A summary of things you should know about Winning The Long Game according to Steven Krupp:

Introduction

In this episode Steven Krupp takes a deep dive into his book, Winning The Long Game, where he profiles the strategic leadership tactics of very successful and well-known business leaders.

In his book, Steven takes a creates vivid insights into the leadership discipline by contrasting successful leaders such as Elon Musk, Richard Branson, Oprah Winfrey, and Pope Francis with others who are either mediocre or outright failures. The goal of the book is to teach you how to develop the discipline of strategic leadership in a world of growing uncertainty.

This book is perfect for entrepreneurial managers seeking to become more strategic in order to create sustainable value and inspirational fuel to keep their business running.

The Book’s Unique Quality (3:03)

I think what makes it different is that we are really looking at the intersection of strategy and leadership. There are countless books on strategy and quite a few on leadership but very few that really look at that intersection. Another way that makes this book different is that we have taken this fuzzy idea of strategic leadership and thinking and we’ve turned it into very concrete tangible behaviors. We also give very specific tools and techniques that leaders can take to become more strategic.

The Best Way To Engage (4:35)

This book can be read from front to back or you can jump in and out as needed.

The Reader’s Takeaway (23:27)

The big takeaway for me is that everyone can be strategic. There are tips and tools that we can all use to look out further, to challenge assumptions, to make more sense of the data around us, that each of us can apply every day.

A Deep Dive Into The Book (6:24)

One of the things that is interesting about the book is that we start with a story about a fictitious character named Jane. Jane is in the middle of a performance review and has got a lot of positive feedback at the beginning of her review. But then the interview takes a strange turn and Jane learns that she has got some issues and her boss tells her that she’s not strategic enough. The premise of the book is how Jane can become more strategic.

After the opening chapter the book is organized around six disciplines you’ll need. The six disciplines are anticipate, challenge, interpret, decide, align, and learn. The discipline of anticipation is about being able to see sooner and scan wider. In this chapter we give successful stories of different people who have anticipated well and also stories of ones who haven’t.

The next chapter we talk about the discipline of challenge and we start with an unlikely leader for a business book which is Pope Francis. Pope Francis practices two components that we think are the essence of the challenge discipline. He opens the window to let in fresh thinking, fresh ideas, and fresh points of view.

The third discipline is interpretation and that’s about amplifying signals and connecting dots between them.

The next discipline we get into is decisions. There are two things that we think are critical for deciding. One is exploring your options and making sure you don’t rush into a decision and the other important thing is having the courage to make tough choices.

The fifth disciple and the next chapter is about align and that’s really about how to rally people together so that they are on board with you. And also how to bridge differences because there will be miss alignment and competing issues to deal with.

The sixth and final discipline chapter is about the learn discipline which is about experimenting, trying new things, and then diving deep to learn from those.

We bring it all together around one very well-known leader Nelson Mandela. We should how Nelson applies all these six disciplines in his vision of transformation in South Africa.

At the end of each chapter we take a step back and ask ourselves what Jane would do in each of these situations. We give very practical tips, tools, and techniques that people can use to get better at any or all of these disciplines.

Notable Quotes From The Book (24:28)

“My gift was not knowing.” – Sara Blakely

The Credibility/Inspiration Of The Author (0:42)

I am currently the CEO of Decision Strategies International. I have professionally been a psychologist and did a lot of work throughout my career helping organizations become more effective. I have a wife, three kids, and a number of animals.

There are a couple of sources of inspiration. About five years ago I was doing a lot of work with boards on CEO and top executive succession and the issue that came up over and over again was that leaders are going to need to be more strategic. However, having heard that over and over again, what I also learned was that very few people had much of a definition of what it meant to be more strategic. They didn’t have a clear guideline of what that is, how to define it, how to access it, and how to develop it. So the lack of definition and clarity around building this capability combined with the great need were the two sources of inspiration for writing this book.

Other Books Recommended By The Author (25:39)

Abundance by Steven Kotler and Peter Diamandis

More Information About This Book and The Author

Buy Winning The Long Game by Steven Krupp on Amazon today

Visit DecisionStrat.com to learn more about Steven and his book

Follow Steven Krupp on LinkedIn and Twitter

More Information About This Episode

Download the full transcript here (coming soon)

Listen on iTunes, Stitcher , and SoundCloud

Related books:

Lead To Succeed by Chris Roebuck
The Front-Line Leader by Chris Van Gorder
MOXIE: The Secret to Bold and Gutsy Leadership by John Baldoni

Relevant advice and tips:
5 Characteristics of a Great Leader

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Wade Danielson

Wade is a 4-time serial entrepreneur and is the Founder/Host of The Entrepreneurs Library. With a long time passion for reading books, Wade created an online resource and podcast for entrepreneurs who love to read personal and business development books. His long-term goal in life is to start an entrepreneurial home schooling program for children of business-minded families.