Fired Up or Burned Out: A book review by Bob Morris
Fired Up or Burned Out: How to Reignite Your Team’s Passion, Creativity, and Productivity
Michael Lee Stallard with Carolyn Dewing-Hommes and Jason Pankau
Thomas Nelson (2007)
How to “take a hard line on the soft issues”
Many of those who get “fired up” about a new job, a new assignment, a new promotion, etc. eventually become “burned out” by it. What we have in this volume, written by Michael L. Stallard with Carolyn Dewing-Hommes and Jason Pankau, is a remarkably thoughtful and sensitive examination of the causes and effects of this familiar workplace situation. Stallard observes that, “Although people generally enter their organizations fired up, over time most work environments reduce that inner fire from a flame to a flicker.” Why? They lack “connection” with others, especially with their supervisors and immediate associates. As a result, they have unmet needs; more specifically, to be respected, recognized, included and accepted.
In this context, I presume to share a complaint I hear constantly: Being held accountable to achieve results without receiving any explanation of the ultimate objectives, much less an explanation of the given assignment’s relevance to achieving those objectives. Worse yet, not being provided with sufficient resources. And even worse yet, having no “say” about how the given work will be done. Jean-Francois Manzoni and Jean-Louis Barsoux have much of value to say about all this in The Set-Up-to-Fail Syndrome: How Good Managers Cause Great People to Fail.
Stallard asserts that “the lack of connection will gradually burn [employees] out. Organizational environments where connection is low or absent diminish [employees'] physical and mental health. They create a low level of toxicity that drains [their] energy, poisons [their] attitudes, and impacts [their ability and willingness] to be productive.” It is difficult (if not impossible) to calculate the total cost of such a situation, including its impact on customer relationships and retention of valued employees. The potential damage and (yes) cost of a group’s disconnection must be at least the number of people in a given group compounded by a factor of 3-5, if not greater.
Over the years, various questionnaires and surveys have been conducted among many millions of people, asking respondents to rank what is most important to them in a relationship with an organization either as an employee or as a customer. With very few exceptions, “feeling appreciated” was ranked among the top three…with compensation or cost ranked anywhere from 9-14, depending on the given feedback mechanism. Stallard cites one Gallup Organization study that suggests that only 25% of employees are engaged in their jobs, 55% of are just going through the motions, and that 20% of them are undermining efforts to achieve their employers’ objectives. He also cites a study of 50,000 employees at 59 global companies conducted by the Corporate Executive Board. One of its most significant revelations is that “emotional factors were four times more effective in increasing employee engagement rather than rational ones.” I presume to suggest that it is no coincidence that many of the companies listed on Fortune magazine annual list of those “most admired” are also on its annual list of those most profitable and many of them are #1 in their respective industry.
In collaboration with Dewing-Hommes and Pankau, Stallard carefully organizes the material within four Parts: “What Fires Us Up?”; “The Three Keys to Connecting Your Team and Lighting Their Fires: Vision, Value, and Voice”; “The Fire Starts with You: become a Person of Character and Connection to Ignite the Team Around You”; and finally, “Learn from Twenty Great Leaders Over Twenty Days.” Appendix A provides “Questions to Assess Organizational Culture and Connection.”
Stallard and his collaborators focus almost all of their attention on “how” when addressing challenges such as these:
1. How an individual, a group, and (eventually) an entire organization can establish and then sustain emotional connections others
2. How a clear and compelling vision can “ignite” commitment throughout the given enterprise
3. How shared values can nourish human development
4. How giving “voice” to an individual, group, and organization can expedite knowledge flow
5. How to become “a person of character and connection who ignites the team around you”
Of special interest to me is the material provided in Part IV. (That said, I must emphasize the obvious: The value of this material can be maximized only if the material that precedes it has been carefully absorbed and digested.) Stallard and his collaborators offer a self-improvement program that the reader completes with several “collaborators”: Stallard, Dewing-Hommes, and Pankau as well as “20 great leaders from various fields who fired up people by increasing connection.” These leaders do indeed comprise a diverse group. They include the Marquis de Lafayette, Ann Mulcahy, Ed Mitchell, Harriett Beecher Stowe, Howard Schultz, Frances Hesselbein, Fred Epstein, and Bill Belichick. (If at least a few of these names are unfamiliar to you, you will welcome the introductions to them in Part IV.) Over a period of 20 days (one leader per day), the reader is asked to consider what can be learned from each about firing up people by increasing connection (i.e. mutually-beneficial relationships) with others. At the conclusion of each profile, there is a follow-through section that will facilitate effective application of the given lesson(s).
My congratulations to Michael Lee Stallard, Carolyn Dewing-Hommes and Jason Pankau for producing such a thoughtful, sensitive, and eloquent as well as practical book.
When concluding this brief commentary, however, I do feel obligated to make one final point of my own: At one time or another, to one extent or another, everyone gets “fired up” only to experience “flame out,” if not suffer severe” burns” from the experience. That is true of Stallard, Dewing-Hommes, and Pankau and it is also true of every one of the 20 “great leaders” whom they discuss. What then? Long ago, Jack Dempsey said that champions “get up when they can’t.” In the business world as well as in competitive sports, that is as true of groups and even entire organizations as it is of individuals.
Note: Since this book was published in 2007, several other excellent books have addressed several of the same issues and I highly recommend three of them, also.
The Why of Work: How Great Leaders Build Abundant Organizations That Win
Dave and Wendy Ulrich
Be Excellent at Anything: The Four Keys To Transforming the Way We Work and Live
Tony Schwartz with Jean Gomes and Catherine McCarthy
The Progress Principle: Using Small Wins to Ignite Joy, Engagement, and Creativity at Work
Teresa Amabile and Steven Kramer
Ten “top tips” when formulating or revising career goals
Based on rigorous and extensive research on happiness in the workplace, Jessica Pryce-Jones and her associates at iOpener (an Oxford-based consultancy) identified what she characterizes as “Ten Top tips for work goals.” She discusses each of them in her book Happiness at Work: Maximizing Your Psychological Capital for Success, recently published by Wiley-Blackwell.
Here they are, supplemented by a few brief comments by me.
1. Make sure your goals are realistic and appropriate for you.
Comment: This presupposes you know who you are what you really want.
2. Ensure you have the right personal resources.
Comment: Fitness should be high on the list but seldom is.
3. Develop appropriate strategies for accessing other resources you also need.
Comment: For example, identify those who can provide the best (i.e. both knowledgeable and candid) advice, who have the best network of contacts, and who are both willing and able to be your “evangelists.”
4. Make your goals concrete rather than abstract.
Comment: Focus on specifically what you will do and set deadlines, rather on what you will think about, discuss with others, etc.
5. Eliminate distractions.
Comment: Distractions are most attractive when we must complete a difficult and/or unpleasant task. Much of what peak performers do involves what others would rather not do.
6. Make a consistent effort.
Comment: Be a Bunsen burner, not a sparkler.
7. Find the right environment in which to achieve your goals.
Comment: To paraphrase Teresa Amabile, know what you really enjoy doing and then locate where, with whom, and under what conditions you can do it.
8. Make certain that you do not have conflicting goals.
Comment: I highly recommend that career goals be thoroughly discussed with members of the immediate family so that (a) they understand what the goals are and (b) they are thus better prepared to support efforts to achieve them.
9. Keep in mind that time, energy, and effort must be invested to achieve the meaningful happiness you seek.
Comment: Also keep in mind advice from Tony Schwartz that effective management of energy is most important. Sufficient sleep, relaxation, and exercise are needed to renew it.
10. The journey toward each goal is often more important than achieving it.
Comment: I agree that the process is best viewed as a “journey” and for many “pilgrims,” its greatest value is derived from what they learn about themselves en route.
* * *
I highly recommend Pryce-Jones’s book as well as Arlene Johnson’s Success Mapping: Achieve What You Want…Right Now!, Simon Sinek’s Start with Why: How Great Leaders Inspire Everyone to Take Action, and The Why of Work: How Great Leaders Build Abundant Organizations That Win, co-authored by Dave Ulrich and Wendy Ulrich.
Srikumar S. Rao’s Happiness at Work: A Review by Bob Morris
Happiness at Work: Be Resilient, Motivated and Successful – No Matter What
Srikumar S. Rao
McGraw-Hill (2010)
Some of the most interesting material in this book includes Srikumar S. Rao’s advice re “No Matter What.” Using the extended metaphor of a journey, he offers practical advice about how to cope with inclement weather, barriers, delays, unforeseen threats, etc. His insights are best revealed within the narrative, in context and in sequence. After Rao provides a “map” to his reader and shows his reader the “road,” only the reader can make the “journey.”
In this context, I am reminded of Henry Ford’s observation, “Whether you think you can or think you can’t, you’re probably right.” Having read and then re-read Rao’s book, I now presume to paraphrase that observation: “Whether you think you can be happy at work or can’t, you’re probably right.” Make no mistake about it: What Rao asks his reader to do is very difficult (but not impossible) and very complicated (but not incomprehensible). “So, go forward with the thought that this is not a book to be read; it is to be experienced. Engage with it, wrestle with it, turn it upside down and peer into its crevices. If you expend significant emotional energy in this grappling, it will pay for itself tenfold or more in terms of the benefit you derive.”
At the end of each of the 35 brief chapters, Rao inserts a synthesis of his key points in the material just provided. I strongly recommend that most (preferably all) of these be reviewed occasionally, not because any of them are head-snapping revelations (nor does Rao make any such claim) but because they serve as helpful reminders that re-enforce each other.
Readers will appreciate the casual, conversational tone that Rao immediately establishes and then sustains. He makes brilliant use of direct address. He also has a playful (but not disingenuous) manner. He is especially innovative when addressing important issues. For example:
“Imagine that you are the great Director in the Sky, the orchestrator of all events in the movie of your life. You are a meticulous worker; every detail in your character’s life has been planned. But now you’re the character. Observe your life as someone else who is intimately familiar with every aspect of your situation – your thoughts, your feelings, your hopes and aspirations – might view it. See the drama and pathos as if you were the audience of a staged play.
“This is not easy to do, and you probably won’t succeed in your first attempt. Keep trying until you succeed. You will if you keep trying.” (Chapter 18, Page 116)
Note the proposed strategy of detachment that will permit a more detached, objective perspective. Note also Rao’s use of a dramatic setting that leverages pathos to illuminate as well as energize the given circumstances. Most of the worst decisions that people make are the result of excessive emotion or inflexible logic. “No matter what,” Rao suggests, it is imperative to be resilient and motivated to achieve success (however defined) and, meanwhile, “Be happy now. Know that whatever is aggravating you is trivial. Let it go.” Do not seek joy in your job, at home, or anywhere else. Release it from your heart and share it generously with everyone you encounter as your “journey” continues.
Those who share my regard for this book are urged to check out these books:
Tony Hsieh’s Delivering Happiness: A Path to Profits, Passion, and Purpose
Jessica Pryce-Jones’s Happiness at Work: Maximizing Your Psychological Capital for Success
Tom Rath and Jim Harter’s Wellbeing: The Five Essential Elements
Tony Schwartz’s The Way We’re Working Isn’t Working: The Four F9rgoten Needs That Energize Great Performance
Dave Ulrich and Wendy Ulrich’s The Why of Work: How Great Leaders Build Abundant Organizations That Win
Delivering Happiness: A Review by Bob Morris
Delivering Happiness: A Path to Profits, Passion, and Purpose
Tony Hsieh
Business Plus/Hachette Book Group (2010)
In this volume, Tony Hsieh (pronounced “SHAY”) shares all of the business lessons he learned from success and (especially) from failure prior to and then during his association with Zappos.com, first as an adviser and investor in 1999 and then as CEO, a position he continues to occupy after the acquisition of Zappos by Amazon in 2009. He has organized the material in this book as follows: “The first section is titled ‘Profits’ and consists mostly of stories of me growing up and eventually finding my way to Zappos…The second section, ‘Profits and Passion,’ is more business-oriented, covering many of the important philosophies that we believe in and live by at Zappos…The third section is titled ‘Profits, Passion, and Purpose.’ It outlines our vision at Zappos for taking things to the next level, and will hopefully challenge you to do the same.” As Hsieh explains, the name Zappos is derived from the Spanish word “zapatos” meaning shoes. The company’s gross sales exceeded $1-billion in 2009.
As I began to read the book, I was especially interested in sharing Hsieh’s thoughts about subjects such as these:
Why he sold a company he co-founded, LinkExchange, to Microsoft
Why he became involved with Zappos initially
Why he agreed to become CEO
What the drivers of Zappos’ extraordinary growth have been
How Zappos has differentiated itself from its competition
Why Zappos offers $2,000 to some of its new hires to quit
How and why everyone in the company is customer-centric
Those who have had the greatest influence on his development as a leader and manager
Why he agreed to have Zappos acquired by Amazon
How both he and Zappos have been able to retain an entrepreneurial spirit
Near downtown Dallas, we have a Farmers Market at which some of the merchants offer sample slices of fresh fruit. In that same spirit, I now offer an excerpt that suggests the thrust and flavor of Hsieh’s insights.
After Zappos was literally “saved” by a line of credit provided by Well Fargo Bank, Hsieh sent an email to Zappos’ employees, vendors, and friends. After citing the increased sales (from “almost nothing” in 1999 to $32 million in $32) and noting that the company is “on track” to reach $60-65 million in 2003, he warns against carelessness and overconfidence. Zappos will continue to be customer-centric, not because it has to do it to achieve shirt-term results but because “we believe that in the long run, little things that keep the customer in mind will end up paying huge dividends” to everyone. “There will be a lot of changes ahead as we grow, but one thing will always be constant: our focus on constantly improving the customer experience.” On this very special day, Hsieh reaffirms the company’s commitment: “Deliver WOW Through Service.”
True to character, Hsieh’s focus in the final chapter of his book on his reader to whom he speaks directly and frankly, asking tough questions and offering practical suggestions because he is determined to help his readers – as he continues to help his Zappos colleagues – to find their own path to profits, passion, and purpose…a path on which they can also “deliver happiness.”
* * *
Those who share my regard for this book are urged to check out these books:
Jessica Pryce-Jones’s Happiness at Work: Maximizing Your Psychological Capital for Success
Srikumar S. Rao’s Happiness at Work: Be Resilient, Motivated and Successful – No Matter What
Dave Ulrich and Wendy Ulrich’s The Why of Work: How Great Leaders Build Abundant Organizations That Win
Why “Help me understand” Falls Short
Cheryl offers: I’m reading a new book right now titled The Why of Work: How Great Leaders Build Abundant Organizations” by David Ulrich and Wendy Ulrich. This is a great book on a topic that, until now, has not been as clearly described or explained. That topic is why we all work. It’s not about money, although that’s always important. It’s really about meaning. We invest our time and our lives and want something back. Having a sense of purpose, a sense of value about our contributions is important no matter what the line of work. I was reading along in perfect harmony with the authors until I reached page 142 where I read “Help me understand. These words put the leader in a coaching stance.” I stopped reading for a moment. Perhaps for some these words invite dialogue. However, in my experience, more often than not I’ve heard students, employees, and leaders say they come across as condescending and patronizing in the most insincere ways. This does not put a leader in a coaching stance. When leaders are viewed as anything less than authentic, sincere, and trustworthy, they cannot be defined as a coach by my definition or as defined by the International Coach Federation. According to the ICF, coaching is a partnership which requires trust and equality between participants. “Help me understand” can easily be interpreted as a one up and one down relationship; that’s not real coaching. For anyone looking to expand their leadership capabilities and be a more coach-like leader, trade those 3 words for “Tell me more”. It’s definitely a trade up and this book is still a great book!
You are invited
Dave Ulrich
They will discuss their recently published book, The Why of Work.
There will be no charge,
Please visit https://www1.gotomeeting.com/register/695685256.
Details:
Friday, June 25th
10 – 11 AM (MST)
Reserve your place now and receive a confirmation email and additional information.
System Requirements
PC-Based Attendees
Required: Windows® 7, Vista, XP, 2003 Server or 2000
Macintosh®-Based Attendees
Required: Mac OS® X 10.4.11 (Tiger®) or newer
You are welcome to extend this invitation to as many other people as you wish.
Book Review: The Why of Work
The Why of Work: How Great Leaders Build Abundant Organizations That Win
Dave Ulrich and Wendy Ulrich
McGraw-Hill (2010)
Dave and Wendy Ulrich organize the material in this book within a framework of seven questions. As you review the list, I suggest that you begin to formulate your answers. Better yet, write them down.
1. What am I known for?
2. Where am I going?
3. Whom do I travel with?
4. How do I build a positive work environment?
5. What challenges interest me?
6. How do I respond to disposability and change?
7. What delights me?
The Ulrichs devote a separate chapter to each of these seven questions, focusing on real-world situations in which various people address the given issues each query raises. They characterize human beings as “meaning-making machines” who seek and often find inherent value in making sense of life. Such meaning also has market value because “meaningful work solves real problems, contributes real benefits, and thus adds real value to customers and investors.”
In this context, the Ulrichs introduce their concept of the “abundant organization” and identify its dominant characteristics: “a work setting in which individuals coordinate their aspirations and actions to create meaning for themselves, value for stakeholders, and hope for humanity at large”; an organization that “has enough and to spare of the things that matter most”: creativity, hope, resilience, determination, resourcefulness, and leadership; a profitable enterprise that concentrates on opportunities, potentialities, synergies, and fulfillment of a diversity of human needs and experiences; and especially when times are tough, a social as well as economic forces that can “bring order, integrity, and purpose out of chaos and disintegration.”
An abundant organization gives meaning to everyone involved by offering a spiritual as well as physical environment within which to thrive as human beings; their contributions, in turn, create a decisive competitive advantage for the organization while increasing and enhancing its market as well as its social value.
To become and then remain “abundant,” an organization must help its people to leverage their strengths and serve their core values, meanwhile doing so with their career objectives in proper alignment with their organization’s strategic objectives. That is the “Why” of their relationship. In this brilliant book, Dave and Wendy Ulrich also provide leaders with the “How,” the information and counsel they need, to create an abundance of purpose and meaning both for themselves and for everyone else involved, at all levels and in all areas of the enterprise they share.
Dave and Wendy Ulrich on how to get beyond engagement to creating meaning at work
Here is an excerpt from article written by Dave and Wendy Ulrich for the Harvard Business Review
Dave Ulrich
* * *
We like to ask random people in airports and elevators what they like about their job. Answers vary from “the challenge” to “the people” to “Are you kidding? I hate my job.” A few of the people giving these answers make big bucks in big companies and others sweep up after the people who make the big bucks, but neither position nor salary seem to have much to do with finding meaning in work.
Even in horrible work settings that are degrading and dangerous, some people thrive. This doesn’t mean they are happy about their circumstances, but it does suggest they manage to find meaning despite them. “Finding meaning” is probably a misnomer, however. Meaning is not a dropped coin we pick up by chance. It is more like fine pottery we craft. People have to create the meaning of their work and their lives, and that process requires skill and practice, not just luck.
Wendy Ulrich
Even in unfavorable circumstances, people can experience an activity as meaningful when it resonates with chosen values, connects them with people they like, raises their sense of competence, or gives them an “ah-ha” moment of insight. From what we know about how the human brain works, the ability to create meaning is also enhanced by challenge (solving a problem that is not too hard or too easy), emotional safety (fostered by friendship, fairness, and self-esteem), autonomy (structure but not micromanagement), and, perhaps most importantly, learning from experienced meaning-makers. In other words, we learn to create meaning like we learn most things — from watching and listening to others who do it well.
* * *
The Ulrichs discuss what leadership is needed and then suggest specific steps by which to get beyond engagement to creating meaning at work. They conclude:
“To paraphrase Nietzsche, ‘He who has a why to work can bear with almost any “how.’ To get the most from their employees, leaders should do all they can to make this ‘why’ clear.”
* * *
To read the complete article, check out other articles and resources, and/or sign up for a free subscription to Harvard Business Review’s Daily Alerts, please visit dailyalert@email.harvardbusiness.org.
Dave Ulrich is a professor at the Ross School of Business at the University of Michigan and partner at the RBL Group. Wendy Ulrich is a practicing psychologist and founder of the Sixteen Stones Center for Growth, located in Alpine, Utah. Their book The Why of Work: How Great Leaders Build Abundant Organizations that Win was published by McGraw-Hill in June (2010).
Norm Smallwood and Dave Ulrich on “the five rules of leadership”
Norm Smallwood
1. Shape the future. “This rule is embedded in the strategist dimension of the leader. Strategists answer the question, ‘Where are we going?’ and they make sure that those around them understand the direction as well.”
2. Make things happen. “Turn what you know into what you do. The executor dimension of the leader focuses on the question, ‘How will we make sure that we get to where we’re going?’”
3. Engage today’s talent. “Leaders who optimize talent answer the question, ‘Who goes with us on our business journey?’ Talent managers know how to identify, build, and engage talent to get results now.”
4. Build the next generation. “Leaders who are human capital developers answer the question, ‘Who stays and sustains the organization for the next generation?’ Talent managers ensure shorter-term results through people, while human capital developers ensure that the organization has the longer-term competencies required for future strategic success; they ensure that the organization will outlive any single individual. Just as good parents invest in helping their children succeed, human capital developers help future leaders be successful.”
5. Invest in yourself. “At the heart of the Leadership Code – literally and figuratively – is personal proficiency. Effective leaders cannot be reduced to what they know or what they do. Who they are as human beings has everything to do with how much they can accomplish with and through people.”
Dave Ulrich
Norm Smallwood is co-founder of The RBL and author or co-author of six books, including recently published The Leadership Code: 5 Rules to Live By, and has published more than 150 articles.
Dave Ulrich is a professor of business at the University of Michigan and a partner at The RBL Group and has published 15 books as well as more than 100 articles and book chapters. He is a co-author of The Leadership Code with Smallwood and Kate Sweetman, and of the soon-to-be published The Why of Work: How Great Leaders Build Abundant Organizations That Win, co-authored with his wife, Wendy Ulrich, founder of Sixteen Stones Center for Growth and author of Forgiving Ourselves: Getting Back Up When We Let Ourselves Down and Weakness Is Not Sin: The Liberating Distinction That Awakens Our Strengths.
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