Taming Your Crocodiles: Unlearn Fear & Become a True Leader - Hardcover

Faber, Hylke

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 048682084X ISBN 13: 9780486820842

Publisher: Ixia Press, 2018

Synopsis

One of Bloomberg's 10 best books on leadership for 2018!

A 2018 Nautilus Silver Award Winner for Business & Leadership!

"I do believe that the issue of fear is personal and that is why it is buried in the workplace. Taming Your Crocodiles is groundbreaking not only because of its structured methodology, but also for its courage in calling out the issue itself. I am deeply impacted by Taming Your Crocodiles. I can speak personally and freely on this topic because this work has liberated me to lead more fearlessly at Microsoft and beyond." — Toni Townes-Whitley, Corporate Vice President, Microsoft Worldwide Public Sector and Industry

What does it take to become a great leader? True leadership means freeing yourself from false, mostly borrowed constraints, charting a purpose-filled path based on values that reflect who you really are, and inspiring others to do the same. Before becoming a coach to CEOs and other leaders worldwide, Hylke Faber had his own transformational journey, stepping back from a high-stress career as a strategy consultant in New York City and almost becoming a monk in order to discover a more holistic approach to life. This book distills his experience into a guide that will help you grow into the leader you really are by transforming your "crocodilian" fear-based conditioning into "owls" — mindsets and behaviors that reflect your true essence.
In this bold, comprehensive book, Hylke offers practical advice for coaching yourself and others, both one-on-one and one-to-many, influencing the people around you to evolve their mindsets and behaviors to a more authentic place. Every chapter includes tools Hylke has successfully used in his work that you can apply to become a more truthful leader, both at work and at home.
With Taming Your Crocodiles, you can learn how to let go of fear, unlock your potential for growth, and foster a supportive environment for your team, in which presence, learning, contribution, and excellence merge. 

"Taming Your Crocodiles is a daring and important addition to the field of leadership development. It's personal, provocative, and practical. It challenges us to become radically honest with ourselves about who we really are and how our learned crocodilian fears are holding us back from who we can be. And it provides an inspiring, well-structured path to help us coach ourselves and others to let go of our crocodiles and lead from a place that realizes much more of our true potential." — Vijay Govindarajan, Coxe Distinguished Professor, Dartmouth College's Tuck School of Business; Marvin Bower Fellow 2015–16, Harvard Business School; New York Times, Wall Street Journal bestselling author

"In this simple but transformative book, you have everything — absolutely everything — you need to go on life's greatest journey to grow as a leader, not by changing yourself but rather by discovering who you are becoming." — Chris Ernst, Director, Learning & Organization Effectiveness, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation; author of Boundary Spanning Leadership

"Inspiring, thought-provoking, and comprehensive. Taming Your Crocodiles offers a compelling combination of process, stories, and practice. It invites us to reflect on who we are and how to lead ourselves and others from an authentic place. Including lessons from the great leaders of our time, it helps readers to evolve by becoming more conscious of their inherent strengths and more free from self-limiting mind-sets and behaviors. A must-read for anyone who wishes to grow their leadership to the next level!" — Joel Brockner, Phillip Hettleman Professor of Business, Columbia Business School

About this title

About the Author

Hylke Faber's mission is to realize his essence and help others do the same. He shares Taming Your Crocodiles to help all of us, including himself, take the next step in our endless journey to become more of who we truly are.
Hylke Faber received his Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration from the Netherlands’ Nijenrode University and a Master of Arts in International Relations from Johns Hopkins University. He served as a Partner at Co-Creation Partners and Strategic Decisions Group and as a consultant at Axialent and Towers Perrin, supporting leaders across multiple industries globally on strategy, organization, and culture development programs. He teaches the “Leader as Coach” courses at Columbia Business School and has contributed to Harvard Business Review. He leads two coaching organizations, Constancee and the Growth Leaders Network, and lives with his partner in Seattle, Washington.

From the Back Cover

"I do believe that the issue of fear is personal and that is why it is buried in the workplace. Taming Your Crocodiles is groundbreaking not only because of its structured methodology, but also for its courage in calling out the issue itself. I am deeply impacted by Taming Your Crocodiles. I can speak personally and freely on this topic because this work has liberated me to lead more fearlessly at Microsoft and beyond." — Toni Townes-Whitley, Corporate Vice President, Microsoft Worldwide Public Sector and Industry
 
"Taming Your Crocodiles is a daring and important addition to the field of leadership development. It's personal, provocative, and practical. It challenges us to become radically honest with ourselves about who we really are and how our learned crocodilian fears are holding us back from who we can be. And it provides an inspiring, well-structured path to help us coach ourselves and others to let go of our crocodiles and lead from a place that realizes much more of our true potential." — Vijay Govindarajan, Coxe Distinguished Professor, Dartmouth College's Tuck School of Business; Marvin Bower Fellow 2015–16, Harvard Business School; New York Times, Wall Street Journal bestselling author
 
"In this simple but transformative book, you have everything — absolutely everything — you need to go on life's greatest journey to grow as a leader, not by changing yourself but rather by discovering who you are becoming." — Chris Ernst, Director, Learning & Organization Effectiveness, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation; author of Boundary Spanning Leadership
 
"Inspiring, thought-provoking, and comprehensive. Taming Your Crocodiles offers a compelling combination of process, stories, and practice. It invites us to reflect on who we are and how to lead ourselves and others from an authentic place. Including lessons from the great leaders of our time, it helps readers to evolve by becoming more conscious of their inherent strengths and more free from self-limiting mind-sets and behaviors. A must-read for anyone who wishes to grow their leadership to the next level!" — Joel Brockner, Phillip Hettleman Professor of Business, Columbia Business School
 
"In Taming Your Crocodiles, Hylke brings his life's work to the page to help readers explore what makes them come alive and to show how self-discovery can serve as a road map to a fulfilling life. Hylke writes as he lives — an endlessly curious observer who leads with vulnerability and an eagerness to explore connectedness. If treated as a book to be read and retired, Taming Your Crocodiles is a collection of compelling and creative ways to unlock our individual consciousness and power. If, however, it is treated as a travel companion through the leadership journey, it can serve as a guide to lifelong learning and reflection. Drawing from his own experiences and the teaching of his mentors/heroes, Hylke offers questions and perspective to empower us to write our story alongside him. In this way, Taming Your Crocodiles can double as the story of who we will choose to be and how we will choose to evolve as leaders and citizens." — Kyle Angelo, Vice President & Executive Director, City Year Seattle/King County
 
"For your business to grow successfully, your people must grow continuously. To better enable that growth, they must be coached and, in turn, learn to coach others. This deeply thoughtful book goes well beyond Coaching 101 to the powerful 'art of coaching' that will guide and inspire you to a 'coaching culture' that becomes part of your organizational DNA." — Ron Bergamini, CEO, Action Environmental Group
 
"Taming Your Crocodiles presents a compelling and clear view into why individuals act and keep acting within growth-limiting barriers, offering simple alternatives that allow us to flourish and, along the way, enjoy the fascinating ride. Every time I sit to read this book, I learn more about me and how I become true to myself in front of my team. Highly recommendable." — Augusto Muench, President, Boehringer Ingelheim South America
 
"I have read many books and attended various courses on leadership during my career. For sure, Taming Your Crocodiles is among the top on my list, since it provides profound lessons on self-development as a foundation for coaching others and reinforces the need of having a personal purpose-driven path to keep growing into a better leader." — Gioji Okuhara, Board Member & CEO, Brazilian consumer goods companies
 
"We often wish we could get rid of the fears that prevent us from growing. What if we could learn to grow through them instead? Taming Your Crocodiles helps us reconcile with ourselves. Rediscover our true nature through an introspective journey made of questions and testimonials. Change perspective, so fears no longer drive our decisions. How would it feel to lead our life the way we truly want to and be able to inspire the people we care for? Taming Your Crocodiles helps us to become masters of ourselves first, so we become more effective in coaching the people we care for." — Sebastien Arrivault, Strategy Director, AKQA Portland
 
"Taming Your Crocodiles is helping me and our organization build a learning culture in which we keep enhancing our performance. Self-awareness, self-reflection, and helping each other grow are becoming an integral part in the way we work. This journey of bringing our fearful crocodiles under the aegis of our wise owls is deeply fulfilling. And it works, as we work the tools together: I am seeing a profound and positive impact in our organization. It helps us grow as individuals, as teams, and as an organization. And, above all, it's a never-ending story. When you are ambitious, want to perform better, and are also curious to get to know yourself better, you sign up for lifelong learning. And the rewards are magnificent: you are getting wiser." — Bert van der Hoek, CEO, De Friesland Zorgverzekeraar
 
"Taming Your Crocodiles touches the heart of leadership. It helps us to become aware of our greatness and what holds us back from it. And it invites us to touch the depths within ourselves, providing an inspiring path that compels us to keep growing and to encourage others to do the same. I recommend this enjoyable guide to anyone who wishes to get to know themselves better as a leader and as a human being." — Simon King, Senior HR Executive, Life Sciences Companies

Edition details

• Publisher: Ixia Press
• Publication date: 2018
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 048682084X
• ISBN 13: 9780486820842
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 272