I wrote On All Cylinders to share what I learned over 40 years as a consultant and leader of organizations. I have retitled the book and made some minor revisions to better describe what I recently used to lead a non-profit from closing it’s doors to becoming a market leader in our community. You too can make your business or non-profit even better using the ideas collected here for you. These ideas include time tested and scientifically proven tools for reducing errors, waste and costs and for increasing efficiency, quality, employee and customer satisfaction. Turnover is reduced while productivity and profitability improves.
I continually hear business owners and leaders express frustration with their personnel. There is not one organization I work with that first, has an aligned strategy; second, communicates well, has effective meetings, consistently makes informed decisions; third, works with people collaboratively; fourth, motivates with more than an occasional pat on the back and fifth, effectively innovates new products or services. Yet these elements can make or break a business. For example, a newspaper editor used the training concepts in this book to increase creativity and innovation in his newspaper and increased circulation in the process. An attorney’s law firm has improved inside and outside the court room and this author turned around a non-profit when managing a program ready to go out of business.
Most small and mid sized businesses that survived the Great Recession offer limited management training, not to mention leadership development. Entrepreneurs are so busy that any leadership development is through the Graduate School of Hard Knocks.The business community is being inundated with shifting market demands along with a wider mix of generations and cultures. Millennials, many of whom are proud of their technical skills and themselves, combined with Gen Xers who are eagerly anticipating management responsibilities and Baby Boomers who expect to be appreciated for their knowledge and experience, present dilemmas for many organizations today. As one executive put it, “Diverse cultures are no problem, it is generational differences that take most of my time. Millennials expect everything to be done quickly and Baby Boomers expect others to do things their way.”
I have learned that no matter what differences exist in the workplace, there are values everyone tends to share. Fair play, being heard, being in the know, being recognized for good work, equal opportunity to excel and being shown respect are important to everyone.
This book has been written to address 21st Century challenges of rapidly shifting market demands along with generational differences. It is designed to integrate those values within a system of leadership behaviors that develop collaborative and creative cultures. It can be pulled off the shelf or pulled up on an app to solve a particular problem. Or, it can be used to enable any leadership team apply all the system’s components and unleash the hidden power in their organization, respond rapidly to market changes and achieve greater business success. The choice is theirs!
Keywords
Entrepreneur; Business Management; Company Management; Business Performance; Workforce Performance; Leadership; Motivate Teams; Motivate Employees; Innovation; 21st Century; Response to Change