.
De Pree's Leadership Insights:
1. The Art of Leadership: "Liberating people to do what is required of them in the most effective and humane way possible" (p. 1)
2. On leaders as readers: "In some sense, every reader 'finishes' every book according to his or her experiences and needs and beliefs and potential. That is the way you can reallly own a book. Buying books is easy; owning them is not" (p. 3)
3. The concept of persons: Max De Pree, like his father before him (D.J. De Pree) saw a poem (poema) behind every face. Take two minutes and watch, >"The Millright Poet". That story explains the transforming impact and why De Pree writes, "It is fundamental that leaders endorse a concept of persons. This begins with an understanding of the diversity of people's gifts and talents and skills" (p. 9)
4. De Pree's Leadership Maxims & quotes:
"The first responsibility of a leader is to define reality. The last is to say thank you. In between the two, the leader must become a servant and a debtor" (p. 11).
On leaders and pain:"Leaders don't inflict pain; they bear pain" (p. 11)
On simplicity vs complexity: "I would not give a fig for the simplicity this side of complexity, but I would give my life for the simplicity on the other side of complexity" (Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes, p. 22).
"We do not grow by knowing all the answers, but rather by living with the questions" (p. 58).
"Giants see opportunity where others see trouble" (p. 73).
On integrity: Integrity is "A fine sense of one's obligations." De Pree believes this is also the way to look at quality.
"Profit like breathing, is indispensable" (p. 87).
On organizational entropy: One of the most important things leaders need to learn is to recognize the signals of impending deterioration" (p. 111. See his list. It's good).
Facilities should talk (p. 124-5).
"The only kind of leadership worth following is based on vision (p. 133).
"Hierarchy and equality are not mutually exclusive" (p. 145).
Leadership is . . ."A leader can tell the difference between living edges and dying ones" (p. 21)
5. Leadership Development: Effectiveness is a by-product of enabling others to reach their potential -- both personally and within the corporation or institution (p. 20). In a similar vein as Jim Collins' bus analogy, De Pree says, "Leaders choose a person, not a position" (p. 20).
6. Values vs style: Values matter more than style. "As practice is to policy, so style is to belief. Style is merely a consequence of what we believe, of what is in our hearts" (p. 27). Leaders help establish company values.
7. On job intimacy: When workers are so familiar with a job they teach not only the skill, the mechanics, but also the art of the job as well. De Pree says, "Intimacy is the experience of ownership" (p. 55). How to nurture intimacy? Ask these questions: (1) How does the company connect with its history? (2) What business is it in? (3) Who are the people and what are their relationships with one another? (4) How does the company deal with change and conflict? (5) What is their vision of the future? Where are they going? What do they want to become?
8. Leaders and communication: "Interdependence requires lavish communication" (p. 67). Every company, every institution needs tribal story-tellers.
9. The Scanlon Plan: Dr. Carl F. Frost introduced this concept, which engenders participative management (pp. xv, 88, 97). Workers who suggest ways to improve the business are cut into the gains that result from their collaborative efforts.
10. On performance reviews: See pages 117ff for a helpful process overview and excellent questions to use in giving performance reviews. Examples: (1) Please describe for me what you think your role at Herman Miller can be as one of the 'corporate storytellers' who play an active role in the transmission of the corporate culture. What do you think this corporate culture is?" (2) Does Herman Miller need you? Do you need Herman Miller? (3) What have you abandoned?
