Total Leadership: Be a Better Leader, Have a Richer Life

The title of the book may not describe fully what the book is about. The title suggests that it's a manual on corporate management, but it's more about enhancing performance in all areas of life. Probably one of the side effects of this program is an enhancement of leadership. It has many sections with action items and exercises that make the audiobook desirable also in written form, just to keep track of all the activities to be done. It is read by the author, who is a very good speaker, but is not a professional audiobook reader, so be ready for some imperfections.

I had high hopes for this book based on recommendations from friends. The basic idea of integral leadership that combines work, personal and family life is sound. however, I felt the author fails to deliver value on top of the idea.

First, his tone of voice is very annoying: unnaturally low, condescending, uninteresting. At times it sounded like he wanted to get over with reading or was falling asleep.

One hour into the book the author was still evangelising the fantastic benefits from his method. Insted of tellin me how great you method is, just prove it.

Last, I did not find any insights or value in the book. The methods are very basic. Probably useful for someone very early in his or her career trying to decide what to do with their life. The book assumes that leadership comes from writing you plan down, balancing priorities and executing. It's not so simple. You need to start with a good plan.

This is one of the very few books I did not finish. After two hours I realized I was wasting my time. I fast forwarded to see if the book improved but it did not. Very dissappinted.