7 Principles of Becoming a leader

7 Principles of Becoming a Leader assumed published, copyright and written by Riku Vuorenmaa.

Sub titled “The definitive guide for starting and building your management career”, the author has provided a Forward followed by his suggested 7 principles. In order: 1. Own your work and start to lead; 2. Know yourself: Master your inner game; 3. Know your company and industry; 4. Know the people you work with; 5. Know your opportunities and manage your career; 6. Prepare yourself; 7. Decide and commit, and a Conclusion.

In his Forward the author sets the stage for his quite lengthy discourse by stating this is “By no means a scientific book or research report” and acknowledges the fact that most of the large number of books on the subject of business leadership are written about the inspirations and actions of CEOs and founders of multi-million dollar companies. Instead here, he is concentrating on how to rise through the ranks in the company in which you are employed and that “It emphasizes career building, cultivating a high-performance mindset, and mastering your inner game, in addition to building a solid set of leadership skills.…if you can’t perform very well on a personal level and don’t know how to advance your career, you never will have any people to lead”. He presents further details describing why he has written a book like this, including a description and answers offering insights from his own career; from experience he has gathered from those with whom he has worked; from that of one who has been functioning in a position of leadership with his own employees; from that of a coach and mentor to others in careers not necessarily related to his work. He appears to have one distinct advantage and that is the fact that he admits to having absolute focus He had been a martial arts instructor who slipped a spinal lumbar disc and had to give up his passion of martial arts. However, his ability to focus helped him eventually to decide what he wanted and applied these same abilities. All the books he has read told people how to proceed once they had the job. Nobody said how to get the job in the first place. He admonishes that it is necessary to make a decision, plan your course and make necessary preparations and follow with steady execution and continuous learning. He further believes that external rewards that will accrue are fine, but the intrinsic ones gained are even more rewarding.

He then explains that one should read through the book, then stop to absorb Chapter or Principle One and put it into play. Then go on to #2, and #7 if you’re ready, and follow by using the other chapters again when you are ready; i.e. use the entire presentation as a reference book picking up what you need when you need it, returning over and over as required. “If you want the best results, this book should be read and thoroughly executed and then later used as a toolbox to pull out tools and strategies as you need them.”

Discussion: The author certainly has provided a volume far different, from the plethora of those presented by entrepreneurial CEOs and the like. Here the reader finds a large volume of material including often little thought-of details that describe how best to enter a work force and multi suggestions for advancement in position within that group. Many of the same principles exist – honesty, trust, respect, empathy and the rest in the books presented by the CEOs. However, this author describes not the entrepreneurial attempts that have been advanced in large numbers, but rather the more usual individual’s needs for self fulfilment and how to attain them.

5* Highly recommended read for those looking for personal job/life fulfilment.