The FIRED Leader

To survive disruption, organizations need disruptive leaders.
So they hire them. And then they fire them.

It’s the open secret everyone in the leadership industry knows but nobody is addressing: leadership culture is toxic, and leadership systems have failed. Publicly, organizations say they want leaders to be innovative thinkers who challenge the status quo. Privately, conventional leadership culture wants nothing of the sort. Leaders deemed as ‘a bad culture fit’ quickly find themselves marginalized, ostracized, and even exorcised. The qualities that get them hired are the ones that get them fired. Yet, these rebels and nonconformists often embody the very leadership qualities that organizations so desperately need to navigate disruption and adapt to the “new normal” of constant change.

Radically refreshing and practical, this book identifies five leadership qualities (F.I.R.E.D. Leadership™) that are key to tomorrow’s leadership success and offers a step-by-step blueprint to show organizations how to integrate these five crucial qualities into their current leadership identification, recruitment, onboarding, and development processes.

Leadership renegade Paul McCarthy shows organizations how to reframe how they view their troublemakers, agitators, rebels, oddballs and shit-stirrers – to see the hidden leadership qualities driving those behaviors, and why they need them so desperately.

To survive disruption, organizations need disruptive leaders.
So they hire them. And then they fire them.

It’s the open secret everyone in the leadership industry knows but nobody is addressing: leadership culture is toxic, and leadership systems have failed. Publicly, organizations say they want leaders to be innovative thinkers who challenge the status quo. Privately, conventional leadership culture wants nothing of the sort. Leaders deemed as ‘a bad culture fit’ quickly find themselves marginalized, ostracized, and even exorcised. The qualities that get them hired are the ones that get them fired. Yet, these rebels and nonconformists often embody the very leadership qualities that organizations so desperately need to navigate disruption and adapt to the “new normal” of constant change.

Radically refreshing and practical, this book identifies five leadership qualities (F.I.R.E.D. Leadership™) that are key to tomorrow’s leadership success and offers a step-by-step blueprint to show organizations how to integrate these five crucial qualities into their current leadership identification, recruitment, onboarding, and development processes.

Leadership renegade Paul McCarthy shows organizations how to reframe how they view their troublemakers, agitators, rebels, oddballs and shit-stirrers – to see the hidden leadership qualities driving those behaviors, and why they need them so desperately.

PART I| LEADERSHIP IS BROKEN 1| DON’T SHOOT THE MESSENGER Tallying the Failure of Leadership Don’t Ignore Your Saviors FIRED Leadership™ Why I Wrote This Book Ego-Based Leadership Landmines Sparks from This Chapter 2| THE COST OF LEADERSHIP DYSFUNCTION What “Normal” Looks Like It’s “Normal.” That Doesn’t Make It Right. Perpetuating the Vicious Cycle The Price of Toxicity What We’re Missing Sparks from This Chapter 3| TODAY’S FAILURE TO DEVELOP TOMORROW’S LEADERS Drowning Out the Voices You Need to Hear A Glimpse of the Skills Your Leaders Need…and Aren’t Getting Things Need to Change—Especially When They Don’t Work New Organizational Structures = New Leadership Needs Sparks from This Chapter 4| THE 13 UNLUCKY STEPS TO LEADERSHIP IDENTIFICATION, RECRUITMENT, ONBOARDING, AND DEVELOPMENT 1: Introductions 2. Informal 1:1s 3. Formal Interviews 4. New Hire Processes 5: Onboarding Orientation 6: The Honeymoon Period 7: Prescribed Learning Pathway 8: Formalized 1:1 Coaching 9: Learning & Development Checklist 10: Performance Metrics 11: Performance Coaching and Mentoring 12: Annual Performance Review 13: To Promote or Not to Promote Sparks from This Chapter PART II| FIRED LEADERSHIP™ 5| FRESH THINKING Fresh Thinking in Action Fresh Thinking in Absentia Refusing to Listen to the Prophets of Doom Seeing Fresh Thinkers for Who They Really Are Identifiers of Fresh Thinking 6| INQUISITIVE NATURE Suppressing Inquisitive Natures Why Curiosity Is Crucial The Hypocrisy of Valuing Curiosity Encouraging Your Inquisitives Identifiers of Being Inquisitive 7| REAL & ACCOUNTABLE The Masks We Wear The Art of Authenticity The Art of Accountability & Responsibility Identifiers of Being Real & Accountable 8| EXPRESSIVE & CHALLENGING Seeing Your Challengers in a Different Light Expressive & Challenging in the Real World Listening and Inviting Challenge: The Other Side of the Coin Identifiers of Being Expressive & Challenging 9| DIRECT & TRANSPARENT The Games We’re Forced to Play The High Stakes at the Table Identifiers of Being Direct & Transparent PART III|CONTINUE THE CONVERSATION RESOURCES EXECUTIVE CHEAT SHEET COMPANION GUIDE: GIVING AWAY THE SECRET SAUCE (FOR FREE) Stage I| Setting the Conditions Stage II| Developing the Environment Stage III| Sustaining the Environment FIRED LEADERSHIP™ HACKS Hacks for a Culture of Fresh Thinking Leaders Hacks for a Culture of Inquisitive Leaders Hacks for a Culture of Real & Accountable Leaders Hacks for a Culture of Expressive & Challenging Leaders Hacks for a Culture of Direct & Transparent Leaders

FORMAT / ISBN / PUBLICATION DATE / RRP

Paperback / 9781788604833 / November 28, 2023 / £19.99

Ebook / 9781788604949 / November 27, 2023 / £9.99

Paul McCarthy

Paul McCarthy’s career in management and leadership consulting spans over 25 years and he has worked with almost 100 organizations across the world in over 15 different industries and directly with thousands of leaders to develop their leadership capacity, capability and competency. He has developed leaders in the UK, Europe, US, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Dubai and Sri Lanka. During his tenure with Deloitte and KPMG, Paul was positioned as each firm’s subject matter expert across Canada for both Talent Management and Leadership Development, often being brought in to speak with C-suite leaders on current and future trends, challenges and opportunities in the future of work and leadership. He provides advice, guidance and has real experience of supporting leaders and leadership teams through the process to adapt how they see the future of leadership and organizations, bringing a disruptive, yet evidence-based, experiential, and experimental approach that is beginning to shift the narrative within and beyond organizations.