October 13, 2023
Wholehearted Leadership:
A collection of leadership lessons to inspire and equip you to lead and live wholeheartedly, Volume 1
David MacLean
(2023)
ISBN: 979-8862816273
New Book Inspires Leaders to Live Wholeheartedly
In Wholehearted Leadership, David MacLean offers a collection of essays about leadership focused on the need to lead and live wholeheartedly. In the first essay, MacLean discusses how a senior leader at Ikea told him the company has a “hands, head, heart philosophy.” MacLean goes on to say, “The leadership at Ikea understands they can buy their employees’ hands and train their heads, but until they have their hearts, they do not have the whole person.” This concept of putting employees first when you are a leader permeates the entire book.
MacLean makes it clear early on that business is not just about profit. Profit is a given goal, but successful businesses are about leadership and people. Without the people, you can do nothing, and the happier and better led people are, the more productive, profitable, and successful the business will be.
This concept may not be new, but it is one many organizations have failed yet to understand and take action on. As MacLean states, Gallup’s 2017 State of the Global Workplace survey found 85 percent of employees are not engaged in their workplaces. MacLean believes wholehearted leadership—leading from the heart—is how to engage those employees.
Wholehearted Leadership is divided into a series of short essays illustrating various points about how to be a wholehearted leader. Each essay can be read in about five minutes, so it’s a perfect book for reading just a chapter a day and then thinking about the lesson in that chapter. While a large time commitment is not required to read the book, a large commitment is required to become a leader who works at leadership until they get it right.
The chapters are full of personal stories from MacLean’s life and leadership roles. One of the most interesting is that he has worked with musician Randy Bachman. He shares the story of how Bachman worked and worked on the song “Takin’ Care of Business.” It originally had a different title, and while it may have been a good song, Bachman did not feel it was good enough. He realized he had to keep reworking it, even changing the title, until today it is a song almost everyone knows and loves. MacLean tells this story to ask how many leaders keep “singing the same song” and getting mediocre results rather than changing their tune? The tune can be changed by rethinking and adjusting the message so they and their team can accomplish great things.
On a similar note, in another essay MacLean asks us to consider the fly trapped inside the house who continues to hurl itself against a window over and over, thinking that repeating their attempts will get them outside. MacLean asks us not to be like flies, repeating the same mistakes, but to analyze where we may behave like flies and adopt a new perspective to discover a different way to accomplish our desired result. MacLean closes by reminding us that the fly who can’t get out the window will, ultimately, die.
One of my favorite essays includes MacLean coining a new word. He tells how he and a friend were out in a kayak in the Sea of Cortez when they saw something they didn’t recognize. When they got closer to it, they realized it was a whale. Then they were torn on what to do—get closer or turn back. They were both terrified and exhilarated. In other words, they were “exhilified.” MacLean wants us to be exhilified about leadership. Every day that you are a leader can be challenging and scary, but those challenges can also be exciting. We must move forward feeling exhilified to make positive changes.
In another essay, MacLean creates an acronym, PLAC. He discusses why organizations fail and compares that failure to heart attacks. He says organizational heart attacks come from PLAC (pride, laziness, apathy, and complacency). He also points out that while a heart attack happens suddenly, there are always signs that it is coming. We can prevent heart attacks in our organizations by taking stock of where we are suffering from PLAC and making appropriate changes.
One essay is titled “Twenty-One Things Leaders Need to Say and Do More Often.” These are positive things they can say to their employees, beginning with “Thank you” to make the workplace better. MacLean also encourages leaders to get to know other leaders and create a community of trusted relationships. Using Clint Eastwood films to illustrate, he shows how the leader who is alone is easy prey, so it’s always best to have the support and guidance of other leaders.
Perhaps my favorite chapter is about the need to step outside the business now and then. MacLean states, “Business is a battle that can kill the life within us. We must ensure we recognize this and take time to breathe and renew our sense of wonder. Get out and awaken your sense of wonder—it’s essential for leading a truly wonderful life.”
But probably the most important essays in Wholehearted Leadership are about empowering your people. MacLean states that as leaders, we must empower and equip our team members to be “problem solvers,” not “problem presenters.” He shares a story of when he had a job mowing lawns in college and how his boss taught him to solve problems. MacLean also recommends leaders practice “AAA Leadership,” meaning they acknowledge, affirm, and appreciate their people.” In other words, they celebrate them and their accomplishments.
That gives you just a taste of the great advice to be found in Wholehearted Leadership, and I didn’t even touch upon the essays about how to make time your servant and not your master, how to avoid leadership dementia, and how to quit being busy and instead make sure you’re contributing.
Every leader or would-be leader will find nuggets of wisdom in this book to improve their role as a leader. Every new manager should be handed a copy of Wholehearted Leadership on their first day on the job, and even senior leaders will find reminders of what they may have once known and forgotten, as well as new ideas. Following the advice in this book can make everyone a better leader and those they lead feel more appreciated so that they are happier and more productive.
For more information about David MacLean and Wholehearted Leadership, visit www.WholeheartedLeaders.com.
— Tyler R. Tichelaar, PhD and award-winning author of Narrow Lives and The Best Place
