Genuine Curiosity

Author Dwayne Melancon is always on the lookout for new things to learn. An ecclectic collection of postings on personal productivity, travel, good books, gadgets, leadership & management, and many other things.

 

[Review] Fired Up or Burned Out

It's been a good year for good business books. I just finished Michael Stallard's Fired Up or Burned Out: How to Reignite Your Team's Passion, Creativity, and Productivity, and liked it very much.

The concepts in this book are sound, but the reason I liked it so much is that it contains a lot of stories that help illustrate how the concepts work in real life. For example, one of the concepts discussed in this book is about how to establish and maintain "Connection" in the workplace.

Great coaching

Stallard goes on to tell the story of John Wooden, a basketball coach, and how Wooden fostered a sense of family and commitment within his basketball teams (it's a great story) and went on to become one of the great basketball coaches of the game. Wooden coached some truly great players like Bill Walton and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar during their college years, and made quite an impact. For example, Abdul-Jabbar wrote of Coach Wooden:

"[He] had a profound influence on me as an athlete, but even greater influence on me as a human being. He is responsible, in part, for the person I am today."

The foundation of Wooden's philosophy was to bring together Values, Vision, and Voice and the impact was extremely powerful. He fostered Connection in everyone on the team - not just the stars, and believed in dealing with issues, challenges, fears and disagreements out in the open. I can't do the story justice here, but it's an inspiring example of connecting individuals into a powerful team.

Not-so-great coaching

Stallard follows this with the story of Howell Raines of the New York Times, who had a disastrous reign due to politics, favoritism, and inconsistent application of policies and values. He fostered Connection in the stars of the organization, but alienated everyone else.

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ruggengraat

I've just returned from a week in Japan where I was speaking at a conference on JSOX (Japanese Sarbanes-Oxley). While I was there, I visited with a bunch of customers, prospects, and partners. My goal in these meetings was to develop a more tangible understanding of some of the business drivers in the market so my company can provide a stronger solution in Japan.

In the course of these meetings, I was extremely impressed by one partner I met with - not just by what they do, but by how they have built their company. When we started the meeting, they wanted to begin by explaining their company philosophy to me - before we talked any "real" business.

They explained that, though they operate in a very technical market space, they don't hire specifically for technical skills or expertise. I was intrigued - "What do you look for when you hire, then?" Their answer: "We hire first for integrity and core values. We can teach technical skills, but we cannot teach integrity and ethics. Our customers trust us with their IT infrastructure, including things that have sensitive data on them - and we must be trustworthy. If we start with employees with high moral character, we can help them learn the skills they need."

I asked for a copy of their mission and values - which they really apply in their business (I saw some great examples of this even in my short visit with their President/Founder and members of his team). I'd like to share them with you - maybe they'll inspire you, as they do me:

Embracing a global philosophy

Here is an excerpt from the English version of their company brochure:

"All of us at [the company] firmly believe that having the strength 'to safeguard things that don't change' and 'to strive to see the things that cannot be seen' is essential, and that improving oneself is a daily challenge.

With that in mind, our philosophy is:

  • Cherish the immutable.
  • Enjoy in moderation.
  • Value the people around us.
  • Observe propriety.
  • Be attentive when communicating.
  • Persevere to the best of our abilities.
  • Apply imagination and creativity in forming ideas.
  • Share knowledge and experience.
  • Have an altruistic heart.
  • Appreciate opportunity and use a critical eye in analysis."

Very inspring.

Their results

I don't think it's an accident that this is a rapidly growing, profitable company (they've tripled in the last couple of years). And I imagine they have a very loyal employee base (they were training about 30 newly minted university grads in one of their training rooms when I was there - all hired for core values).

I think they are headed for greatness - and I think we can learn a lot from this approach. Another interesting benefit of this approach: the space they operate in has traditionally had a scarce hiring pool in Japan, but their method should be very insulated from that scarcity since they can create their own workforce on demand. Way cool.

Oh - and the significance of the title of this post? The notion that this company understands that you "can't teach integrity" reminded me of an observation I once heard from a basketball coach. He talked about how certain, uncoachable attributes made it easier to succeed in basketball. In his example, he said he could help players improve in just about any skill, but he could never coach height.

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Artistic? Want $500?

If you want to pick up $500 fast, just impress Lisa Haneberg with your artistic skillz. She's got a Web 1.0 thing going on with the current cover of her book High Impact Middle Management (a book I love, by the way), and she want to bring it up to at least Web 2.0.

You can find out more on Lisa's cover art competition here - this is your chance to make the big time!

By the way, I always thought this book should be called "Badass Middle Management" because it has some fantastic advice for anyone who wants to be more effective as a manager, particularly those of us "in the middle" of an organization. Another reason to love this book is that it takes you through an abbreviated version of one of my favorite topics: Goldratt's Theory of Constraints.

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Running With The Bulls

I just finished reading Run with the Bulls (Without Getting Trampled), by Tim Irwin. In short, I loved reading this book. If you're like me, you like when authors illustrate points using stories from their own experience. This book is loaded with lots of techniques, philosophies, and other powerful advice - all punctuated with great stories from Tim Irwin's life.

This book is a great match for anyone who feels stuck in their job (particuarly if that "stuckness" is related to your role as a manager), or if you feel like you're locked in, your personal development has stalled, or you feel like your just not stretching yourself any more.

This isn't just a book about someone else's stories, though - it's about techniques to help you live a better life, and work a better work. Among other things, you'll learn about several critical success factors, including:

  • Critical Success Factor 1: Self Management
  • Critical Success Factor 2: Relationship Management
  • Critical Success Factor 3: Forethought
  • Critical Success Factor 4: Dependability
  • Critical Success Factor 5: Resourcefulness
  • Critical Success Factor 6: Ability to Learn
  • Critical Success Factor 7: Ability to Change

Awesome stuff, well presented. Irwin's style makes this an easy read and his teachings will make it memorable. Whether you want to get unstuck, or get better at what you do, this book's a winner.

Oh - and like a lot of books these days, there is a companion site with additional material and tools - of particular interest: check out the "change graphic" PDF, and the Run With The Bulls online assessment.

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The Manager's Cheat Sheet: 101 Common Sense Rules for Leaders

Management is all about connecting with the people on your team. So how do you effectively manage a team? With common knowledge of people, of course. These are a few back-to-basics rules that will help you develop essential management skills. This list is an excellent resource for any leader.

A couple that resonate particularly well for me:

36. Improve your skills. Learning is a lifelong process. You're never too old to take a class or ask a co-worker to help you improve your knowledge.
45. Focus your energy on things that matter. Don't let trivial tasks take time away from things that are really important.

Go check out the rest of the list! read more

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