It’s no secret that I am a big fan of Dale Carnegie’s – How to Win Friends and Influence People, and this book extends upon the principles in Carnegie’s book and applies them directly to any technical job.

Personally, I would still advise reading Carnegie’s book first as a business book, but if you have read that already and are looking to further your development as a leader, this book does a great job at applying a more niche approach to the concept of leadership.  The subtitle of the book is “An Organic Problem-Solving Approach”.   I would agree with that assessment.  Gerald Weinberg, the author, does a great job at outlining the differences between a technical leader position, and a traditional management position, and is probably one of the very few books out there who tackle those topics.

The book begins by outlining the concept of a leader, what it takes to be a leader, and how leaders develop their character.  He uses several analogies, such as his youthful experiences with a pinball machine, through the ravines and plateaus to which adjustments to his game where made, to outline how his later career as a technical leader would develop.

The leadership overview segueways into the topics: motivation, innovation, and organization which guide the central theme of the book.  He recommends keeping a daily 5 minute journal (which I have done, and agree is a great idea), notes it is important to recognize that self-confidence is a pre-requisite for success, and he also talks about the trade-offs between technical ability and leadership ability, and how to successfully motivate others.

The final chapters of the book outline the transformative process by which technically able people become leaders.  How to handle other people, who can and will, challenge your leadership, as well as finding time to continually change and improve yourself as a leader to maintain your position.  The ability to lead in the technical field requires continual movement and improvement, without which, one will fall by the wayside.