Off-Centered Leadership

Book excerpt: Find out what happens when companies stop competing and start collaborating. Off-Centered Leadership considers an innovative approach to business by exploring what happens when companies stop competing and start collaborating — both externally in the marketplace and internally in building a culture of communication, trust and alignment. Brimming with lessons on entrepreneurship and culture from the founder of Dogfish Head Craft Brewery, one of the fastest growing independent brewery in the country,members of his leadership team and external mentors from the worlds of business and art, this game-changing text turns competition on its head by showcasing how competing organizations can work together—and with other local businesses—to reach a common goal. The text dives into how Dogfish Head has blazed a new trail through the development of a revolutionary business model that has called upon musicians, community organizations, and even other breweries to keep product development fresh and create engaging customer experiences. This book documents and addresses the growing pains a company experiences as it evolves from the awkward early start up years into a mid-sized sustainable company with hundreds of co-workers. Calagione is candid in sharing his personal leadership challenges and success and calls on other seasoned vets inside and outside the company who inform and influence the journey of growth and creative expression Dogfish Head is on. This book is rich with practical information entrepreneurs and business people can apply to their own professional journeys. Competition has long been the name of the game in the business world, but what if there was a different way to approach business? The collaboration over competition approach to business has been proven to foster positivity, productivity, and, ultimately, success. By partnering with your competition instead of trying to outsell them, you could actually create a memorable customer experience that will have people coming back for more! Internally as well the dogfish approach has evolved and is not traditional org chart driven top down leadership. Calagione shared the challenges of evolving from a founder-driven entrepreneurial company where he was the sole creative and strategic director into a more collaborative collective where he is now one of many creative and strategic voices in the company. Discover the methods and approaches dogfish head has used to grow a rich diverse leadership team and evolve from a company basing decisions on the gut and whims of a founder to one with a more robust wholistic strategic approach in a way that allows them to stay creative and maintain their irreverent off-centered culture. Discover how ditching your competitive nature and embracing collaboration can allow you to better serve your customers Explore innovative solutions to the challenges that today's businesses face Consider how your company can grow through the collaboration over competition business model Leverage the experiences of other companies to truly understand how collaboration can contribute to your businesss success Off-Centered Leadership is a groundbreaking book that explores the power of collaboration within the business world.