Leadership and Self-Deception

By Arbinger Institute,

Book cover of Leadership and Self-Deception: Getting Out of the Box

Book description

This third edition of an international bestseller--over 2 million copies sold worldwide and translated into 33 languages--details how its powerful insights on motivation, conflict, and collaboration can benefit organizations as well as individuals.

Since its original publication in 2000, Leadership and Self-Deception has become an international word-of-mouth phenomenon. Rather than…

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Why read it?

4 authors picked Leadership and Self-Deception as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?

Leadership & Self-Deception is an essential lesson presented through a narrative about the triumphs and tribulations of a business leader. The story highlights a universal challenge—falling into a self-centered mindset, dubbed "being in the box" by the authors.

The book navigates through scenarios that confront readers' perceptions of personal relationships and problem-solving, often prompting uncomfortable introspection. However, its engaging narrative style effectively communicates enduring insights.

Within our organization, we recommend this book to all team members as a foundational resource for developing self-awareness, communication skills, and leadership abilities.

From Brian's list on books for a wandering eclectic mind.

I love this book because I routinely see blind spots get in the way of leaders’ performance and effectiveness.

These leaders are blind to how they are perceived or to their ineffective behaviors. The reason is simple – most of us don’t investigate and uncover the hidden perspectives we embody; the deeply reactive, repetitive response we have day-in and day-out, or understand the brilliant defense mechanisms we’ve built. 

The reason I love this book is because it’s easy to read and the concept is simple, but profound. The authors explain clearly why forcing ourselves to look at our blind spots…

This book, all about being in and getting out of “the box,” can profoundly change the way we deal with ourselves and others.

We get “in the box” when we deny our spiritual instinct to help another person. Being “in the box” leads us to treat others as objects—something we all hate.

Getting out of the box allows us to treat each other as human beings and children of God.

This book will give you a much-needed “kick in the keister” as my grandfather would say. It helps you identify the specific way that you are “in the box” of distorted thinking and blaming other people (or yourself) when things don’t go according to plan. This book won’t leave you in the box, though, it offers ways out so that you can start to see your part in the “people problems” around you and change those dynamics completely. You can read this one like fiction because it’s told in a business fable style. I found that made it a delightful…

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