On Purpose: Why great leaders start with the PLOT

On Purpose: Why great leaders start with the PLOT

by Karen James
Released September 2015
Publisher(s): Wiley
ISBN: 9780730322467

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Book description

A witty, insightful guide to rediscovering Purpose and leading like you mean it

On Purpose is a modern-day business book for those who want to steer their work — and life — back on course. When your head and heart connect in both, our humanity becomes the hero in the story. Shed the mediocrity that comes from halfhearted decision-making, and rediscover your PLOT — Purpose, Leadership, Operations, and Technology — as you learn to live and lead with purpose. This insightful guide provides a framework for re-evaluating your direction, then stepping back and re-aiming the ship. It starts with a fable that illustrates just how businesses lose their PLOT every day, then digs down to the nitty-gritty to give you the actionable steps and practical advice you need to climb out of the rut. Deliberately ironic and witty, this book presents a fun, but informative read that is anything but cynical. You'll learn from the author's own successes using PLOT in her career, as she turned a $9M business into a $100M business and went on to drive international and domestic philanthropic ventures and leadership training programmes.

  • PLOT will become the most practical four-letter word you'll ever use. This book shows you how a simple framework can become the turnaround your organisation and life so desperately need. Get your work on target

  • Shift engagement methods for better results

  • Leverage technology into a purposeful tool

  • Get up and act

    • You may already have a documented vision and mission statement, but that's no longer sufficient. You need to act and lead with purpose, every day, in every decision you make. You need to recognise and utilise good people and tools, and redefine your goals to make them worth striving for. On Purpose shows you how, and gives you the practical, tested guidance you need to start moving in the right direction.

    Table of contents

    1. Foreword
    2. About the Author
    3. Acknowledgements
    4. Introduction
      1. The Fable (Back to School)
      2. Manifesto
      3. PLOT
    5. Part I The Fable (Back to School)
      1. Meet the characters
      2. Chapter 1 BACK TO SCHOOL
        1. Welcome to Ms Molloy
        2. Week one, day one
        3. Week one, day three
        4. Week one, day four
        5. Week one, day five
        6. Week two, day one
        7. Week two, day two
        8. Week two, day three
        9. Week two, weekend
        10. Week three, weekend
        11. Week three, day one
        12. Week four, day one
        13. Week four, day five
        14. Week five, day one
        15. Week five, day two
        16. Week six, day one
        17. Week six, day five
        18. Week seven, day one
        19. Ten years on
        20. Epilogue
    6. Part II Manifesto
      1. What's with the story?
      2. The power of our story
      3. A bit about Ms Molloy
      4. A bit about Bob
      5. Business dialogue in the class(/board)room
    7. Part III PLOT
      1. Chapter 2 PURPOSE
        1. The core
        2. Real-life stories
        3. Start with the cause
        4. Find the meaning
        5. Listen to the calling of your employees
      2. Chapter 3 LEADERSHIP
        1. Power made by many
        2. Complications
        3. Meaning is catching
        4. So, what to be?
        5. Theory U
        6. The globalisation groundswell
        7. Step into the collective
      3. Chapter 4 OPERATIONS
        1. The heart of everything
        2. The flow-on from purpose-rich operations
        3. Design the shape for your purpose
        4. Money, money, money
        5. Servicing constituents the world over
        6. To lead we must manage
        7. You can control the process
        8. How do you keep good people?
        9. Creating loyalty in large organisations
        10. Lens of rationalisation
        11. The enquiry model
        12. Dealing with the devil
        13. What we measure matters
        14. Momentum of data
      4. Chapter 5 TECHNOLOGY
        1. Is your technology telling your story?
        2. Technology and your underberg
        3. The last 10 per cent matters
        4. Drilling deeper to put technology into PLOT
      5. Chapter 6 ACTION
        1. The PLOT Framework
    8. Afterword
    9. Notes
    10. Smartboard
    11. Index
    12. Advert
    13. EULA

    Product information

    • Title: On Purpose: Why great leaders start with the PLOT
    • Author(s): Karen James
    • Release date: September 2015
    • Publisher(s): Wiley
    • ISBN: 9780730322467