Featured on Friday: #LeadersReadyNow Co-Author Matt Paese @mattpaese

One of the most challenging classes I took in college was also the most rewarding. It was an upper-level Greek class, and our professor pushed us hard. I remember dreading that 8 AM hour more than any other in my college career — and yet, I learned more in that one class than I did in most of my other classes.

Learning fast in a career isn’t much different: you dive in headfirst and just pray you can keep your head above water. It’s exhilarating and terrifying at the same time. And your ultimate success (or failure) usually comes down to one major factor — not amount of resources or tools, not the skill levels or size of the team, but the energy you put into learning.

The fastest, most powerful learning experiences convert fear and uncertainty into pride and wisdom.

According to Matt Paese, co-author of the inspiring new book Leaders Ready Now, that energy is the thing we need to keep growing strong and moving forward, not just learning more quickly but taking carefully-calculated risks that ignite a spark of enthusiasm in those we are leading.

Meet Matt Paese

Matthew J. Paese, Ph.D., is Vice President of Succession and C-Suite Services for Development Dimensions International (DDI). Matt’s work has centered on the application of succession, assessment, and development approaches as they apply to boards, CEOs, senior management teams, and leaders across the pipeline. He consults, coaches, speaks, and conducts research around all those topics and more. He is coauthor of Leaders Ready Now and Grow Your Own Leaders, as well as many other articles and research papers.

Matt lives in St. Louis, MO, with his wife and children. He currently is attempting to accelerate his growth as a husband, father, fly fisherman, pianist, and barista. He hopes to one day be “ready now” in one or more of those areas.

Connect with Matt on Social

• Follow Matt on Twitter @mattpaese.
• Connect with him on LinkedIn.
• Visit the DDI website.

Learn more about building Ready Now leaders in the webinar!

Discover Leaders Ready Now:

“Growing the pipeline of future leaders is key to economic competitiveness. Based on DDI’s work with over 1000 organizations, Leaders Ready Now provides a road map for companies who want to accelerate that growth. Any business leader seeking a competitive advantage in today’s complex global economy would do well to heed this compelling call for acceleration and initiate the types of learning journey opportunities for their future leaders described by the authors.”

—John McKernan, Former Governor of Maine and Senior Advisor, U.S. Chamber of Commerce

From Amazon:

Better leaders, ready now. It’s what successful businesses need to stay viable and what most are unable to achieve. The problem is not the absence of tools, technology, or processes. The problem is a lack of energy.

Growing leaders at the speed of business should be exhilarating, and even scary at times. Some organizations have figured this out, and are showing how more aggressive approaches rally business performance. It doesn’t take slick new technology or a clever tool. It takes boldness.

Leaders Ready Now challenges CEOs and Talent Management leaders to rethink lackluster approaches to accelerating leadership growth and to change the equation so that tools and processes don’t rob energy from the organization but, instead, create it. The authors take a fundamentally different angle and clearly illustrate how to transform your existing succession and development systems and grow the leaders your business needs fast and fully enough to gain the advantage in a complex world.

Check out what some of our Buzz Builders have to say about Leaders Ready Now…

• “Once you pick up this book you won’t be able to put it down. From the feel of the cover and pages as you first leaf through this book, you’ll sense the flow of knowledge.” {Read the rest of Paul McConaghey‘s review on Amazon}
• “If you have a hand in selecting, growing, and mentoring leaders in your business you will gain insight and an increased appetite for accelerating the growth of upcoming leaders in your business and coaching them to be ready by reading Leaders Ready Now.” {Lisa Kosak shares more of what she learned in her review on Green Thumb Leadership}
• “Are you taking responsibility for your team’s leadership development or leaving it to some off the shelf product or leaving it to someone else to do for you? I would suggest to you to take responsibility yourself and get the thrill and inspiration of this important leadership responsibility. Leaders Ready Now will prepare you for this journey with your team. {See what else Byron Ernest has to share in his Amazon review}
• “A fantastic and practical guide to help leaders be more nimble and effective in leading their organizations … A book you will want to read and refer to many times, packed with great information, advice, and strategies to transform your organization.” {Read the rest of Paul LaRue‘s review on Amazon}

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