Don’t Panic: How to Survive and Thrive as an Effective Leader

This is a collection of my LinkedIn Don’t Panic blogs, which apply the Stoic philosophy to managing yourself, leadership, decision-making, work-life balance, inclusive culture, and making it all happen. According to Niccolo Machiavelli, who wrote in The Prince, ＂There is nothing more difficult to take in hand, more perilous to conduct, or more uncertain in its success than to take the lead in introducing a new order of things.＂ Adapting to change faster than your competition provides a competitive advantage - change is a constant driver of business transformation requirements. This book outlines the frameworks and strategies for developing, deploying, and supporting a practical business transformation strategy in large enterprises. I have not included references. If you want sources, please read my ＂Don’t Panic＂ blog on LinkedIn or my posts on Medium. My behaviour engineering and management sources are Cialdini, Aronson (a student of Festinger), Fisher & Ury, Senge, Schein and Holiday, whose books are detailed in the Acknowledgements section at the end of this book. Many other writers build on these authors’ work and are worth skimming. Like Warren Buffet’s partner Charlie Munger, who said of their habit of reading that he started many books but finished few, ＂You should have a low bar on the books you start but put a high bar on those you finish＂. They both thought that most books have a couple of good ideas and then ten chapters of examples - why read all the examples? This covers six themes with ten examples of each - read only what is necessary. - Managing Yourself - Leading People - Making Decisions - Work-Life Balance - Inclusive Culture - Making it Happen So, I’d like you to read with purpose. The stories cover my leadership journey over 50 years. I was 20 in the ’70s and will be 70 in the ’20s. I attribute my success to one thing-learning what not to do. Remember, as Haruki Murakami writes, ＂Pain is inevitable. Suffering is optional.＂