One of my thoughts as I started to read Get Your People to Work Like They Mean It! was why the word “leadership” doesn’t appear in this book’s title. I felt, in some modest way, that I had been duped into thinking I was going to learn something like “24 sure-fire ways to get staff to do things.”

Instead, I got a treatise by authors Evelyn Jacks and Jean Blacklock, the latter of whom is COO of BMO Trust, on how to lead people to achieve the things they are capable of and want to achieve.

By the time I was less than halfway through the book, however, I was more than thankful for what I am now sure was an unintended deception. Had the book been entitled something like How to Lead Your People, I might have dismissed it as another of those “leadership books” detailing the writer’s own narrow view of what it takes to inspire others to new heights.

To be sure, there is the requisite commentary of what it takes to be a good leader; however, many of the ideas presented are not found in many other books I have read on the subject.

For example, the personal vision that the leader holds for the organization, his or her team and, indeed, himself or herself is highlighted very early on by encouraging readers to ask: what motivates me; what do I value; what am I good/not good at; can I inspire others to follow?

Lofty questions for anyone, to be sure, and made even more unusual when one discovers that the target audience for whom the book is largely written is not made up of CEOs of mega-corporations but of middle managers with responsibilities up and down the line, as well as managers of small, entrepreneurial organizations (much as we find in most financial advisory practices).

I also liked the comments about leadership having to be earned through example, both inside the organization and outside in your personal life. That concept is extended to demonstrating leadership traits to people beyond the circle of those who report to you; in other words, setting an example in everything you touch.

More specifically, and as a further commentary on leadership style, the authors suggest following the A-B-C-D model, which involves being:

> Accountable for the plan;

> Bold and able to draw the best from everyone;

> Caring about the team and all the stakeholders in its success; and

> Detached enough to make tough decisions.

As one would expect, accountability is emphasized as being essential to effective performance. Leaders must be prepared to ask “investigative” questions when something goes wrong, such as: what happened; why; who is affected; when will it be corrected; what impact will it have? Processes for having open yet meaningful communication and enabling both individual and team decision-making are described well.

We are reminded that a manager has to step in and take charge to get things back on track if the team appears unable to do so itself. I found this an important reminder that some items will always be non-negotiable and that ultimate responsibility for any team’s performance rests with its leader.

The last one-third of the book addresses four specific management issues:

> evaluating performance;

> addressing performance gaps;

> managing top performers; and,

> connecting everyone to the big picture.

In assessing performance, the authors point out the importance of having the right information, appropriately filtered to exclude bias and prejudgment. Recommended techniques include feedback from team members and “managers once removed,” as well as self-
assessment, client feedback, 360-degree surveys and the input of professional coaches.

A couple of other features I enjoyed were the short chapters — each providing a nugget of information that often had me recalling my own experience in a similar situation — and the real-life anecdotes that emphasize the point being made at the time, along with frequent use of “Wrong Move vs. Right Move” examples.

All in all, I found Get Your People to Work Like They Mean It! is an enjoyable and practical book. It won’t create super-leaders from sourpusses and slackers, but anyone in a management role who wants validation of current techniques or who wants to learn a few new ones will find the reading time well spent. IE

@page_break@