Leading by the Black Box

A “black box” is a complex system or device whose internal workings are hidden or are not readily understood (Dictionary definition).

Organizational Leadership is a “black box” that many entrepreneurs, especially those starting out in business need to understand. In a black box, the internal workings or components are what describes the power and nature of the box. Merely observing the outer nature of the box does not describe the box in its entirety. For example, being motivated to start a business isn’t all there is about business. In the same way, thinking you are capable of business leadership does not make you an effective business leader if you don’t understand the details of business leadership (organizational leadership). Before long, you will hit rock bottom because you either denied the existence of the black box or were simply never introduced to it. There is a “black box” of organizational leadership, and understanding and embracing the components of the box will make you an effective organizational leader.

Why I wrote this book? 

This book includes models, graphs, charts and real world cases studies on how to become a high growth, high scale entrepreneur.

As a business consultant, in my conversations and dealings with business leaders and startups, I have come across about 75% of startup entrepreneurs who admitted they had neither heard of the term “organizational leadership”, nor didn’t think they needed primary (basic) knowledge of the components of organizational leadership to run their businesses. They strongly believe that their core competencies are enough to successfully run their businesses. These entrepreneurs are currently managing uncertainty.

This is the need this book seeks to solve: to drive home the concept of organizational leadership, its relevance and components to startup entrepreneurs and to teach them how to apply the components of organizational leadership not just in theory but through the use of real-world case studies and scenarios of business leaders who daily employ the components of organizational leadership in managing their organizations or units. The key questions this book seeks to answer are:

1. How do successful startup entrepreneurs view/approach/handle organizational leadership in their organizations?
2. How do top corporate CEOs view/approach/handle organizational leadership in their organizations?

The book is structured into three chapters;

• CHAPTER 1: Managing in Times of Uncertainty: When the Clouds are not full of rain.
• CHAPTER 2: Overcoming Rejection: What to do when your idea gets rejected (The Crucible of Growth)
• CHAPTER 3: Turning Challenges into Opportunities: Finding your Mojo in the Dojo.