The Leadership Challenge Comes to Life in Robert Thompson’s “The Offsite”

Perhaps you’re familiar with The Leadership Challenge by Jim Kouzes and Barry Posner. Recently released in its 4th edition, the book has been called “the most trusted resource on becoming a leader” and continues to be a bestseller after twenty years in print.

Inspired by this leadership classic and new on bookshelves this year is The Offsite: A Leadership Challenge Fable by Robert Thompson, a long-time master facilitator of The Leadership Challenge workshops. From the publisher:

Drawing on the leadership theories in the management classic The Leadership Challenge, Robert Thompson effortlessly incorporates these ideas into a fable of leadership and growth. Based on a company’s three-day offsite meeting, we follow this tale of transition through the eyes of two former rival pharmaceutical companies creating a joint sales strategy. The characters ultimately learn how to adopt The Five Practices that form the Leadership Challenge:

• Model the Way
• Inspire a Shared Vision
• Challenge the Process
• Enable Others to Act
• Encourage the Heart

The book also explores and addresses the fears and concerns participants may have especially around 360 degree feedback, the key component of the Leadership Challenge model and workshops.

For anyone preparing to attend a leadership training off-site, leadership developers, program planners, or for professionals looking to hone their leadership skills, this book will be an invaluable resource and a succinct introduction or refresher to The Leadership Challenge.

Whether you’re involved in leadership, planning off-site meetings, or both, The Offsite is a fun read in the vain of many of today’s popular business fables written by authors such as Ken Blanchard and Patrick Lencioni.

And if you do organize off-site meetings for your organization, you may be interested in knowing that Robert has also crafted a new keynote presentation based on The Offsite which presents the famous Five Practices of the Leadership Challenge in the form of “Robert’s Rules” for leadership:

1. Show up (Model the way)
2. Speak up (Inspire a shared vision)
3. Step up (Challenge the process)
4. Serve up (Enable others to act and encourage the heart)

Listen to Robert during this interview with Shawn Ellis, founder of The Speakers Group:

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Bringing to life some of the key characters from his book, Robert’s keynote presentation is dynamic and engaging and sure to make an impact on your attendees. For more information, view Robert Thompson’s speaker profile on The Speakers Group web site or contact The Speakers Group at (615) 526-6600.