Awakened Leadership By Alan Shelton – A Book Review
Posted by Mitch Mitchell on May 15, 2012
When I was asked if I'd review this book and write a review about it, I thought it was going to be the normal style of leadership book that I'm used to. For full disclosure I was sent a copy of this book for free, although it's an early draft of it, and the book goes on sale today so it's a coordinated effort in marketing the thing. Having said that, we all know I'm going to be honest about it; that's my style.
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The book is titled Awakened Leadership, and the writer is Alan Shelton. It's not necessarily a book on leadership as much as it's a book about a man looking to find himself. Indeed a lot of the book talks about his quest to find enlightenment, and to that end he traveled the world and had lots of encounters until finally, of all things, one day he was driving and it suddenly hit him.
What hit him? To tell you the truth I'm still not sure, because it doesn't seem like Alan was able to fully identify it himself. Still, that's not the overall point of the book. He does talk about leadership, but in many ways it's a kind of leadership that most of us don't think to do. He was a successful guy who had no problems letting others take the reins; at one point he left the business for 4 months on a quest, only to come back and find that the company had actually grown and thrived while he was gone.
This book is more about personal journeys than anything else, and that's actually pretty interesting. From never knowing who his father was to getting one that never lived up to expectation. To a mother who found Mormonism, got him into it, and how he eventually had to leave it and his wife. To seeing how both the ultra rich and the ultra poor lived, and realizing just how little control one actually gets to have in their lives. And finally, do the doorways of awakening, his way of telling all of us his criteria for finding your own way if you dare to take the journey:
Your viewpoint is only a step away;
Contrary to appearances, you are not the doer;
You are enough; let your power come to you;
A leader needs no followers;
Let life live you
If you're looking for a book that's only about leadership lessons, this one isn't it. If you're looking for a tale about the process of finding out just who you are and what your ultimate goals should be, while learning lessons about leadership along the way, this book will give that to you. There are parts that will slow you down, but overall I think you will enjoy this book.
From my personal experience and from what I have read in the review, I think that I have follow some of those steps without even know. Actually I have never look into leadership from this point and have always try my own way, rarely following guides, just use common sense and leverage in particular situation.
Carl, you seem like the perfect audience for Alan’s book, as much as you’ve traveled around, almost like you were looking to find yourself.
Haha, probably you are right, well I doubt that I will ever find myself, it always seems that something doesn’t quite line up with what I want and need, but I will take your advice and probably will read the book.
Nice write up, here is something I will quote a lot, “A leader needs no followers” thats pretty deep but I really like it. In modern day management I guess thats like saying a good manager could do the job on an operations level too.
That’s a way of looking at it Carly. Another way of looking at it is that everyone can learn how to do the job that the leader does so that the leader can just lead, or in this case do what needs to be done, because everyone else can do their job without too much help. I can see many ways that line could be interpreted; good stuff.
Mitch- Awesome comments. From a development standpoint the best leadership is when the best suited person on any team responds to the action. The leaders role, when not that person, is to hold the space for the team members to perform. Because the appointed leaders ego doesn’t demand the stage, all of the performers respond in the perfect moment. It’s an inside move that allows one to see leadership as residing in every member of the group. Thanks Mitch for the great answers!
Alan
Thank you Alan for allowing me to preview the book. And your answer makes sense because in a way that’s how I managed. I made sure there were other people who either knew the answers or knew how to find them like I did, since I knew that I wouldn’t always know it all. Good luck with sales.