Originally published in the March 2004 Issue of Link & Learn. 

Been called a "couch potato" for spending too many Saturdays, Sundays, and Monday nights with the Giants, Pirates, Yankees, Mariners, Lakers, or Celtics? Can't get enough of the sports page in the local paper? While it may not be "heart healthy," Ed Gubman asserts that you may inadvertently be getting some first-rate leadership development lessons.

In The Engaging Leader, Gubman, an executive consultant and former Hewitt Associates practice leader, combines his passion for leadership with his passion for sports to take an interesting look at leadership through detailed descriptions of the successes and failures of numerous professional sports coaches. Gubman believes sports to be a useful learning laboratory for industry, and holds that pro coaches deal with the same challenges that we face in business: shortage of skilled talent, great mobility, and a workforce increasingly populated by gen-Xers and -Yers, and decreasingly of Baby Boomers.

This book's conceptual spine is an idea voiced by legendary basketball coach Tex Winter, that there are two kinds of coaches - Drivers and Builders. Very much like Douglas McGregor's classic Theory X and Theory Y managers, Drivers put results first, while Builders put people and processes first. However, Gubman posits that you can be a very successful leader as a Driver or a Builder as long as you do it well and communicate effectively. He suggests that engaging leaders of either basic style demonstrate versatility in their ability to employ the best leadership behaviors of both styles.

After establishing that Drivers and Builders can be equally successful, Gubman focuses on what he sees as the three most important areas that all leaders, regardless of style, need to address:
1. Selecting, developing, and keeping talent;
2. Exciting people about their goals; and
3. Building "chemistry" -- an environment with trust and structure that encourages people to work together effectively and with excellence.

Even if you don't know Phil Jackson from Dennis Green and you feel that the sports-leadership analogy has been done to death, ultimately, there are useful insights in this book for leaders in any arena.

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Susan Zemke is a Senior Consultant with Linkage, Inc., a global organizational development company that specializes in leadership development. She has a demonstrated expertise in strategic competency modeling; the design, development and facilitation of leadership development programs; and facilitating team development interventions for management teams. Susan's clients have included McDonald's Corporation, Sallie Mae, Federated Department Stores, Payless ShoeSource, Ralston Purina, DaimlerChrysler, Allstate Insurance Company, and Minnesota Lawyers Mutual Insurance Company. Susan has over twenty years of experience in a variety of human resource positions, including college relations, staffing, compensation, and training and development. Previously, Susan was Organization Effectiveness Manager for The St. Paul Companies where she led the organization in developing and implementing competency models for leadership, and core business processes (Underwriting, Claims), and implemented a competency-based 360º feedback process and an executive-taught leadership development program for middle managers. Susan also supported several business unit integration teams during the acquisition of USF&G Insurance Company.

The opinions expressed in this review are those of the reviewer and not necessarily those of Linkage, Inc. Any questions or comments can be directed to Susan Zemke at (763) 746-8188; SZemke@Linkage-Inc.comm.