job search notes: Catalysts drive action

the private sector in America needs buoyancy. At this dark hour, I commend the audacity of three writers, Jeanne Liedtka,[1] Robert Rosen, and Robert Wiltbank, whose new book, The Catalyst: How You Can Become an Extraordinary Growth Leader might just help to spark a return to growth as a topic of daily conversation about business strategy and government policy. Based on extensive field research and interviews of managers who have led their enterprises through extended periods of rapid growth, the book highlights a range of very accessible insights for leaders of firms that want to grow. I have watched the research for this book swell over the past five years and am pleased to find that the resulting presentation is fresh, bracing, and at many points, counterintuitive. Best of all, the book is relevant: rather than a scholarly discussion that is lofty and detached from the realities of business, the authors offer actionable recommendations, give intuitively appealing arguments, illustrate with inspiring real-world examples, and even lend advice on how to train growth leaders.

They write, “We chose the word catalyst carefully in looking for a good way to describe our leaders. Catalysts drive action. But there’s more. In science, the term catalyst refers specifically to an agent that is required to activate a particular chemical reaction. In other words, chemical catalysts don’t just make things happen; they make things happen that wouldn’t happen at all without them. They accomplish this by reducing the barriers that would, under normal circumstances, prevent a reaction. That is exactly how the growth leaders—our corporate Catalysts—overcame growth gridlock and the terror of the plug in their organizations.”

I recommend clicking through to read the full article by Dean Robert Bruner on his blog here

This kind of leadership is applicable to searching for work. Be a catalyst!