Crises provoke insight. And so it is with the publication of Balanced Leadership in Unbalanced Times by Robert Pasick Ph.D. As titles go this one is a winner, but the content is even richer. Inside is packed with the kind of insight and guidance that can only come from decades of coaching by a leading practioner in his field, Dr. Pasick.

Here are five things that resonated with me.

Find your balance points. The book provides insights into establishing routines that do simply allow you to get the work done, but also to find a point of grounding. This is essential for navigating the challenging times in which we live.

Have a dream . No use staying centered if you cannot grow. So, as Dr. Pasick suggests, find your dream and pursue. He relates the story of the development of the DuraHeart, a long-term patient support cardiac device, that is now undergoing clinical trials. It, too, began with a dream.

Know your EQ . As the saying goes, IQ gets you hired; EQ gets you promoted. The book provides insight into balancing emotions and connecting to others.

Be disciplined . This is a favorite of mine. Too often we think that if we try hard enough we will succeed. This is not the case. You need to be disciplined in how you balance what you want to do and how you do it – in your work, your personal life and in your community. Discipline is critical to getting things done correctly.

Learn to walk side by side . Too often our society rewards one upmanship, e.g. I am better than you so watch out. So it’s good to read of how Rob and his wife, Pat, also a clinical psychologist, have a marriages of equals. Their journey to Rwanda, where Rob and Pat taught government officials seeking to rebuild a nation destroyed by genocide, is a classic example of their partnership. As Rob says, “All of us have resources to share. All of us should look for ways to walk side by side with others.”

Dr. Pasick is a friend and colleague and so I am not surprised how well this book reads. But this book is one that is not meant to be skimmed; it should be pondered. The book’s design, complete with lined notes pages in the form of a coach’s playbook, complements the reflection process.

Get acquainted with Balanced Leadership in Unbalanced Times and restore some sanity to your daily life. You are in good hands with Dr. Pasick.

Quant rules in business!

But when it comes to management perhaps quantitative analysis should not. I always have thought this when I work with executives in a leadership development program. On the positive side they are trained to focus on metrics as they relate to their function. That is good when measuring balance sheets but not so valuable when it comes to valuing people.

Most managers know that people matter, but too often they do not allow themselves to connect authentically. In doing so, they make it harder to instill trust that is essential to gaining employee commitment. And in our tough times, all of us can use commitment. Here are some ways to think about demonstrating authenticity to your employees.

Think of people as contributors not costs. Managers are responsible for the productivity of their departments. Productivity begins with employees. Find ways to tap into their creative potential by engaging them in conversations about how they might do their jobs better.

Make the effort . Talking with employees is a good step but you need to follow through. Let employees implement some of their good suggestions. Find ways for them to exert more ownership and responsibility for the work they do.

Walk the talk . Do what you say you will do. Let employees see you sweating the details as well as pitching in with the heavy lifting. When crunch time happens, find ways to share the work load, either by bringing in additional manpower or doing some things yourself. Better yet, work to eliminate all but essential tasks.

A note of caution. Reaching to connect with employees must respect personal boundaries. Managers need not be friends with employees, and sometimes being friendly will get in the way of making hard decisions about compensation and promotion, even termination.

Likewise employees are entitled to personal boundaries. Some employees will share their life histories in a New York minute; others want to keep their private lives private. Maintaining appropriate distance demonstrates respect for individuals which is essential for genuine connection.

Authenticity is not a panacea for what ails an organization. The organization must still abide by basic business fundamentals where an executive’s quantitative analytical skills come to the fore. Ensuring that the function makes its numbers is essential to keeping the enterprise alive.

But when it comes to engaging the interest of individuals and motivating them in ways that ensure they will be committed to their work and their company, a leader’s ability to connect authentically matters most. Take a note from country singer, Wynona Judd who said, “When you are real in your music, people know it and they feel your authenticity.” Same goes for managers who are “real” in the way they relate to their employees.

The Economist called it “First Epistle of St. Bill,” a letter from Bill and Melinda Gates on the state of their eponymously named foundation. Like all such letters from senior leaders, gives an overview of what the Foundation is doing and what it intends to do in the future. Unlike such letters, it is folksy and personal as well as a distinct call to action. And for that reason, it is a good piece of leadership communication that is worthy of closer examination.

It covers the bases. In twenty pages, filled with photographs, the letter discusses the progress the foundation has made in its efforts to reduced childhood deaths, improve agriculture, eradicate diseases such as polio and malaria, alleviate AIDs, and improve the state of education in the U.S. Dealing with a multiplicity of problems is possible because the foundation funds the organizations who do the work on the ground. [There is also an accompanying PowerPoint (what else?) contained on the website that is narrated by Melinda Gates and provides additional details.]

It tells stories. The letter concludes with an anecdote about Cesar Alvarez, a principal of a high school in Texas that the Gates had visited. Alvarez had befriended a freshman who began high school as a gang-banger but is ending it as a college bound freshman. Intervention by Alvarez gave the boy an opportunity to succeed. It is only one of many, Bill writes, that he believes are made possible by aid from the foundation.

It provides hope. The foundation lost 20% of its net worth in 2008 due to the economic downturn. Rather than turn off the spigot, the foundation is turning up its gift giving, going from $3.3 last year to $3.8 this year. As Gates writes, “The commitment Melinda and I have made to this work is not dependent on it being easy or short-term. We make this commitment because of the amazing people we meet whenever we travel for the foundation.”

It stays the course. While acknowledging the hardships of many provoked by the global recession, Gates states, “I believe that the wealthy have a responsibility to invest in addressing inequality. This is especially true when the constraints on others are so great.” Those are words that John D. Rockefeller might have uttered since he himself spent the latter part of his life giving away his fortune through his foundation.

And finally the letter is very personal. Reading it you would never know that Bill and Melinda are the richest people on earth, despite their recent losses. It reads like a letter from two down-to-earth people who like doing what they do and want others to share in the good news. That gives the letter the kind of charm that a letter from a CEO of a public company cannot have. There is dollars and cents in this letter but much more sense than raw financials.

It is good that this letter is intended to be the first of many for years to come. Based on this version, it will be a joy to read subsequent chapters in the lives of two people who use their money and influence to make the world a better place.

Executives are hired to make decisions; the bigger the title the bigger the decisions. Decisiveness is essential to leadership and so here are some ways to nurture it.

Be deliberate. Consequential decisions require thoughtfulness. While there is pressure to pull the trigger, savvy leaders try to slow things down and gather relevant information before making the final decisions. Be careful not to impose artificial deadlines. Be clear on when the decision must be made and work to that timetable.

Be swift . Once the leader has the facts, or at least as many as feasible, he must decide. To waver is to stall and that puts the organization into paralysis. Again not to decide is to decide. So make the decision and announce it. [Note: there are times when announcements of major decisions must be timed for market or legal considerations such conditions cannot be used as excuses for stalling.]

Be accountable . Leaders need to stand up for decisions they have made. Our current economic crisis is notable for precisely the lack of people willing to be accountable and so the sense of personal responsibility is at a premium. Yet leaders willing to accept consequences good and bad are those worthy of mention.

While the public favors bold decisiveness, there are times when holding back may be a better strategy. Howard Hughes, before his mind was rattled by addiction, was notably patient in his business dealings, always holding back until the final moment before closing the deal. As a negotiating tactic, such deliberateness may unsettle the other side and make them partial to sweetening the deal.

From an organizational standpoint, however, decision-making need be swift and decisive. It sends a signal that the leader knows his mind and is capable of action. Ultimately decisions lead to action and that is why decisiveness is critical. It is seldom what a leader thinks that matters; it is what he does that affects the organization. Therefore, our management culture has a bias for action and disdain for inaction.

A measure of leadership, like character, is what you do when the heat is on. Two recent examples demonstrate what it takes to lead under fire, or not.

On the positive side, Republican Senator Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania crossed party lines to support the Obama administration’s stimulus package. As a result, as Chris Matthews of MSNBC have noted , Specter is very likely to face a tough primary fight for his seat next year. Voting for the stimulus package will give Specter’s critics on the right ample fodder to mount their campaign against him. Still Specter put national interest ahead of party interest.

On the negative side, Bud Selig, commissioner of Major League Baseball, stated that Alex Rodriguez (and others) “had shamed the game” by using steroids. Few would disagree with that statement. But Selig, who as commissioner [and with the support of the owners and players union], did little to stop the proliferation of steroids in the game until public scrutiny compelled testing beginning in 2003 . Therefore Selig’s admonition rings hollow. It is not what you say after the fact, it is what you do before the facts become public.

Executives can learn a lesson from Specter and Selig; leadership counts when the heat is on. We have seen this most recently in the financial sector with executives expecting and receiving huge bonuses despite their companies losing billions of dollars. For them entitlement trumped leadership. But leadership does matter, and if ever we are to disentangle ourselves from the financial travails we will need to face tough issues head on. When it comes to leadership under fire, here are three questions to answer.

What can I do? Crises have a way of narrowing choices. Your decision is not so much what do as how much do I want to become involved. For example, Senator Specter could have stuck with his party; few would have criticized him. After all, he is merely holding the party line.

What happens if I do nothing? While it may be prudent to lie back and wait for the crisis to pass, few leaders have that luxury. Leaders are hired to generate positive results, not simply for the bottom line but for the good of the organization. Letting the crisis eat away at the organization puts the enterprise at risk. This is the tactic that Selig (again with the complaisance of owners and union) took through much of his tenure. Look the other way while players continue to juice and the integrity of the game is eroded.

What must I do? Now comes the tough part. There is risk involved. Your actions define your leadership character. Specter stood up and was counted. Washington politics, as CNN’s political commentator David Gergen has pointed out , has a ways of “ostracizing” those who cross party lines. Specter may get the cold shoulder from colleagues as well as a tough primary fight next year.

Provocative questions do not produce comfortable answers, and that is precisely when leadership must be exerted. Leaders do not earn credibility by making easy decisions; they earn trust by making tough decisions that require personal courage and even a degree of risk. That is something to keep in mind as we continue to seek ways to keep our organizations focused in times of stress. What we say is important, but what we do is more so.

And so it may be wise to recall the words of Abraham Lincoln, whose bicentennial birthday we celebrate, who said, “It often requires more courage to dare to do right than to fear to do wrong.”