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In the Second Edition of the successful book, The Truth About Getting the Best From People, Martha Finney shares over 60 proven principles for achieving employee engagement one-hundred percent of the time. This new edition features more than 15 new truths including: managing virtual teams, building persuasive skills, tuning into your own unconscious biases, managing multiple generations, and identifying and cultivating individual high performers.
Introduction xi
PART I The Truth About Employee Engagement
Truth 1 You don’t need the carrot or the stick 1
Truth 2 You have direct infl uence over your employees’ passion quotient 4
Truth 3 You get the best by giving the best 8
Truth 4 It’s not money that motivates 11
Truth 5 Employment engagement isn’t for sissies 15
Truth 6 Real engagement gains happen after survey scores come in 19
PART II The Truth About Yourself
Truth 7 Your behaviors are your brand 23
Truth 8 You can’t give what you don’t have 26
Truth 9 “Best” doesn’t mean the same thing to everyone 30
Truth 10 Think you’re a great leader? Think again 34
Truth 11 You could be your own worst employee 38
Truth 12 Visionary or beat cop? Your choice 41
Truth 13 Your health may be compromising your leadership eff ectiveness 44
Truth 14 You don’t have to be perfect 48
Truth 15 Your career can recover from an engagement hit 52
PART III The Truth About Engaged Cultures
Truth 16 Employee happiness is serious business 55
Truth 17 Great leaders make their people cry 58
Truth 18 Better questions lead to better answers 61
Truth 19 Individual passion builds a passion-fueled customer service culture 65
Truth 20 Authentic is better than clever 69
Truth 21 Retention begins with hello 72
Truth 22 The bad will do you good 75
Truth 23 Your biggest complainer may be your best supporter 78
Truth 24 You can sell an unpopular decision 82
Truth 25 Flex is best 85
Truth 26 Nobody cares if you don’t mean to be mean 89
Truth 27 Controlling your temper is a labor-saving device 93
Truth 28 There is no “but” in “I’m sorry” 97
PART IV The Truth About Motivation
Truth 29 Engagement happens one person at a time 101
Truth 30 If you’re a manager, you’re a career coach 104
Truth 31 The candidates you’re seeking may not be the ones you need 107
Truth 32 Ask for cheese—you might get the moon 111
Truth 33 You lead better when you get off your pedestal 114
Truth 34 Trust is your strongest persuasion tool 118
Truth 35 If they aren’t buying it, they aren’t doing it 121
Truth 36 Overselling an opportunity can cost you precious talent 124
Truth 37 Focusing on what’s right can help solve what’s wrong 128
Truth 38 High performers are motivated by a piece of the action 131
Truth 39 All the generations want the same thing 135
PART V The Truth About Performance
Truth 40 Compassion promotes performance 139
Truth 41 A hot star can brighten your whole team 142
Truth 42 B players are your A team 146
Truth 43 High performers have enough coff ee mugs 149
Truth 44 Discipline deepens engagement 152
Truth 45 You don’t have to inherit the problem employees 155
Truth 46 Performance appraisals are really about you 159
Truth 47 New hires can inspire current employees 162
Truth 48 Terminations are an engagement tool 165
PART VI The Truth About Creativity
Truth 49 Innovation begins with y-e-s 169
Truth 50 Everyone can be creative 172
Truth 51 You stand between inspiration and implementation 176
Truth 52 Failures promote progress 179
Truth 53 People don’t quit their bosses, they quit their colleagues 182
Truth 54 Extreme pressure kills inspired performance 186
Truth 55 Creativity is a balancing act 189
PART VII The Truth About Communication
Truth 56 Open questions ignite inspiring answers 193
Truth 57 Serving your employees means managing your boss 196
Truth 58 Bad news is good news 200
Truth 59 Trivial conversations are essential 203
Truth 60 The way you listen speaks volumes 206
Truth 61 Crap happens 210
Truth 62 Engaged employees need to know more 213
PART VIII The Truth About Teams
Truth 63 Absence makes the employee happier 217
Truth 64 Your team has untapped talent 221
Truth 65 People need to fi ght their own battles 224
Truth 66 Games don’t build teams 228
Truth 67 Answers build teams 231
Truth 68 Your team can lead you to greatness 234
Truth 69 You’re still the boss 237
References 240
About the Author 242