The Work of Leaders by Julia Straw
I finished this book in August 2026. I recommend this book 8/10.
Why you should read this book:
The book is well written by a group of experienced business coaches and is organized into three sections: Vision, Alignment, and Execution. It is not a deep or overly academic treatment of leadership, but it is practical and easy to apply. I think it is particularly useful during internal transformations or when a team needs to pivot.
Get your copy here.
🚀 The book in three sentences
Craft a vision, then focus on alignment.
Don’t let the cadence of your calendar dictate when critical issues get resolved.
When explaining something, turn the cards face up on the table. Full transparency helps people understand what is happening and why.
đź“ť My notes and thoughts
P30. Critical questions in Patrick Lencioni's book, The Advantage:
Why do we exist?
How do we behave?
What do we do?
How will we succeed?
What is most important, right now?
Who must do what?
P56. Doing the work: Crafting the Vision:
Know the Scope of the Vision You're Crafting:
What is your sphere of influence?
At what level are you a leader in your organization?
Who looks to you for direction and motivation?
How will your vision relate to the larger organizational vision?
Find the Right Balance:
How much exploration should you undertake?
What does boldness look like in your group, organization, or industry?
How will you determine the level of testing assumptions to pursue?
Tips for Exploration:
Set aside specific time for open-ended exploration.
Give ideas a chance to percolate instead of pushing ahead with your initial thoughts.
Remember that there will be time for planning and problem solving later.
Look outside your group or organization to understand your context.
Ask critical questions that help define the big picture for your group.
Put the details in a "parking lot" to deal with later.
Tips for Boldness:
Make a list of pros and cons and focus on the benefits of the "pros."
Show your confidence in the group by challenging them with a bold idea.
Share responsibility for the bold vision with others around you.
Gain confidence by first proposing your idea to people you feel comfortable with.
Have a plan in place in case you find yourself intimidated by negative reactions.
Assume you will have to deal with resistance.
Tips for Testing Assumptions:
Find people you trust to consult with, and reciprocate with them.
Approach people individually rather than as a group.
Look outside your group or organization to find fresh perspectives.
Use market research with prototypes to test your ideas.
Conduct a project "PreMortem."
Have each group member make predictions about outcomes independently and use the median to estimate your chance of success.
P71. Work on "crisp" messaging. Here are comments given to leaders about clarity:
Sometimes he/she does not give enough detail to clarify what is expected.
There are times when he/she could better organize what he/she wants to say before communicating.
He/she sometimes assumes I already understand a difficult topic.
He/she tends to spend a lot of time on unnecessary details or unrelated tangents.
He/she doesn't seem to fully form his/her thoughts before communicating.
He/she rarely states the topic before he/she begins explaining his/her points.
He/she moves too fast for me to grasp what he's/she's talking about.
P73. Always include the "why." Usually, the more unpopular or demanding a change is, the more important it is to give people a solid reason. Think of it this way: if your company suddenly decided to give everyone free lunches, people wouldn't need any more information to jump on board. On the other hand, if your company decided to take away free lunches, people would want to know why. It needs to make sense if you want them to follow you willingly. Finally, there's one time in particular that explaining one's rationale is most important—in times of uncertainty or great change. Harry Kraemer, professor at the Kellogg School of Management, in his book From Values to Action, offers a simple, but powerful formula: Change + Uncertainty = Chaos.
P73. Strategies for explaining rationale exercise.
P77. Tips for Clarity:
Be straightforward and transparent.
Look at it from the listeners' point of view—it needs to make sense to them.
Monitor people's reactions for comprehension.
Find the "headline" of your message—you should be able to boil it down to eight words or fewer.
Create talking points that balance the big picture and the details.
Refer back to your message repeatedly over time.
P108. "To champion" means "to support the cause of someone or something." But what other connotations can help us develop a better understanding of this important leadership role? A champion is:
A defender of the time a team needs to work through solutions.
A proponent of a better structure or plan to help people achieve.
An advocate for work and workers, praising and offering feedback.
A lobbyist for adequate resources and ongoing support.
A booster who provides the necessary momentum, drive, or resources.
P110. Thomas Edison famously said that "genius is 1 percent inspiration and 99 percent perspiration."
P119. Be aware of how much time you take between meetings on a project. Here's a typical scenario: The group meets and identifies some next steps. Toward the end, someone says, "Okay, let's meet next week to keep this moving." Maybe there's a good reason to wait until next week, but usually this is just the expected pace—we wait a few days between meetings and decisions. But let's do some simple math. If a decision or project is going to take five meetings and we wait a week between meetings, that's five weeks. If we have those meetings every day, that's one week. We just saved four weeks. Now we know that all of us have a lot on our plates, but as a leader, you are in a position to say, "Wait, why can't we pick this up tomorrow, or better yet, later today?" It may take a while, but eventually this pace trickles down to others. There's an unspoken assumption that we don't wait around.
P122. There's one factor above all others that keeps leaders from taking on more initiatives: they're already busy. If they have unscheduled time during the month, it's likely to be swallowed up putting out fires or dealing with unforeseen complications. If new initiatives are going to make it onto your plate, you need to challenge your priorities. You need to step back and say, "What are the most important things we could be doing to make a difference right now?" As a leader, you need to see this as part of your job, as important as any other part.
P130. One of the most effective ways to gain a team's buy-in is to involve them in the planning process. Not only does this increase their support for the work they'll be doing, but it also increases the reliability of the plan itself. After all, who knows better what's included in a task than the person who will be doing the work? If the activities being planned are unfamiliar to the team, it's important to find people who have been there and done that. They can offer insight into the amount of work involved, how long it might take, and what it might cost—and even point out what could go wrong. Next, as you begin to map out the plan, encourage everyone involved to ask this question about each step: "If we are successful doing this, will it materially help to close the gap between where we are and where we are trying to go?" By consistently applying this discipline, you will be able to keep plans robust and sharply focused.
P135. Think back to the last time you were learning a new card game. You may have had a teacher who had the players put their cards on the table face up, so he could explain what's going on. He could describe what strategy to use, given your hand. He could point out when you were making a mistake. He could compliment you when you did it right. It wasn't enough for him to simply explain the rules—he wanted to give you continuous feedback. And he could give you such clear feedback because everyone's cards were on the table. There was complete transparency. Perhaps after a few rounds you decided that you were ready for the big leagues. People shook their heads at your hubris and picked up their cards. The transparency disappeared. And what happened to the feedback from your teacher? It dropped off a cliff. Most of the learning from that point on was what you could figure out for yourself. Of course, in a card game it makes sense to pick up your cards. You're competing. You don't want other people to know what you're planning to do. On the team, it's the exact opposite (or at least, it should be the exact opposite). Figuratively speaking, everyone's playing a hand. With our cards face up on the table, we can communicate clearly. We can point out when projects are off track. We can quickly recognize and spread someone's brilliant innovation. As a leader, one of your most important roles in execution is to build a culture with this kind of transparency and feedback. You need to persuade people to put their cards face up on the table.
P144. At the end of the day, you could simply put "give people more praise" on your to-do list, but there's much greater potential here. The leaders who are able to use praise to genuinely transform their groups actually experience a deep, heartfelt appreciation for the people they lead. When you feel this way, you don't need reminders to give praise. Surprisingly, this may have even more benefits for you than it does for your followers. A variety of studies have found that being appreciative actually increases a person's happiness. When you take deliberate time to appreciate others, you and the people you lead can begin to see work as more than just a series of tasks. The group attitude goes beyond responsibility and accountability—which is good—to purpose and aspiration—which is transformative.
P145. Don't wait for a specific achievement or milestone to express appreciation. Imagine approaching someone, out of the blue, and saying, "Hey, I was just thinking last night about how much work you've been doing on this. Thanks." The fact that it is not tied to a major accomplishment lets the person know that her work is being appreciated all of the time.
P148. Be a champion! As the champion, you are always acting in service of someone or something, whether it is your team, your vision, or your customers. Your energy is focused outward as you seek ways to establish momentum, provide structure, and offer feedback. Ask yourself:
Who or what can I defend?
For whom can I be a proponent or advocate?
For what can I lobby?
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