The Truth About Getting the Best from People

by Finney, Martha I.

• ISBN13: 9780132354912
• ISBN10: 0132354918
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2008-01-01
• Publisher: Ft Pr

Summary

The Truth About Series offers in each book the collected and distilled knowledge on a topic and how you can use this knowledge in your daily life. With an "aha" on every page, information is presented in a clear and accessible style that the reader can easily reference. Written in short chapters, each book aims to cover an entire field of knowledge, cut to the gist of each subject in an entertaining way, and when necessary, pull the curtain back and pop the bubble of commonly held assumptions. Each Truth is a tool to make you more successful. Creating and leading a team of self-motivated individual contributors who love their jobs is a learnable skill that has traceable and measurable results on the bottom line. Employee engagement is not an exotic piece of magic available only to the specially anointed and the lavishly budgeted. It's within everyone's grasp, no matter the budget or the industry. This is the book for people who have asked the questions: What if I don't have money for the special, presumably discretionary doo-dads that keep employees cheerful on the job?; Isn't employee engagement a popularity contest that's won only by leaders loaded with charisma and some kind of magic mojo that makes people follow them anywhere?; Aren't people basically lazy losers who would rather be fishing, doing dishes, anywhere but here?

Table of Contents

Introduction	p. ix
The Truth About Employee Engagement
You don't need the carrot or the stick	p. 1
You get the best by giving the best	p. 5
It's not money that motivates	p. 9
Employee engagement isn't for sissies	p. 13
The Truth About Yourself
Your behaviors are your brand	p. 17
You can't give what you don't have	p. 21
"Best" doesn't mean the same thing to everyone	p. 25
Think you're a great leader? Think again	p. 29
You could be your own worst employee	p. 33
Visionary or beat cop? Your choice	p. 37
You don't have to be perfect	p. 41
The Truth About Engaged Cultures
Employee happiness is serious business	p. 45
Authentic is better than clever	p. 49
Retention begins with hello	p. 53
The bad will do you good	p. 57
You can sell an unpopular decision	p. 61
Flex is best	p. 65
Nobody cares if you don't mean to be mean	p. 69
The Truth About Motivation
Engagement happens one person at a time	p. 73
If you're a manager, you're a career coach	p. 77
Ask for cheese-you might get the moon	p. 81
If they aren't buying it, they aren't doing it	p. 85
Focusing on what's right can help solve what's wrong	p. 89
The Truth About Performance
Compassion promotes performance	p. 93
B players are your A team	p. 97
High performers have enough coffee mugs	p. 101
Discipline deepens engagement	p. 105
You don't have to inherit the problem employees	p. 109
Performance appraisals are really about you	p. 113
New hires can inspire current employees	p. 117
The Truth About Creativity
Innovation begins with y-e-s	p. 121
Everyone can be creative	p. 125
You stand between inspiration and implementation	p. 129
Failures promote progress	p. 133
Extreme pressure kills inspired performance	p. 137
Creativity is a balancing act	p. 141
The Truth About Communication
Open questions ignite inspiring answers	p. 145
Serving your employees means managing your boss	p. 149
Bad news is good news	p. 153
Trivial conversations are essential	p. 157
The way you listen speaks volumes	p. 161
Crap happens	p. 165
Engaged employees need to know more	p. 169
The Truth About Teams
Your team has untapped talent	p. 173
People need to fight their own battles	p. 177
Games don't build teams	p. 181
Answers build teams	p. 185
Your team can lead you to greatness	p. 189
You're still the boss	p. 193
References	p. 197
About the Author	p. 198
Table of Contents provided by Ingram. All Rights Reserved.

Excerpts

Introduction IntroductionAs a people leader, your job is simple: You are the link between organizational mission-critical objectives and the effort your employees invest in achieving those objectives. And you just have to keep those two pieces working together smoothly. See? Easy.Yeah, right. As a people leader, your job is to inspire your employees to bring their personal greatness to work every day and to invest their best in your business. And thatrs"s a hard job. Itrs"s an emotional roller coaster. You experience the exquisite highs of engagement and teamwork when everyone is pulling together. Your heart breaks when you have to make really tough decisions that negatively affect the personal lives and well-being of people you truly care about. And it can be absolutely frightening when yours"re dealing with hair-trigger personalities who really donrs"t belong in a safe workplace.But even more routinely--and just as challenging, if not more so--you have to deal with yourself and your beliefs about life, about people, and about motivation and trust. Every day. Even on the ho-hum days. And thatrs"s when we get down to some pretty simple principles. Although this book by no means trivializes all the behaviors and beliefs that go into bringing out the greatness in your employees, the material yours"ll discover in these pages is based on a few very accessible assumptions: People leaders discover that leading is impossible when they forget that theyrs"re people first. It may be paradoxical, but nothing makes a person come face to face with real--or perceived--limitations faster than a promotion into a managerial spot. On the outside you may be projecting, "Can do!" (or at least hoping you are), but on the inside you may be saying, "Uh oh, what have I gotten myself into?" Your first managerial assignment? Manage yourself into keeping in mind that yours"re not expected to be perfect. Yours"re just expected to reach a little further for some brand new stretch goals. Most people want to do good work in a job they love. Marketing consultant (and former Senior Vice President of Marketing for Starbucks) Scott Bedbury speaks about what he calls the "Five Human Truths." We need to be understood, feel special, feel as though we belong, feel that wers"re in control, and know that we have the chance to reach our potential. Although these feelings may not necessarily be what we want from a cup of coffee, theyrs"re certainly what we want almost universally from the work we do. (But ask me at 4 in the morning when Irs"m cranking against deadlines, and I may have a different answer for you.) Great people leaders donrs"t have to be clever, complicated, politically astute, or even especially wise. But they do have to be kind, honest, focused, positive, and authentic. If your company is committed to supporting you as you cultivate a grounded, authentic, compelling leadership style, you will see first-hand that creating great employees isnrs"t about being magically charismatic. Itrs"s about being you. There is no "u" in team, but there should be. As a people leader, yours"re also a team member. Sometimes yours"re the coach; in fact, you might often think of yourself in the top leadership spot. But yours"re also the water carrier. And if your team is working so well and independently that all they need is a regular infusion of refreshment, thatrs"s a great position for you to play.Enjoy this book. When you learn that creating great employees can be fun and personally rewarding, the first great employee yours"ll create will be yourself.