Care to Dare

Have you ever been led by someone who cared for you like family, and dared you to achieve more than you ever thought possible for yourself, your organization, and even society? Award-winning author of Hostage at the Table, George Kohlrieser, along with his co-authors Susan Goldsworthy and Duncan Coombe, explain how becoming a secure base leader releases extraordinary potential in others. Part of the Warren Bennis leadership series Care to Dare shows you how to become a Secure Base Leader so that you release your followers from the fears that get in the way of their performance. It shows you how you can unleash astonishing potential by building the trust, delivering the change, and inspiring the focus that underpins sustainable high performance. From extensive interviews with executives from all over the world, as well as from surveys with more than a thousand executives, the book reveals the nine characteristics that Secure Base Leaders display on a daily basis. The research shows that a primary difference between a successful leader and a failed leader is the presence or absence of secure bases in his or her life. Care to Dare will take you on a journey where you will discover your own secure bases, past and present, and determine how you can be a secure base for other people in your life at work and at home.

Preface xiii Acknowledgments xxiii Part I 1 1 Your Leadership Opportunity 3 2 Secure Base Leadership in Action 31 Part II 51 3 Build Trust through the Bonding Cycle 53 4 Deliver Change: Embracing Loss through Grief 81 5 Focus: Bringing Forward the Power of the Mind's Eye 111 6 Achievement: Playing to Win 141 Part III 169 7 Strengthen your own Secure Bases 171 8 Become a Secure Base for Others 197 9 Transform Your Organization into a Secure Base 229 10 Humanize Your Leadership and your Organization 257 About the Research 279 Notes 287 Index 299