The Inner Edge: The 10 Practices of Personal Leadership

304 Pages·2009·1.33 MB·English

by  Joelle K. Jay

T HE INNER EDGE
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T HE INNER EDGE
T he 10 Practices of Personal Leadership
J OELLE K. JAY
F oreword by Howard J. Morgan
PRAEGER
An Imprint of ABC-CLIO, LLC
C opyright 2009 by Joelle K. Jay
A ll rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a re-
trieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical,
photocopying, recording, or otherwise, except for the inclusion of brief quotations in
a review, without prior permission in writing from the publisher.
L ibrary of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Jay, Joelle.
The inner edge : the 10 practices of personal leadership / Joelle K. Jay.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-0-313-37805-8 (alk. paper) ISBN 978-0-313-37806-5 (ebook)
1. Leadership. 2. Success in business. 3. Success. I. Title.
HD57.7.J39 2009
650.1—dc22 2009012775
1 3 12 11 10 9 1 2 3 4 5
T his book is also available on the World Wide Web as an eBook.
V isit www.abc-clio.com for details.
A BC-CLIO, LLC
1 30 Cremona Drive, P.O. Box 1911
S anta Barbara, California 93116-1911
T his book is printed on acid-free paper
M anufactured in the United States of America
G raphic art: Shawn Sariti
F or Tim, who keeps me grounded while I reach for the moon,
a nd
f or TSC.
T his one’s for you.
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C ontents
F oreword by Howard J. Morgan ix
A cknowledgments xi
T he Inner Edge 1
T he First Practice: Get Clarity 21
T he Second Practice: Find Focus 45
T he Third Practice: Take Action 65
T he Fourth Practice: Tap into Your Brilliance 87
T he Fifth Practice: Feel Fulfi llment 111
T he Sixth Practice: Maximize Your Time 135
T he Seventh Practice: Build Your Team 161
T he Eighth Practice: Keep Learning 189
T he Ninth Practice: See Possibility 211
T he Tenth Practice: All . . . All at Once 233
L eading on the Edge 255
A ppendix A: Your Inner Edge at a Glance 267
viii CONTENTS
A ppendix B: Refl ective Questions 269
A ppendix C: Making Time for Personal Leadership 271
N otes 277
I ndex 285
F oreword
L eadership: one word with powerful, multidimensional meanings. Although
countless books and articles have been written on leadership, few have focused
on the internalization of the concept. Most efforts have focused on models and
techniques that build skills to help us lead others more effectively. We have
spent most of our time trying to fi gure out the differences between manag-
ing and leading—with most leadership analysis being focused on interaction
with others. Indeed, many would argue that engagement with other people is
inherent in the word l eadership. But few give us insight into how leadership
fundamentally impacts us as individuals. What is our role in the process?
A perspective that has not been fully explored, until now, is the notion that
we cannot become more effective leaders of others without fi rst becoming more
effective at leading ourselves. We must better understand our personal role
within the leadership process. By exploring ways to improve self-leadership,
we will build clarity and confi dence to more successfully infl uence and lead
others.
When I met Joelle Jay several years ago, I soon discovered that she pos-
sesses the characteristic that I value more than any other when assessing the
effectiveness of people with whom I interact—the willingness and commit-
ment to learning. The closer we come to thinking we have all the answers,
the further we stray from the knowledge and answers that we seek. Joelle in-
tuitively knows this and remains open and curious. She is less focused on
what she knows than on what she can learn. The people that can have the
most impact on our lives are the ones that share life’s lessons with us. It is the