The interview while condensed seems to have covered a broad range of categories, chiefly centered on business (what else). There was one question that mentioned specifically reading business books, which by sheer luck and coincidence my reading list happens to consist of. The question was "So you find that people make business more complicated than it is" and the answer was:
"No doubt about it. I think that all of us read far too many business books. I’ve worked 30 years now in management roles, and a number of times I’ve seen a new C.E.O. come in, and the first act is typically to get the leadership team to an offsite. And you get a consultant - because you can’t do it without a consultant - and the consultant then helps the team design a vision. And then you’ve got all these words, and several thousand dollars and a couple of days of golf later, you go back to the company to actually try to communicate that vision throughout the organization. So you hire another consultant to do that. It shouldn’t be like that.
To me, what Castro-Wright is saying is that if the business books say get a consultant, the new CEOs will get a consultant. If this is the case, then based on Mr. Castro-Wright's logic if the business books say CEOs to take their management team and have them jump off a bridge, they'll do it? Of course they won't do it, but I guarantee some CEOs will definitely think about it. Imagine the title of that book: "The CEO's Guide To Jumping Off A Bridge And Other Ways To Get Your Company Back On Track."
But I digress. Now, don't get me wrong I am not belittling Mr. Castro-Wright's 30 years of work in management. I have just about 24 years of work in management and leadership. I do understand where he is coming from I admire and respect that. Unfortunately, too many times I have been witness to some of the strangest and sometimes stupidest things that CEOs, field administrators, and branch managers have ever done and I know I will see that happen again in the future. I guarantee it.
What I am saying is, that no matter which are read and how you interpret it should not be a replacement for common sense. Common sense when used 100% of the time will take you places you've never been and gain you the respect you never had. When people respect you then you are a recognized leader. Therefore, when it comes to leading and managing people I am a firm believer in if it is not broken then we're not going to fix it. I also firmly believe that to break something just for the sake of breaking it, is also bad form especially if you are in a position of management and quite possibly a leadership you cannot afford to behave in such a manner.
We will talk more about this later but I do want to throw this out now to you: a manager is not a leader and a leader is not necessarily a manager. Please know and understand this, as the two are not synonymous but at times polar opposites. Like I said more on that later.
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