Peerless
PEERLESS: Defy Convention. Lead From the Heart. Watch What Happens
By Tom Ferguson
Most often the right thing to do is not always the easiest. In fact, it rarely is. And, in leadership, that is doubly true, and the temptation is always there to take a shortcut.​
But real leadership has no shortcuts. It requires time and passion and sacrifice. And, out there among the throngs of managers and officers in companies all across the land, a peerless group of leaders are showing the rest of us that building a great workplace and building a successful organization do not have to be mutually exclusive endeavors. Each of these remarkable individuals profiled by Tom Ferguson in PEERLESS: Defy Convention. Lead From the Heart. Watch What Happens. (August 1, 2012) have proven that by doing both at such a high level that they are indeed, leaders without peer.
Frankly, in some ways, it seems easier to simply give commands and expect people to snap-to and respond. But authoritarian, ego-driven leaders who take no prisoners and relentlessly drive their people eventually end up paying for it in one way or the other. And, the current generation of workers and associates are coming to expect a different kind of leadership. They are not content to just follow because someone directs them to do so. They are looking for inspiration and honesty, and leaders who care about them as a person.
PEERLESS showcases a remnant of exactly that kind of leader, a select few who have figured out a better way, a way that not only builds something great, but builds great people as well. Tom Ferguson has captured ten powerful stories
of successful leaders in every sense of the words, leaders who are loved by their associates and who have built lasting legacies on a firm foundation. They are leading from the heart, and those they lead couldn’t be happier about that.
The industries represented here run the gamut, from banking to window blinds, from healthcare to hospitality, and yet at the end of the day the ingredients of real success are the same. Their stories are divided into four distinct areas that these remarkable people draw upon to be ‘Peerless’ leaders:
• Trust
• Imagination
• Purpose
• Faith
There is an unwavering truth that time and technology has not altered: Everybody needs a mission in life. Each of the leaders you’ll meet in PEERLESS understands this truth. They are on an important mission and they are taking a group of grateful associates with them. Along the way everyone involved has the opportunity to use their unique gifts to contribute to the mission, and they are being recognized for what they have accomplished on its behalf. In fact, that kind of recognition is systemic in these organizations, and it’s interwoven seamlessly into the business model.
Tom Ferguson has not only profiled these great leaders, but also conducted interviews with some of their associates about the impact their leadership is having on the organization from top to bottom, and how that impact can be seen in ways above and beyond the usual metrics of business success.