Top Ten Quotes: How To Lead When You’re Not In Charge

I don’t pre-order a lot of books. But when I heard Clay Scroggins’ interview on the Andy Stanley Leadership Podcast, I knew this was a book I needed to read.

Clay’s approach trends towards those leaders who are frustrated in their role. I want to be clear that I’m not…at least not most of the time. I work alongside a great team and have had a string of great bosses (“string of” might mean that I’m impossible to manage…I’ll let you interpret that). But How to Lead When You’re Not in Charge is rich for any leader, regardless of your status on the totem pole and regardless of your level of frustration. If you’re a CEO or a summer intern, it’s a book for you.

Here are my top ten favorite quotes from the book:

• Leaders don’t sit back and point fingers. Leaders lead with the authority of leadership…or without it. The authority is largely irrelevant – if you are a leader, you will lead when you are needed.
• Your identity is healthiest when what God says about you is most true of you…If you fail to believe what God says about your identity, you will fail to reach the potential he’s put in you as a leader.
• God doesn’t want us to sit back. He wants us to responsibly engage, doing the work he has given us wherever we are, with whatever title or role he has currently assigned to us.
• …the satisfaction employees have in their job is directly correlated to their ability to see how what they do fits into the big picture.
• When I’m not a part of the decision-making process, my default response is to check out, to abdicate my opportunity to lead…That kind of rotten attitude doesn’t win in leadership. It won’t make you a better leader either. It’s the easy way out.
• Great leaders don’t get defensive.

• Leadership is not simply a matter of authority. Leadership is about influence.
• The more challenging the conversation, the more private it should be. Challenge privately. Champion publicly.
• It does you no good to walk into a situation thinking you have it all figured out.
• Curious questions cause humility…Incorrect assumptions create walls and cause humiliation.

Order How to Lead When You’re Not in Charge.

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Disclaimer: FTC watchdogs will probably want you to know that the authors represented did not ask for this endorsement, nor did they provide me with free swag in order to do so (unless specifically mentioned otherwise on the particular page). I’m just a really satisfied customer who wants to let you know where you can get some great products. So there. Further, if you order a resource from a link on any “Top Ten Quotes” page, I may receive a small affiliate commission from Amazon. If that bugs you, feel free to bypass my link and buy from a vendor of your choice. But still: buy it. I only promote books that have benefitted me and that I believe will benefit you.