Mountain Brook father publishes 1st book with son

After Mountain Brook resident Mike Diamond retired from the Army as a two-star major general, the Army hired him to help optimize units going to Baghdad.

“The commander, about a week and a half into the mobilization process … he comes to me and he says, ‘Son, my guys are just not getting it. Do you have a training course that you could give [them] to get them locked into what they need to do?’” Diamond said. “I said, ‘Short answer: no, long answer: Let me work on it tonight.’”

So, Diamond created his first strategic alignment piece, which analyzed every person’s qualities and what they can contribute to the overall unit and placed them in a corresponding role to reap maximum benefits. He later used this same technique to create a training course for a software development firm and shared his process with his son, Christopher Harding.

“He looked them over and said, ‘Well, Pop, you’ve got this kind of wrong. He said, ‘You’re supposed to write a book first, and do the training courses off the book,’” Diamond said. 

So with the help of Harding, who is an active-duty captain in the Air Force, Diamond wrote “The Diamond Process: How to Fix Your Organization and Effectively Lead People.”

The book focuses on three main components: key drivers, which are the mission, vision and goals; the resources, such as people, equipment and funding; and the work process, or how to use the resources to achieve the key drivers. All of these elements are adapted from what he has learned in both military and civilian life, and they have applied to military, civilian, and corporate situations.

“This model is being applied as we speak in governments, in religious organizations, in families,” he said, adding that the system he first created while in Baghdad is still in use today. “There’s a lot of applications there with that.”

Although the book features many templates and charts to accompany all of the information, Diamond’s editor suggested making it more personal and relatable for readers. So, he included “General’s reflections.”

Diamond said remembering the stories, or reflections, was one of the hardest parts about writing the book, and he even visited old friends in Washington, D.C., for help.

“The things that happened to me over in Theater [of Operations], just by nature … we push all of that to the back of our brains,” he said. “And so it is a tremendously difficult past to recall that, first of all what happened, and then what are the steps [taken after].”

He also included Harding’s experiences as “Captains corners.”

“We try to emphasize the importance for a leader to get the organization straight and squared away,” he said, adding that he likes to say they should be “linked and synced” before focusing on the “people skills” aspect of the organization.

With his and his son’s insights, Diamond said he is hoping to “rid the world of bad leaders” and to help improve organizations’ functionality. 

Although the first book took four years to write and publish, Diamond said he already is working on additional books about becoming a better leader.

“There’re too many bad leaders out there, and I’m looking for this [book] to be a start for people to … improve their leadership skills,” he said. “For me, it’s time to give back.”

For more information or to order a copy online, go to diamondstrategygroup.com. Copies are also available at Books-a-Million, and Diamond will be holding a book signing at Our Lady of Sorrows in Homewood on July 4.