Book Buzz: The Advantage
As you know, I really like Patrick Lencioni and his books. The Advantage is one I send to clients all the time.
Start here. Your day starts like an empty pitcher into which you pour your time and talent. At the end of the day, do you really feel like you found the right blend for your business? How does your day taste?
Do you feel like you spend too much time and money on your employees? Do you feel like you spend a disproportionate amount of time handling employee issues, and it frustrates you?
Most business owners feel exactly the same way. The numbers back it up:
50% of CEOs say they spend too much time handling employee issues
65% of performance problems come from strained employee relationships
80% of employees say they will leave their company when the economy improves
42% say they will leave when they find a company with a better management structure
Losing and replacing an employee costs up to 150% of their annual salary
Smart and Healthy
Lencioni's premise is that every organization has two sides.
The smart side is strategy, marketing, finance, technology. Most CEOs spend almost all of their time here.
The healthy side is how employees relate to each other and to the organization: minimal politics, minimal confusion, high morale, high productivity, low turnover.
His argument is that being smart is only half the equation. Most companies pour their resources into the tangible, smart areas. But an organization with genuine health naturally gets smarter, because the energy that was going into politics, low morale, and replacing key people is suddenly available for the work.
Three Takeaways You Can Use Now
Know each other. If your leadership team is going to work together effectively, you have to be transparent and actually know one another. Share life stories. Use personality testing.
Promote good conflict. Good conflict is a benefit — it carves the path where great ideas get debated and decisions get made. A lack of conflict, or bad conflict, produces a less productive workplace. A strong leader fosters the good kind in meetings and goes after the root of the bad kind: yelling, silence, hurt feelings, damaged relationships.
Get everyone on the same page. Real growth requires goal alignment, and that comes from two questions: Why do we exist? and How do we behave? Do the work on those questions and get genuine consensus, so the leadership team and every employee are steering in the same direction.
Who Should Read It
This one is for any CEO with a vision to improve the company and more than five employees. It matters more for CEOs than for HR people, frankly — because CEOs create the culture.
It will take five hours or more, and I'd read it over several weeks. It's an excellent group read: work through it in staff meetings across two months.
My recommendation: read it.
So think about your day and how you are pouring your time into your business. Are you happy with the blend of smart-time and health-time?
If you'd like to talk through what the health side of your organization looks like right now, grab a free 30-minute session with one of our HR experts.