Cillín Hearns is an Irishman loving his life in New Zealand. Author of First, Lead Yourself and Now, Lead Others, Cillín is passionate about the personal and professional development of his clients, and he achieves this through one-on-one coaching, group workshops, and presentations.
Giving back to the community is important to Cillín. That’s why he set up the Wellington Leadership Group. With over 2,000 members, Cillín speaks on a range of topics on everything from holding difficult conversations and giving feedback to personal effectiveness and high-performing teams. Cillín is also the director of an online coaching platform called Leaders are Made (leadersaremade.tv) which hosts over 150 micro-learning videos delivered by New Zealand’s top coaches in their areas of expertise. Cillín talks to NZ Booklovers.
Tell us a little about Now, Lead Others.
Now, Lead Others is a leadership book written through the fictional lens of a mountain rescue. It focuses on the essential skills required for any leader to build a team, regardless of the environment. The book follows Nathan Strife, who, initially excited to be in his first leadership position, is struggling with the reality of what it takes to build a high-performing and successful team. Nathan gets to see these essential lessons play out in a life-and-death situation whilst being coached by his long-time friend and accomplished leader, Fionn.
What inspired you to write this book?
Being a leadership and performance coach, I've been coaching individuals and teams on how to be better leaders and how to lead a team (even if the individuals in that team are disengaged and are carrying a lot of baggage from previous experiences from an organisation). Based on my own personal leadership experience and through the coaching conversations I've had with clients at various levels of experience it just made sense to put my thoughts into a format that is useful for others too.
I've been wanting to write Now, Lead Others for many years; however, there were two things holding me back. The first was the desire to write a book on how to set yourself up for success as a leader so that people naturally follow you because of who you are and how you present yourself. I achieved this through my first book, First, Lead Yourself. Even with the titles, you can see how Now, Lead Others would naturally follow on from this. A lot of the feedback from First, Lead Yourself was people loved the stories I shared throughout. This inspired me to write an entirely fictional book but with essential leadership lessons entwined making it an easy read and enjoyable to digest. Finding the theme slowed me down for a few months, and I actually threw away 30,000 words because the theme didn't feel right during my first attempt.
What research was involved?
I've been reading books on leadership for more years than I care to mention! When writing Now, Lead Others, I drew from my own interpretation of leadership theory and hard-won experience that I picked up over the years. I encourage my clients to experiment with leadership principles quite a bit because there are so many different variables at play when leading people. Every situation is unique in its own way; therefore, they must be able to adapt in the right way each time. This is a message I strongly portray in the book because people don't follow theory; they follow people. The two authors I drew the most inspiration from in Now, Lead Others are Daniel Coleman and Patrick Lencioni. I especially like Lencioni's style of writing.
What was your routine or process when writing this book?
My routine for writing Now, Lead Others was a little haphazard in the beginning, but once I got into the swing of things, everything came together really nicely. Thinking back, the four principles I used were to commit to writing a minimum of 500 words and a maximum of 1,500 per day. Some days I didn't want to write a single word, but committing to a minimum helped me to keep pushing forward. The other days, when I was smashing out the words, it was difficult to stop writing, but in most instances, I forced myself to stop at 1,500 so I'd be motivated to write the following day. I didn't always stick to this principle, but it was a useful tool to keep my momentum up.
The second technique I used, which aligned with the first, was the 'Hemingway Bridge'. I would leave a sentence or paragraph unfinished halfway through, so the next day, I knew exactly where I was and what I wanted to write. This worked quite well because I was itching to get back and finish what I'd ...
The third thing I did was record the number of words I wrote on a highly visible wall calendar. I was pretty honest with myself, and when I saw a series of zeros lining up, that was all the motivation I needed to start cracking back into it.
The last approach that I took was that I 'wrote for the bin'. This is something I learned from my experiences writing First, Lead Yourself. I spent so much time going back over every word and every phrase that I soon lost my enthusiasm for writing. This time around my focus was getting my thoughts on the page - I didn't care about the formatting or about what people would think. The focus of the first draft is to get the words down. This really helped keep the momentum going. Once I had it completed, then, I went back over it to make any corrections as necessary.
If a soundtrack were made to accompany this book, name a song or two you would include. (optional)
It's funny you ask this because I reference a couple of songs at the beginning and end of Now, Lead Others. Both are by the Irish band The Hothouse Flowers. The first is called It'll be easier in the morning and the second is called I can see clearly now. I reference these songs in the book to capture the mood and state of mind of the main character, Nathan.
What did you enjoy the most about Now, Lead Others?
What I loved most about writing Now, Lead Others was getting into the minds of the characters. I really enjoyed immersing myself in the scenarios and imagining what I would feel and say if I was experiencing this in reality. That's what made this book so much fun to write.
What do you hope readers will take away from reading your book?
My big hope that readers will take away from reading Now, Lead Others is the importance of putting leadership theory and principles into practice. There's a world of difference between 'understanding' leadership and 'knowing' leadership; the second one can only come from putting these things into practice and finding out what works for you and what you need to tweak.
What did you do to celebrate finishing this book?
I sat down with a glass of Baileys and a quiet feeling of satisfaction. The real excitement came when I got a copy of the book in my hands!
What is the favourite book you have read so far this year and why?
So many to choose from! One that stands out, though, is The Art of the Impossible by Steven Kotler. It delves into the simple things that we can do to perform at an even higher level than we believe possible for ourselves. He also ties in a lot of brain science, which I love.
What’s next on the agenda for you?
My attention is starting to turn towards training for an ultramarathon in the Tarawera Mountain ranges and swimming a 10Km race in Lake Taupō so less of an intellectual pursuit and more of a physical one!