The Leader You Don’t Want to Be

Transform Your Leadership Style from "Command and Control" to "Transformative Visionary"

By: Mary O'Sullivan

Narrated by: Leonora Pitts

This book is a daring callout to today’s business leadership.

Mary O’Sullivan is throwing down the gauntlet by saying it’s beyond time for today’s leaders to throw out the “chieftain commands all” mentality and embrace 21st-century thinking. When this happens, leadership can create great companies with great cultures that hire and guide great employees—who then create great results.

Everyone has had an experience with a “bad boss” or an incompetent manager. Everyone knows someone who embodies the “bad boss” mode of leadership, and Mary O’Sullivan is pointing her finger at those bad bosses. She’s saying, flat out, that it’s time to change before it’s too late.

She’s tasking leaders to embrace change and transform their leadership into one that is respected, sought-after, and highly effective. “Throw off the tyrannical approach to leadership and open your heart and mind to becoming a change agent. Transform yourself into the leader you’ve always wanted to be. Your employees and your bottom line will thank you.”

This book provides clear, actionable advice on how to avoid the pitfalls of leadership rooted in old-school thinking.

In The Leader You Don’t Want To Be, Mary points out that, “Most often, people don’t know what to do about toxic bosses. The situation causes stress, anxiety, and negatively impacts productivity and engagement. And worst of all, many of these leaders are unaware that they are the problem.”

Mary O’Sullivan posits that when great leadership is born when a leader....

• Genuinely values each employee’s contribution to the bottom line
• Recognizes that the next revolutionary idea could be sitting inside unmotivated and unsupported employees
• Sees employees as real people with thoughts and emotions
• Respects employees’ ability and desire to contribute to new and exciting ideas and solutions

This is when leadership can create great companies with great cultures that hire and guide great employees—who then create great results.

Who needs to listen to this book?

• Executives. The leaders who want to take their organization to the next level by creating the inclusive, innovative, and dynamic culture that prospective employees are seeking today.
• Managers/directors. Those on the front lines who are running projects and teams and who want to do better. Those individuals who want to hone and refine their leadership skills to better prepare and position themselves for roles with greater responsibility, visibility, and rewards.

©2021 Encore Executive Associates (P)2023 Encore Executive Associates

Critic reviews

"Mary’s book takes her career experiences and brings them to the present. Her recommendations are timeless and valuable." (Tom Brillat, Mystic Seaport Museum Director of Interpretation, ret.)

"This book dispels the perception [of those] who believe leadership is … inherent in … [and comes with] their title." (Dorothy Mattiello, Vice President of Human Resources)

Many short chapters, depth to match

Not what I expected based on the title. Book is 25 short chapters on various topics focused around climbing the corporate ladder in large companies. The author spends around half of each chapter explaining someone else’s perspective on the topic, including fictional stories (1984, Lord of the Flies) then provides an example to back up her perspective. The stories come from her career in the defense industry at GE, Lockheed Martin and Raytheon as well as few from her executive coaching practice and news reports.

GE and Jack Welch are extolled throughout, and the conclusion highlights GE, 3M and Boeing. Each were great companies that were undermined by the financial engineering leadership approach of Jack Welch and subsequently his proteges that became the CEOs at each.