Leadership on the Line book club questions

1. 1.

   Think of a time you were marginalized, diverted, attacked, or seduced while trying to lead a change. Which tactic was used, and how did you recognize it?

2. 2.

   Heifetz and Linsky say leadership is dangerous. Has that matched your experience? What has it cost you to take a genuine leadership stand on something important?

3. 3.

   What are your personal hungers — the things you want badly enough that they have compromised your judgment or integrity in a leadership role?

4. 4.

   Who in your life functions as a partner in the authors' sense — someone who shares your purpose and will tell you honestly when you're wrong? How did that relationship develop?

5. 5.

   Describe a sanctuary in your life. Is it genuinely sufficient to sustain you through extended periods of difficult work?

6. 6.

   The book argues that resistance is usually personal to the leader, not really about the issue. When have you taken resistance personally in a way that made you less effective?

7. 7.

   The seduction dynamic — being rewarded with inclusion or recognition in exchange for softening a challenge — is described as the most dangerous trap. When have you seen this play out?

8. 8.

   What does it mean in practice to distinguish between your role and yourself? How do you do that in a high-stakes moment?

9. 9.

   The authors argue that leaders must honor the losses that adaptive work creates. What would that look like in a change effort you've been involved in?

10. 10.

    Staying on the issue when people personalize the conflict is described as one of the hardest disciplines in adaptive leadership. What makes it so hard, and what helps?

11. 11.

    What part of yourself — the part that isn't the role, the position, or the title — do you protect when leading through difficult change?

12. 12.

    If you could give your younger self one piece of advice about leading real change, based on what you know now, what would it be?

How to run the discussion

• Pick six to eight, not all of them. An hour of real discussion covers fewer questions than anyone expects, and racing the list is what makes a book club feel like homework.
• Open with what people noticed, not what they concluded. Asking for a verdict first hardens opinions before anyone has heard each other.
• Let the disagreement run. The questions below that split a room are the ones worth the time; the ones everyone answers the same way can be skipped.
• Ask the quiet person a specific question. A direct, narrow question is far easier to answer than an open invitation to contribute.