The Front Line Leader

Real leadership that leads to high engagement, higher performance, and a culture of accountability As president and CEO of Scripps Health, one of America's most prestigious health systems, Chris Van Gorder presided over a dramatic turnaround, catapulting Scripps from near bankruptcy to a dominant market position. While hospitals and health systems nationwide have laid people off or are closing their doors, Scripps is financially healthy, has added thousands of employees (even with a no-layoff philosophy), and has developed a reputation as a top employer. What are the secrets to this remarkable story? In The Front-Line Leader, Chris Van Gorder candidly shares his own incredible story, from police officer to CEO, and the leadership philosophy that drives all of his decisions and actions: people come first. Van Gorder began his unlikely career as a California police officer, which deeply instilled in him a sense of social responsibility, honesty, and public service. After being injured on the job and taking an early retirement, Van Gorder had to reinvent himself, taking a job as a hospital security director, a job that would change his life. Through hard work and determination, he rose to executive ranks, eventually becoming CEO of Scripps. But he never forgot his own roots and powerful work ethic, or the time when he was a security officer and a CEO would not make eye contact with him. Van Gorder leads from the front lines, making it a priority to know his employees and customers at every level. His values learned on the force—protecting the community, educating citizens, developing caring relationships, and ultimately doing the right thing—shape his approach to business. As much as companies talk about accountability, managers seldom understand what practical steps to take to achieve an ethic of service that makes accountability meaningful. The Front-Line Leader outlines specific tactics and steps anyone can use starting today to take responsibility, inspire others, and achieve breakout results for their organizations. Van Gorder reveals how a no-layoff philosophy led to higher accountability, how his own attention to seemingly minor details spurred larger change, and how his own high standards for himself and his team improved morale and productivity. From general strategy to the tiny, everyday steps leaders can take to create the kind of culture and accountability that translates into major competitive advantage, The Front-Line Leader charts a path to better leadership and a more engaged, higher-performing organization.

"Resumes don't tell employers everything they need to know about prospective leadership hires. That is never truer than with our veterans. A better approach would be to ask, 'What have you learned, and how will you apply it?'" Nick Ripplinger Through honest, compelling storytelling, Nick Ripplinger takes the reader through various scenarios and illustrates how leadership decisions, both good and bad, impact a situation and the lives of those involved. By pinpointing specific lessons he learned through these experiences, Nick offers his insights and discusses how these lessons apply not only to the military but to the business world as well. In this book Nick shares lessons such as: The danger of using fear as a leadership style The significance of documenting goals The importance of taking care of yourself The value of collaboration The consequences of not having a plan Nick offers the reader a glimpse into his head and his heart as he shares his oftentimes grueling experiences. In an honest, authentic way, Nick uses these stories to illustrate what works and what doesn't with regard to effective leadership, and further explains the results and repercussions of key decisions. The stories are entertaining, but the lessons learned at the end of each chapter are invaluable for anyone wanting to grow as a leader."

Leaders are committed to improving and growing their businesses, but all too often they find themselves mired in operational details and daily issues, leaving no time to pursue bold visions. "The Fearless Front Line "is a call to action for these leaders: to set a standard of fearlessness where front line workers have an "I run this place!" mindset that reflects pride and ownership of their critical role. This, in turn, liberates leadership to focus on the big-picture, bold strategies to improve and grow the business. Featuring Ray Attiyah's Run-Improve-Grow (RIG) model, "The Fearless Front Line "provides readers with critical processes and tools, including the RIG Roadmap, World Class Time Allocation standards, and What Went Well Daily Huddle scripts to create responsive, innovative, and nimble organizations and inspired, accountable, and confident teams. With "The Fearless Front Line," leaders can benefit from a proven program to drive perpetual and transformational improvement and growth.

Transform your leadership with powerful lessons from the frontline Leading on the Frontline brings humanitarian leadership into the boardroom, giving business leaders a powerful lesson in engagement, motivation, inspiration and innovation. Drawing upon a lifetime of humanitarian work in some of the world’s most difficult places, author Linda Cruse shares stories from the frontline that illustrate how to dig deep, inspire, thrive and more. Business leaders work on a different type of frontline — one that is no less volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous — and the ability to deal effectively with the unexpected sets great leaders apart from the herd. Tap into your own intuition, compassion and courage; keep composure under pressure; align vision with strategic goals; exercise mental toughness — these skills are required in the aftermath of a tsunami in Thailand or a landslide in Nepal, and in business, they propel good people to great feats of leadership. This book presents extraordinary stories of extraordinary people who confront the best and worst of humanity every day. These people accomplish big things with few resources, prioritise progress over personal comfort and prevail over seemingly impossible odds. Their lessons contain multitudes for those who aspire to be great leaders — and the very best version of themselves. Learn the secrets of effective leadership through the frontline humanitarian lens Master the art of storytelling to build morale, strengthen teamwork and define problem solving paradigms See everyday situations in a new way, discover new possibilities and unearth new solutions Learn how extraordinary people confront fear, face death and find joy in the most difficult circumstances Whether on the frontline or in the boardroom, the objective is the same: to achieve goals and exceed expectations. Leading on the Frontline equips leaders with the skills and perspective they need to emerge victorious in a relentlessly volatile, constantly changing world.

Over 80 Contributors, 56 Chapters - This is the most comprehensive leadership book.

Front-line employees who deal directly with customers are the face of any organization. Not only do they have the most impact on how a brand is perceived, but they are also the most valuable source of insight into what customers want and how to give it to them. Unfortunately, as management experts Chris DeRose and Noel M. Tichy explain, most organizations don't know how to evaluate the risk of giving employees more autonomy. Many of those who are willing to try haven't even invested resources in ensuring that-once the shackles are off-front-line employees make good judgments. Tichy and DeRose offer powerful examples of front-line leadership, such as: How Zappos trusts its people to do anything in service of a customer, including providing free product or reimbursing for mistakes How Mayo Clinic of Arizona enabled its nurses to challenge the hierarchy in order to improve patient care

Finally, there is a book specifically created for the often overlooked and underdeveloped blue-collar workers on the front lines. My passion is to help leaders and organizations invest in those on the front lines or to help you invest in yourself. For the blue-collar workers I value so much: I've written the book I wish someone would have given me this book nearly 30 years ago when I started my career on the front lines. It would have changed my life then. It can change your life now. Separate yourself from the crowd quickly by learning how to master the traits High Impact leaders value most. You will learn how to get noticed for the right reasons and how to get promoted for the right reasons. You will learn how to become recognized as a front line leader worth following, and you don't need formal authority (position) because you will develop something better: moral authority (influence). I've made this book easy to read for the non-readers on the front lines. There are 30 chapters with 3 pages each. If you read a chapter a day (3 pages) you will easily complete the book in 1 month even if you're a non-reader. I've written this book specifically for the often overlooked great people with so much untapped potential on the front lines. If you're on the front lines it will help you better understand: - how to make an impact from where you are - how to be recognized for your abilities - how to position yourself well for promotions - how to increase your influence with your leaders and your teammates - how to be a better team player - how & why you should accept more responsibility - how to intentionally become more valuable to the company - how to become more valuable and successful as an individual - how to lead yourself well in order to create a better future for yourself This book will actually be great for anyone at any level in any industry, but the greatest value will be for those in the blue-collar world on the front lines along with the first few layers of front line leaders. Of course, higher level leaders also need to know and understand what's in this book to multiply the potential of those on the front lines.

Colonel Bob Stewart believes leading under pressure is as great a challenge as it can get, and he should know. Having served in Northern Ireland and Bosnia, where he was British battalion commander, he has faced life and death situations and the toughest decisions any leader can make.In Leadership Under Pressure he draws on his experiences, both in the army and in business, and uses them to illustrate the key attributes he believes any leader should have. In this very personal view of leadership, you can find out how to maintain morale in tough times, deal with a crisis, show courage to colleagues and lead others by your example, whilst discovering the importance of planning for a VIP visit and how to negotiate with a warlord.Full of eye opening stories and frontline details, Leadership Under Pressure is a must read for any aspiring leader - or those already in command!

The dangerous work of leading change--somebody has to do it. Will you put yourself on the line? To lead is to live dangerously. It's romantic and exciting to think of leadership as all inspiration, decisive action, and rich rewards, but leading requires taking risks that can jeopardize your career and your personal life. It requires putting yourself on the line, disrupting the status quo, and surfacing hidden conflict. And when people resist and push back, there's a strong temptation to play it safe. Those who choose to lead plunge in, take the risks, and sometimes get burned. But it doesn't have to be that way say renowned leadership experts Ronald Heifetz and Marty Linsky. In Leadership on the Line, they show how it's possible to make a difference without getting "taken out" or pushed aside. They present everyday tools that give equal weight to the dangerous work of leading change and the critical importance of personal survival. Through vivid stories from all walks of life, the authors present straightforward strategies for navigating the perilous straits of leadership. Whether you're a parent or a politician, a CEO or a community activist, this practical book shows how you can exercise leadership and survive and thrive to enjoy the fruits of your labor.

Examining public service from the perspective of the worker, this book provides a new framework for understanding the roles and responsibilities of front-line public servants and assessing the appropriateness of their actions. Public employees who work at street level face some of the most intractable, pervasive, and complex problems in contemporary society. Drawing on more than 1500 hours of observation of police officers and social service workers in four states, this book explores the types of situations they confront, the factors they consider, and the hard choices they make. Presenting numerous cases of how these individuals acted in various situations, the authors show how public servants translate the expectations of administrators and others into legitimate street-level action. Vinzant and Crothers propose the concept of leadership as a positive and realistic framework for understanding what these public servants do and how they can successfully meet the daily challenges of their very difficult and complex jobs. They show how changing the theory and language we use to describe street-level work can encourage decisions that are responsive both to the needs of the clients being served and to the broader community's need for accountability. They also examine how street-level leadership can change the way agencies recruit, train, and manage these employees and how society defines their role in governance. This book offers valuable insights for those working in or studying public administration, policy analysis, criminal justice, and social work.