Chess Not Checkers: Elevate Your Leadership Game (The High Performance Series)

The international bestselling coauthor of The Secret shares essential lessons for changing your leadership strategy as your business evolves.

As organizations grow in volume and complexity, the demands on leadership change. The same old moves won't cut it any more. In Chess Not Checkers, Mark Miller tells the story of Blake Brown, newly appointed CEO of a company troubled by poor performance and low morale. Nothing Blake learned from his previous roles seems to help him deal with the issues he now faces. The problem, his new mentor points out, is Blake is playing the wrong game.

The early days of an organization are like checkers: a quickly played game with mostly interchangeable pieces. Everybody, the leader included, does a little bit of everything. But as the organization expands, you can't just keep jumping from activity to activity. You have to think strategically, plan ahead, and leverage every employee's specific talents—that's chess. At that point, continuing to play checkers is a sure way to lose.

On his journey, Blake learns four essential strategies from the game of chess that transform his leadership and his organization. The result: unprecedented performance!

Mark Miller is the author of five books, including two with Ken Blanchard. In addition to his books, he serves leaders through his blog: GreatLeadersServe.com. The site is rated as one of the top leadership blogs in the world. Miller also sells chicken. He started his Chick-fil-A career working as an hourly team member and today serves as the vice president charged with leadership development for the organization.