Friday, August 11, 2006

Hi all! I've been hard at work on several new books I have coming out in the near future (more on those in a bit). In the meantime, I wanted to share with you this wonderful review I recently received from Jimmy Ray Tyrrell for the Oregon Minority Business website:


Leading People the Black Belt Way
By Timothy H. Warneka
Book Review by Jimmy Ray Tyrrell

Timothy H. Warneka’s contribution to the management and leadership genre, Leading People the Black Belt Way, is a rare and fortunate exception to the cumbersome preponderance of material on the subject. While his credentials as a counselor and executive coach might lead one to expect yet more of the standard self-help fare we are accustomed to seeing in this field, Warneka brings an element to the table that is truly unique and exciting: a black belt in the Japanese martial art of Aikido.

Aikido translates roughly to “School of Loving Spirit” and founds its techniques upon the core principle of peacefully and cooperatively resolving conflict. Warneka’s thorough understanding of this principle through this art is masterfully expressed in his leadership strategy, which centers on understanding and respecting the integral role that emotions play in human relationships, both as possible sources of conflict, and keys to solutions.

Drawing extensively from a rich cross-section of authors on the subjects of leadership, psychology, military philosophy, and martial art practice, Warneka crystallizes from the collective works of these many disciplines a compact system that partakes of sound technique and time-tested theory, permeated by a modest dose of spirituality. All of this, of course, is backed by numerous references to current statistical research, demonstrating with hard numbers how neglect of an organization’s human element can compromise its bottom line.

Each section of Leading People the Black Belt Way is divided into belt ranks. Through this progression, the reader is familiarized with basic principles, practical application, and is finally urged to refine one’s practice until it becomes art.

At the White Belt level, harmony is introduced as a core leadership principle, as are the four leadership cornerstones which promote it: Embodied Leadership, “Both/and” Thinking, The Power of Process, and The Power of Learning through Mistakes.

Once familiar with these concepts, the reader is encouraged to take a rudimentary exploration of the relationship between mind and body at the Yellow Belt level, and challenged to discover the ways that emotions influence that relationship, and to benefit from them.

Once grounded in the stance that proceeds from this knowledge, practical application begins at the Brown Belt level. At this level, the reader is instructed in the development of balance and flexibility as a means of increasing (“Doubling”) leadership power, enabling them to lead through conflict.

At the Black Belt Level, Warneka stresses the importance of maintaining an individual, situational, and perennially experimental approach. It is at this level where constant practice of one’s knowledge is required, in order to achieve mastery. Once this synthesis occurs, practice becomes everyday behavior, applicable and appropriate to any situation.

The book itself is delightfully rendered, and each chapter is simultaneously informative, intriguing, and inspiring. As a result, it is a relatively quick read. However, the compact efficiency of the presentation belies the depth of the information provided. Each chapter by itself is a complete segment of a whole system. However, the closing pages of each present opportunity for expansion in the form of further readings by the authors cited in the content, and Embodied Learning Experiments which invite and challenge the reader, through practice, to bring their knowledge of the material into their actual lives.

The only disclaimer I would attach to Leading People the Black Belt Way is that it is not for the lazy, nor for those who are looking for quick fixes to isolated problems. Warneka’s leadership strategy is designed to encompass the entire human element of an organization, and consequently makes a stringent demand for participation and practice. In the course of working through this book and performing the experiments, one is likely to encounter difficult and possibly uncomfortable aspects of themselves. However, to that possibility, I personally would encourage the prospective reader to be brave and take the risk, as the potential rewards are definitely worth it.

Who knows, it may even inspire you to take up Aikido.

BOTTOM LINE: Great leaders read great books!

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