Lateral Leadership

Getting It Done When You Are Not The Boss

Roger Fisher and Alan Sharp

ISBN 1 86197 723 9

ISBN 13 9781861977236

August 2004

Price £8.99

Paperback, 2nd edition, 240 pp.

Buy this book at amazon.co.uk

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Subject: Business Strategy

THE DEFINITIVE GUIDE TO GETTING RESULTS WHEN YOU HAVE TO WORK WITH OTHERS.

JOE: I’ve been thinking about this job and I know exactly how to tackle it.
SALLY: Hang on. First I want to know why we are doing it.
JOE: That’s obvious. The boss is dissatisfied with the present situation.
CHARLIE: Fair enough, but before we get started I want to get a timetable set up.
BILL: Okay. By when do we need to get the job done?
CHRISTINE: Before we sort that out, is anyone in charge of this job?…

Have you ever been in a situation like this? Have you ever walked out of a meeting thinking, ‘What a waste of time that was! I could have done it myself in a fraction of the time.’

No one can get everything done alone. We have to work with others. We should not need to negotiate with them to get them to work with us. Yet we cannot just tell most of them what to do or how to do it. People have different ideas and approaches. Collaboration is difficult.

Lateral Leadership lays out the detailed strategies for working effectively and productively in a team, from the early stages of a project and the building of a common purpose. It also covers the unavoidable conflicts of multiple views and work styles, describing step by step how to build up the portfolio of leadership skills that will foster cooperation at any level and get results.

A new preface examines how negotiating differs from collaborating, and the new appendix gives practical guidance on preparing to give a lead laterally when you are not ‘in charge’ – and when you are.

‘Roger Fisher's previous co-authored book, Getting to Yes, was one of the most useful published during my lifetime and sold over three million copies. With its larger ambition this book may do even better. It is must reading for those seeking to maximize their contribution to the constructive work of the world.’
— Charles T. Munger, Vice Chairman Berkshire Hathaway Inc.

‘Negotiation master Roger Fisher has done it again. Lateral Leadership is a highly useful, clear, no-nonsense guide to successful persuasion and influence. It should become the best friend to managers, professionals and ambitious people everywhere.’
— Rosabeth Moss Kanter