Mark Watson

I just finished reading the book De-Railed by Tim Irwin, Ph.D.  My thoughts through the early part of the book were “Ouch!  This is cruel!”  The critical review of six failed CEO’s seemed brutal at times. 

Being in leadership most of my life, I’ve never had to look far to find critics no matter what my results or methods.  But, as I continued to read the lessons learned from each CEO, I began to think how this could apply to some of my managers or CEO’s under which I had previously served.  I kept thinking,  “how could I get (insert name here) to read this book.  Maybe they would see the error of their ways and change.”

By the end of the book, I realized that all these potentials for derailment were me!  It had nothing to do with my boss or my CEO.  It was about what I needed to do to prevent the possibility of being ”De-Railed.”

I was still pretty confident in myself even though I knew this applied to me.  I felt sure once I took the free on-line assessment that  I would have little if anything to work on.  But to be sure, I took the assessment.  The results of the assessment made the book personal.  I have work to do.

It is my intention to share my results with a select few and give this book to my whole staff.  My biggest regret is not having access to something like this available earlier in my career.

De-Railed is a must read for anyone in leadership or aspiring to leadership.  It is NOT a business book.  It is a leadership book.  When you finish – take the assessment and take actions to stay on track!