Jim Murdaugh, the president of Tallahassee State College, can also add the title "author" to his resume. We sat down with him after the release of his book about leadership.
The title of Murdaugh's book is: "Choose What you Want to Regret: Leadership That Matters." The author provides this explanation of where THAT came from:
"If I have to pick between two things and I really want those two things, but I can only have one of those two things, then I have to choose what I want to regret. And of course the story behind the book is all about teeing up that leadership idea that we must often choose what we want to regret."
But what - perhaps more accurately WHO - is a leader? Murdaugh says the term is a lot more flexible than most folks believe. So the advice contained in the book applies to a wide variety of people.
"Things that people can actually use, regardless of whether you're in a leadership role, or want to be in a leadership role. These are things that can be done in an uncommon way, in ways that you might not ordinarily think, that will improve the effectiveness of anybody in any leadership role: leadership at home, leadership in church, leadership at work, leadership!"
Murdaugh, of course, knows something about the subject at hand. He had led many organizations and won awards for those efforts. He has also mentored countless would-be leaders. He says he's taken what's worked best from those experiences and put them into the book.
"More often than not, people will say, 'Gee, I tried that piece of advice that you had and I was very surprised at how well it worked. Very practical stuff I talk about. I talk about meetings and how to give feedback, decisions, I talk about a number of things that are common but in an uncommon way."
Speaking of meetings, Murdaugh has some rather uncommon advice.
"Meetings are not just about the work! They're about the relationships, the ability to develop the people within your organization. And invite people to a meeting who are going to disagree. Wouldn't that be refreshing?"
And every meeting, says Murdaugh, needs to answer the question: who is going to do what by when? And then follow up to ensure it's actually done. From making tough choices, juggling competing priorities and building teams that work, "Choose What You Want to Regret" covers a broad leadership landscape. It also gained the kind of kickoff publicity this past summer that even "A" list authors can only dream of: showing up on the giant jumbotron screen in New York City's Times Square.
"I never really thought I'd ever see myself, first of all writing a book, and secondly having that kind of coverage. It was truly remarkable!"
About as remarkable as all the advice contained in Jim Murdaugh's "Choose What You Want to Regret: Leadership That Matters."
