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What does the U.S. Marine Corps have in
common with the Marriott? McKinsey & Company consulting
group with the Home Depot? Southwest Airlines with Kentucky
Fried Chicken? The answer is deceptively simple: they all
attribute their success to the peak performance of their
front-line employees. But how do these and other widely
disparate industry leaders move from merely motivating their
troops to igniting the kind of emotional commitment that
yields consistently higher performance than their competitors?
In Peak Performance, Jon Katzenbach,
world renowned expert on teams and leadership, draws from
an in-depth study of twenty-five such enterprises from a
range of industries to show how the best organizations harness
and maximize the positive emotional energy of their workforces.
Pointing to a wealth of detailed case studies, he reveals
that in spite of dramatic differences in business priorities,
marketplace dynamics, and leadership philosophies, every
company -- whether airline, software producer, or restaurant
chain -- consistently pursued one or more of five distinct
paths in building and sustaining exceptional levels of employee
performance:
- Mission, Values, and Pride path -- characterized
by a noble purpose, a rich history, value-driven leadership,
and ample team opportunities (e.g., at U.S. Marines, 3M)
- Process and Metrics path -- characterized
by clear measures and focused processes designed to reflect
worker perspectives as well as performance priorities
(e.g. at Avon Manufacturing, Hill's Pet Nutrition)
- Entrepreneurial Spirit path -- characterized
by an abundance of high-risk, high-reward opportunities,
significant employee "ownership" potential,
and a hands-off leadership philosophy (e.g. at BMC, Hambrecht
& Quist)
- Individual Achievement path -- characterized
by a wide array of opportunities and incentives for personal
growth and individual advancement (e.g., at The Home Depot,
McKinsey & Company, Inc.)
- Recognition and Celebration oath -- characterized
by a high level of attention paid to nonmonetary recognition
and rewards for individual and group accomplishments (e.g.,
at KFC, Southwest Airlines)
Essential to the success of any given path
is leadership's commitment to striking a balance between
overall enterprise performance and individual worker fulfillment.
The book shows how managers can use the five patterns as
a framework of options for making choices about
- where and how to generate emotional energy
- what approaches to use in channeling
that energy to improve performance, and
- how to instill the discipline required
to keep energy and commitment at extraordinary
levels.
Filled with practical insights and frameworks
to help leaders shape their own balanced paths, Peak
Performance shows how to unleash the full individual
and collective potential of people -- at the front line
and across the broad middle. It will be an essential guide
for leaders in every industry interested in achieving and
sustaining higher performance levels than workers themselves
think possible, than management or customers expect and
than competitors can realistically imitate.
Jon R. Katzenbach is the Senior Partner
of Katzenbach Partners LLC, a consulting firm in New York
City that specializes in leadership, team, and workforce
performance. He is the author of Teams at the Top
and coauthor of Real Change Leaders, as well as of
the bestseller The Wisdom of Teams.
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