Care to Dare: Unleashing Astonishing Potential Through Secure Base Leadership

This is my first EVER review of anything on Amazon, and definitely the first book review. I have read many books, but none prompted me to actually spend my precious time to write a review. This book is worth it. I have to admit I did not expect it to attract me to read every line. Usually I am skeptical of "self-help"-like books. I am also skeptical of what one can actually do about improving leadership skills. I expected myself to read a few lines from each chapter, skimming it, and call it done.But I ended up reading EVERY line so far (30% through) and I am anxious to read more. I am actually thinking "omg, this is so true" throughout the reading. This book helped me to pin point exactly why some managers I had were good and some were not. It helped me realize where I was not effective as a leader to my reports and where I was.Most unexpectedly and a huge bonus is that this book is great for a parent who is eager to figure out how to lead their children to success. I can easily apply the advice to how I should build a relationship with my young sons so that they are set up for success later in life. Personally I struggle with the care and dare balance when it comes to my children and this book enlightened me.Continued ...I finished the book a while ago (read everything, whenever I had free time) and now finally get the time to complete the review. One more thing I would say about this book is that the research behind it was very thorough. The authors are true academics who have the ability to distill the essense from volumes of previous academic works as well as primary research so that readers of this book can stand on the shoulders of giants. I feel that by reading this book, I benefited from all the materials that the authors researched.

This book is so practical with the "Tips" and "Key Learnings" at the end of each chapter and frequent "Ask Yourself" sections. Kohlrieser, Goldsworthy and Coombe take us on a journey of discovering those people in our lives who have shaped who we are - both personally and professionally - through their interest and caring. A must read for every leader desiring to improve their leadership and wishing to unleash the full potential in others.

This was okay. It did contain some quite useful insights that you can make use of.It was a bit utopian at times and practical advice was limited. However I still found it to be a worthwhile read.This didn't affect my rating but the layout and production values were a letdown.

The premise in Care to Dare that leaders need to take care of themselves first and ensure that they are coming from a secure base environment before they can lead or influence others is surprisingly relevant. It seems obvious, but in this day and age with so much emphasis on competition and profits, the human element of many organizations is being ignored. Kohlrieser et al have shown that when leaders care about their own personal needs and then make human connections with others, there is a foundation from which the organization can dare to excel.The applications of these ideas are very broad. They transcend individual leadership styles and are relevant beyond the corporate world. Anyone who is in a leadership role, including educators and parents, will benefit from reading and applying these principles.

I have been a fan of George Kohlrieser for years, since I read Hostage at the Table (http://www.amazon.com/Hostage-Table-Overcome-Influence-Performance/dp/0787983845/ref=sr_1_1) a few years ago. This book takes a fresh approach to how we influence people we supervise, mentor, teach, and even "raise". Its basic premise is that we need to both challenge and care about people, if we want them to fulfill their potential. The authors lay out a method to achieve this.As a former teacher and HR director, I realized long ago that people needed to trust me to take them to places they've never been. "Daring" them while showing them that you "care" about them is the ticket to building that trust.I highly recommend this book, as well as Hostage at the Table.

Given both the quality of George's writing and the powerful, yet simple analogies he uses, his insightful ideas about what it takes to be an effective leader have a way of sticking in the minds of the leaders I've had read the book. Starting with the idea that all leaders (and parents and spouses) must provide a secure base to those they lead -- a sense of security and freedom from fear -- to his four box model that ranges from "playing not to lose" to "playing to win" -- he gives leaders practical techniques and ideas for creating an environment where people (including your children) have the confidence to try new things and make decisions.

In times of changes as will no end soon let's not forget that we're humans. All past mistakes can be made good, there is no late to do it and this book is a great guide to leadership broght to excellence.

Damaged cover and many folded pages. Thought I was getting a new book since i paid almost $30 for it.