The Truth About Getting the Best from People Book

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