Feet to the Fire

Todays global, transparent, and often-turbulent economy requires a new world order in leadership. The business environment has forever changed and leaders have been caught flat-footed. Many experienced leaders and certainly newer leaders are ill prepared for the imposing regulatory environment and community activism that permeates oil and gas/energy, healthcare, financial services, pharmaceuticals and more. Pending changes in monetary policy, e.g. the IMF considering inclusion of the Yuan in the bucket of currencies, create waves across the global business world in a way that did not exist in past decades. Personal accountability and a demonstrated ability to hold leaders and employees to account are differentiators that can elevate corporate and non-profit success. Board directors are being held to a higher account by shareholders and their peers and thus are expected to govern management at higher levels. In the majority of situations, when leaders do not hold themselves and/or others to account, it is due to fear of change and/or a lack of confidence stemming from not knowing what strategies to apply successfully. In the minority of situations the lack of personal accountability stems from entitlement. Most leaders lack role models for this changed balance of power and are seeking to create a meaningful and effective leadership style that is not a clone of another, but uniquely fits them. Generational analysis has become tiresome and repetitive, offering little in the way of practical solutions. Leaders also need assistance to determine how to implement leadership practices that will benefit their organization, themselves, and the people who work for them. Experienced and newly appointed leaders are struggling to respond to the changing leadership landscape while also seeking to personally create an integrated life of which rewarding work is one part. Feet to the Fire provides a go-to book for leaders at all levels, providing a spine of personal accountability with practical wisdom balanced by optimism to inspire leaders as to what is possible in both their personal and professional lives. Feet to the Fire is constructed to appeal to a broad set of readers. It provides inspiring examples and practical tools to benefit a range of readers from business students, to first time managers, to C-suite executives and corporate and not for profit directors. The primary audience is CEOs, presidents, vice presidents, directors, managers and aspiring leaders across industries and from Fortune 500 to mid-sized firms. University students and aspiring leaders as well as non-profit CEOs will also form part of the primary audience. The secondary audience includes Fortune 100 executives who will share this book with their direct reports and CEOs leading $10M-$500M companies who will seize ideas and share this book with their leadership teams. The motivation of this secondary audience in sharing this book, will be in part, to address the talent gap and lack of readiness of executive successors, a known gap particularly in mid-sized North American firms. This book provides an amalgamation of what the author does and has done, what the author has observed in Fortune 500 companies, privately held firms, mid-cap businesses, and not for profit organizations. Drawing on real life examples from energy/oil and gas, financial services, professional services, world-class technology firms, mining, retail, healthcare, and more, industry agnostic practices are highlighted of both individual leaders and teams. Through the experience, mistakes, and successes of these examples, this book will guide leaders to successfully navigate their personal and professional journeys, elevating themselves and their organizations performance and results.