Case of the Missing Cutlery

Book excerpt: Kevin Allen, author of the Wall Street Journal best-selling The Hidden Agenda: A Proven Way to Win Business and Create a Following, is back, with a fabulously entertaining (and true) tale of a newly minted leader made buoyant during The Case of the Missing Cutlery: A Leadership Course for the Rising Star. As a young manager at an airline catering facility, Kevin had to find out why silverware was disappearing at a rapid clip. The route to solving this mystery of The Case of the Missing Cutlery results in Kevin learning to rise to the occasion, to become a leader who inspires followers and is able to rely on their hard work and support. For those who might find reading about leadership success at the Fortune 50 level inspiring but too far removed from their experience, the author offers up this down-to-earth story of an everyday employee turned rising star. The Case of the Missing Cutlery also provides exercises and further examples to bring the leadership messages home. [This edition contains content previously published as The Buoyant Leader.]