Berrett-Koehler; New Ed edition (1 Mar 2002)

Synopsis
Leadership and Self-Deception is the first book to identify a single, underlying cause of every form of leadership failure. Through the story of Tom - a "shluck" in his manager's words - readers discover that identifying and treating individual leadership problems as if they were separate and distinct is not enough to transform people into successful leaders. The authors suggest that the key to leadership lies not in what we do, but in how we "are." They explore this compelling secret: Self-deception is the central player and trap underlying all leadership failures, relationship issues, and performance problems in organizations. Leaders who live in the box of self-deception are trapped: they cannot lead, no matter how hard they try and no matter how many skills and techniques they employ. With convincing examples, the authors show clearly how self-deception operates and how to overcome it. While other books cover people skills, this one goes deeper, fully illuminating the secret to leadership success.

—Stephen R. Covey, author of The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People
"It is engaging and fresh, easy to read, and packed with insight. I couldn't recommend it more highly."

About the Author
The Arbinger Institute is a scholarly consortium and management training and consulting firm comprised of scholars, business leaders, and professionals who write about the implications of self-deception for organizational, community, and family life.

Reviews

Know Thyself: Are You Self-Deceived?
This book tells of a manager, a CEO, a father, and a 19th century scientist who while searching diligently for their problems "out there" find that the problem is within themselves. If you're familiar with systems thinking you'll understand the science behind it. But the beauty of the book is that it's written as a business fable that follows one character through his self-discovery and correction. Along the way, you'll be drawn in as you find yourself relating to the character's challenges wanting to know what happens next in order to help yourself.

The best way to illustrate the premise behind the book, without revealing the secrets is by retelling the story of the 19th scientist, Dr Ignaz Semmelweis. As an obstetrician in the maternity ward at Vienna General Hospital he observed a high 1 in 10 mortality rate, while next door where the midwives delivered babies the mortality rate was only 1 in 50. Semmelweis researched and tested and experimented, only to discover to his horror that the doctors, who were also experimenting on cadavers, were carrying small 'particles' back to the maternity ward that sickened the women. He discovered "germs" -- and he discovered that the high mortality rate was not caused by something "out there" but by himself.

Leadership and Self-Deception sets out to answer the problem: "How can people simultaneously (1) create their own problems, (2) be unable to see that they are creating their own problems, and yet (3) resist any attempts to help them stop creating those problems?"

As I coach, I help people to recognize their role in their problems and their options to do something about it. I'm always amazed when a client resists working toward a solution because the existence of the problem provides some sort of perverse justification for my client's way of acting or a view of the world. This is self-deception. Profound. The book makes it clear that humans do this quite regularly. Indeed, I clearly saw myself in the book's story.

I won't give away the ending or the solution, only to say that the book takes the reader on a satisfying, yet challenging journey to examine inner motivations, self-betrayal, self-justification, blame of others, and what we can do to stop the cycle. We can't control other people's behavior, but we can choose our response, and this is where the power of personal responsibility lies.

With a balanced approach the book assists the reader to take responsibility for changing the world around them by changing themselves.

Wasn't what I'd hoped
I bought this book because I thought self-deception can be a big problem and I thought it may have insights. It wasn't the book I was imagining, however. On the one hand it contains a lot of truth about how self-deception works, particularly when people-dynamics are involved, and all that could be useful to many people, I suppose. On the other hand it appears to be logically flawed and too much like pop-psych self-help to be of much use to any but those who are starting right at the bottom of self-awareness.It reasts on a base of humanism which, obviously untenable for many readers it, is never acknowledfed. The authors seem to take it as axiomatic.On another level the dialogue is often so stilted and repetitive that althought there are 2 or 3 surprisingly good lines here and there, it makes you wonder whether they were deliberate!You might like this book, despite my disappointment, especially if you are struggling in the work-place (successful or not you can struggle either way).

Great lessons, easy read
Can's say more. One of the very well written books.
Easy flow as a story.
But very insightful lessons!
Would recommend this book to many people within my organisation.
Also would recommend this book to many of my friends.