New Leaders Wanted: Now Hiring!

Leandro Herrero
Meetingminds (2007)
ISBN 9781905776023
Reviewed by Olivera Baumgartner-Jackson for Reader Views (08/07)


There is no doubt in my mind that one needs constant vigilance to stay in the game in today’s ever-changing and super-fast paced business environment. And if one wants to stay anywhere near the top – well, then vigilance alone would not be nearly enough. The bookstores overflow with business-oriented books, but all too many of them are just re-hash of old and oftentimes obsolete ideas. Let’s face it – issues in today’s business world are very different from those that stared in the face of our parents or grandparents. The pace has picked up tremendously, the information of any and every kind abounds and it is increasingly more difficult to stay competitive. If one wants more than that, if one wants to be a leader, one needs truly novel ideas and approaches.

Leandro Herrero’s “New Leaders Wanted: Now Hiring!” has an interesting subtitle – 12 kinds of people you must find, seduce, hire and create a job for. That in itself is quite thought-provoking, as is everything else that is contained in this unusual book.  Mr. Herrero opens the book with a brilliant chapter entitled “Great Players, Wrong Game”. It would be worth reading the book just for his views expressed in this introduction, dealing with how the current organizational climate has changed, how things are not quite what they seem, how too many companies refuse to accept and see those changes and what would be the best way to get out of the rut. After that, Mr. Herrero introduces the necessary alternative skills and the 12 kinds of people who possess them. Each of the following twelve chapters deals with one of those “new types” – the Re-constructors of Elephants, Signal Spotters, Space & Time Architects, Rightbrainers, HCIF Managers, Lead(brok)ers, Riders of the Network, Chaordic Acrobats, Disruptors, Butterfly Managers, Conquistadores and Talki-Walkers. Every chapter explains what benefits could be gained from hiring somebody with those skills, how to hire such a person and exactly what type of a person you should be looking for.

The last two chapters, “”Summing Up: Moving East” and “Epilogue: Mapping the organization’s DNA” should be helpful in pulling all the information together and strategizing the reorganization of your company.

I found Leandro Herrero’s “New Leaders Wanted: Now Hiring!” to be an interesting and refreshing book, which should prove very useful to managers of companies that wish to stay on top of their game. The writing style is fluid and engaging, the examples used in it memorable and the layout with the different fonts visually engaging and stimulating. If you are somebody who is not afraid of changes, this book should be at the very top of your Must Read List.

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