The Offsite: A Leadership Challenge Fable

by Robert H. Thompson

Drawing on the leadership theories in the management classic The Leadership Challenge , Robert Thompson effortlessly incorporates these ideas into a fable of leadership and growth. Based on a company's three-day offsite meeting, we follow this tale of transition through the eyes of two former rival pharmaceutical companies creating a joint sales strategy. The characters ultimately learn how to adopt the five practises that form the Leadership Challenge...

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0470189827
• ISBN13: 9780470189825
• Release Date: March 2008
• Publisher: Jossey-Bass
• Length: 187 Pages
• Weight: 0.40 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 5.8" x 8.3"

Customer Reviews

The Fable Leaders Need

Robert H. Thompson says that the fictional characters in his book, The Offsite: A Leadership Challenge Fable, speak to him in his mind: and I believe him. As Thompson weaves the overbearing burned out salesman, budding young executive, motivational speakers, and even a gardener into his fable based on the seminal The Leadership Challenge by Jim Kouzes and Barry Posner, he gently guides the reader on a quest to be better than they currently are, not just in leadership but in life. Thompson writes from his experience as a speaker, workshop leader, executive coach, and one of the founders of The Leadership Challenge Workshop. He incorporates The Leadership Challenge's highly acclaimed five practices into the lives of everyday people struggling in their sense of leadership identity not to mention their personal lives. Thompson's characters invite you to care about them, understand their motivations, their fears, and their uncertainties. As a third-person observer you not only read the conversations: you know their thoughts. While not groundbreaking for fiction, it is revolutionary in the world of leadership. Numerous times one has heard the methods employed, meetings held, and the outcomes of successful leadership - but how many times have the individual's innermost thoughts been exposed? This book could be implemented as a model for churches seeking to help transition their congregations to new models. Churches that seek to move from event-based "attractional" models to service and "externally-focused" models must have lay leaders and staff convinced that a shared vision helps everyone achieve more for the Great Commission. In application, one realizes that the offsite meeting itself is not the target Thompson is aiming at in his work. Thompson provides a framework for instituting positive change in any leaders' life at any level in the organization. In Joe's transformation (which includes elements similar to the Apostle Paul's Damascus Road experience) a glimpse is offered that titles mean little for authentic leadership as he steps down from Vice President to a seemingly insignificant role. At this significant moment of transformation, Joe cries out, "Just give me another chance, I'm just a fake. I can see that now" (134). Whether Aesop or Thompson, fables end with a moral to the story. Thompson teaches that servant leaders who listen and model authenticity find the success everyone else is desperately seeking. This is a lesson pastors desperately need to hear in multiple formats including the use of fiction to drive home the point. I found this book to be easy to read and hard to put down. For me this book is the icing on the cake of the excellent The Leadership Challenge and should be read by anyone willing to challenge themselves to greater leadership.

The Offsite, A Leadership Challenge Fable

There are times when it's just more interesting to read a fictional book that you can learn from rather than another "leadership" instructional book. Robert Thompson does a fabulous job of creating characters and situations that are so real that you can relate to them and learn from them, and be entertained at the same time. Just a great read!! Lyn St. James

Thompson joins Spencer Johnson and Patrick Lencioni has management educator

Being a student of management and leadership can be fun but you need the right teacher. Spencer Johnson gave us "Who Moved My Cheese?" and "The One Minute Manager" among others. Patrick Lencioni educated us with "The Five Dysfunctions of a Team." Now, Robert Thompson joins the fable tellers with a precious look at who leads and who follows. We have all met aspects of the personalities Mr. Thompson has created. But, the author helps us understand these folks. This understanding enables us to capitalize on our most important resources-each other.

The Offsite: A Fun Read

The Offsite is a well written fable that takes you to the Mariposa Resort in Arizona on a company offsite. Robert, the author, has a gift for creating real characters. These characters are like the people that I meet and work with in my training business every day. I warmed up to Gwen and related to her leadership and life challenges. Gordon, Joe, Charlie. . . .they all came to life as I sped through the book anxious to see what they were going to be up to next. I really enjoyed reading this book!

This book is so Robert!

I LOVED "The Offsite" and could hear Robert's voice with every word. His enthusiasm for what he does and more importantly, how he does it, resonated throughout the book. It brought back very fond memories of the hard work and good learnings I enjoyed as a participant in Mr. Thompson's workshops/offsites. I can't tell you when I last read a book on leadership that I couldn't put down. His stuff is for real, not dry textbook material. The "in person" Robert is just like the book -- only better!! ENJOY!!