Writing a book has been an interesting and exciting process for a local author.
Having co-authored books in the past, Lisa Wilson's first solo project — Leading with Ease — is being released tomorrow (Tuesday, Jan. 10).
Wilson was born in Cochrane and currently lives in Porcupine. As a leadership coach and trainer, her book is based on one of the courses she's been teaching for about seven years. It focuses on the four foundations she believes will give people what they need to succeed.
“The first thing is knowing yourself. Because if we understand ourselves we understand what our strengths and our weaknesses are and, more importantly, try and accept those things rather than trying to fight them all the time,” Wilson explained.
Leaders should also be clear on where they're heading, she said.
"We want to know what the mission and vision are and we want to be really clear on that for the team so that they know. And the other piece to be included in that is your values. Your mission, vision and values create a vivid destination and then it keeps everybody on the same road following the same set of rules,” she said.
Understanding your role is the third pillar and is important for leaders who are promoted into a position and then struggle to understand their value.
"A lot of time when you step into the leadership role, you run and run and run all day and you finish the day and you have nothing tangible in your hand,” she said, adding that understanding the value they bring to the company will help.
“Last, but not least, is being able to … discuss the tough stuff. Basically the way I view it is if you and your team agree on absolutely everything somebody’s not thinking,” she said.
When writing the course, she aimed to reach new managers.
"But that’s not who ended up coming to the course. It was people who’ve been in the role longer. So they’ve been in the role five, eight, 10 years but no one’s ever given them a really clear definition of a foundation like this,” she said.
Leading with Ease is a knowledge book, not a self-help book.
“I’m sort of sharing knowledge in the book and yes, the idea is that they then come and take the course,” she said.
Having penned her first solo book, there could be more to come from Wilson.
“When you get into coaching and consulting, it’s always better to have a book behind you. I’ve been hearing that for a long time, so I’ve been kind of creating a book in my head but it’s a much larger book. So I was thinking about the books I read, the books from famous people,” she said.
After talking to someone in publishing, Wilson was encouraged to not do the big project first and took on Leading with Ease as a start.
“There’s a larger book in my head that will come eventually, but I have a second course that I created a while ago and that may be the next one that I do but probably I’ll wait a year,” she said.
Get a free chapter from the book and other perks by pre-ordering here.
