Radical Inclusion Audiobook By Martin Dempsey, Ori Brafman cover art

Radical Inclusion

What the Post-9/11 World Should Have Taught Us About Leadership

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Radical Inclusion

By: Martin Dempsey, Ori Brafman
Narrated by: Alex Hyde-White
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Named by The Washington Post as one of the 11 Leadership Books to Read in 2018

Forty-one-year Army veteran General (Ret.) Martin Dempsey and 41-year-old UC Berkeley associate professor Ori Brafman have been friends for almost 10 years. Though they have almost nothing in common, their collaboration has produced a powerful message. Their new book, Radical Inclusion, examines today’s leadership landscape and describes the change it demands of leaders.

Dempsey and Brafman persuasively explain that today’s leaders are in competition for the trust and confidence of those they lead more than ever before. They assert that the nature of power is changing and should not be measured by degree of control alone. They offer principles for adaptation and bring them to life with examples from business, academia, government, and the military.

In building their argument, Dempsey and Brafman introduce several concepts that illuminate both the vulnerability and the opportunity in leading today:

  • Radical Inclusion. Fear of losing control in our fast-paced, complex, highly scrutinized environment is pushing us toward exclusion - exactly the wrong direction. Leaders should instead develop an instinct for inclusion. The word “radical” emphasizes the urgency of doing so.
  • The Era of the Digital Echo. The speed and accessibility of information create “digital echoes” that make facts vulnerable, eroding the trust between leader and follower.
  • Relinquishing Control to Preserve Power. Power and control once went hand in hand, but no longer. In today’s environment, control is seductive but unlikely to produce optimum, affordable, sustainable solutions. Leaders must relinquish and share control to build and preserve power.

The principles discussed in Radical Inclusion are memorable and the book is full of engaging stories.

©2018 Martin Dempsey, Ori Brafman (P)2018 Missionday Leadership Management Management & Leadership Politics & Government Business Military
Practical Leadership Insights • Thought-provoking Concepts • Decent Narrator • Valuable Inclusion Principles
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Marty and Ori do a great job of explaining through examples from GEN Dempsey's impressive career, the keys to effective leadership in the Military, as well as in Industry. I recall a Speech Marty gave upon his return to Heidelberg, Germany in 2004, where he explained that "My Division in Baghdad was assigned 20 Brigades - normally a Division Commander leads just four or five Brigades. No way I could direct the actions of that many units. I saw my role as providing a vision and guidance, enabling my Team to get the Job done, and then protecting them from that 6,000 mile screwdriver emanating from DC." This Book explains why old autocratic leadership models won't work in the information age, and why "Radical Inclusion" is the most effective approach to leading a modern organization.

Essence of Effective Leadership a Complex World

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Had to read this book for our leadership developmental course and I absolutely enjoyed it, had a rough start but after the first chapter I couldn’t put it down. I’ve learned some great lessons from it.

Mind blowing

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this book is a treasure of ideas on the future of leadership in the digital era

the future of leadership in a digital world

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There are some good take aways, but I don’t think it feels like a complete work. Things seem a bit forced.

Short. Worth reading. Not as good as No Time For Spectators

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Great chef d'oeuvre perfectly concocted to address the cracks and the failures of what used to be known as Leadership ( static for the most part). This is a great tool for our societies for many years to come, it is fitting for the diversity ( cultural, generational, technological) we are experiencing around us.
Great work overall.

The tools of future societies

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this book provides Keen insights gained through many years of leading many people. Bringing in the dimension of the digital Echo was really something to inspire the brain to think differently about how we are moving forward with organizational leadership.

Must read for all leaders and aspiring leaders

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Great leadership read.
Interesting bio on authors.
Opposites do attract and can produce an informative read!

Must read!

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If you want to build a successful team, family, friendship, pick up this book ASAP!

So nice I read it twice!!!

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Named as a foundational book by a business executive, I found this convincing about the definition, purpose, and benefits of inclusion and how radical inclusion has to be repeated, reiterated, and restated in order to create trust. What's missing other than a few military examples, are things like business examples of implementation, results, pitfalls, how challenges can be overcome, and how to track or test the spread of inclusive behavior and thought in your organization. The only examples of people that didn't fall in line with his concept of radical inclusion were described as having other issues, like drug habits or getting in fights. Weren't there any highly capable people that pushed back on what you were saying or how you did it which were challenging to contend with?

This feels like a long setup for a second book that talks about how. I'd rather be convinced and educated in one book rather than convinced in one and educated in another. You can pull several actionable ideas out of here, but you'll have to take the examples, break them down into their key characteristics, and then build up feasible actions within your business that feature the same characteristics. Ideas like creating shared memories, the power of physical tokens connected to shared experience, and repeating the same idea differently depending on your audience (at one point it's mentioned how well read Dempsey was and how he used literary experiences to restate ideas and I thought we were going to get examples of that, but no).

Certainly one book can't effectively teach all of the skills necessary to instill radical inclusion effectively in a large organization (risk, prioritization, communication, etc.), but the author, who is effective at all of these things, should stop anywhere the execution of his key principle requires certain skills he's developed and at least provide reference to materials that he used or that will help develop those skills in others.

Perhaps a business parable could do just that in the near future where a senior leader helps a junior leader in a branch office spread radical inclusion deeply throughout their organization.

Convincing on why without the how

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Excellent and important leadership lessons. I will certainly take them to heart. But the authors sometimes over explained, which is more frustrating in an audio book because you can't skim.

There narrator was good, but there were some very obvious overdubs that could have been handled better.

I recommend this book to anyone who is or will be in a leadership position. If I'd read this before becoming a squad leader I could have developed my team with more trial and less error.

Good but repetitive

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