1st Edition
Leading Business Teams The Definitive Guide to Optimizing Organizational Performance
In a rapidly changing world, businesses must create a high-performing, metrics-driven workplace environment characterized by respect, inclusion, teamwork, innovation, and overall harmony—and it must be manageable and sustainable.
This book shows that returning to managerial basics will provide the way forward, as exemplified by legendary UCLA basketball coach John Wooden, the model for a new people management pathway: the SCORE paradigm.
Generally considered the greatest coach in history, John Wooden’s recipe for team success was unique, culture-based, and ahead of its time. Building upon Wooden’s 21 coaching principles and his own 35 years of experience as a human resources leader, Bill Kane has created the SCORE framework to guide people managers in creating and nurturing effective teams and steering their organizations through times of change:
- Staffing: Attracting and selecting talent
- Cultivating culture: Defining how people should interact
- Organizing and planning: The need for direction and focus
- Reinforcing desirable behavior: Managing performance
- Engaging your team: A leader’s role and responsibility
Enlivened with stories from the careers of Coach Wooden, Andy Hill (a three-time national champion under Coach), and the author, the book clearly explains why each coaching principle works in practice and provides examples of success, as well as pitfalls to avoid. Readers will learn how to get the right people on their team, create meaningful participative and inclusive management practices, build a winning organizational culture, and achieve heightened results.
New and experienced people managers and leaders in corporate settings, as well as business and organizational psychology students, will appreciate this timeless reference tool, a roadmap to help people managers—as their own “work-in-progress”—develop strategies for success based upon a proven and simple model.
Introduction & Context. Background. About This Book. Part 1: Staffing. Chapter 1: The team with the best players almost always wins. Chapter 2: Surround yourself with strong, opinionated people. Chapter 3: Balance is everything. Chapter 4: Teamwork is not a preference; it’s a necessity. Part 2: Cultivating Culture. Chapter 5: Fairness is giving all people the treatment they earn and deserve. Chapter 6: Make your "yes" mean yes. Chapter 7: Be quick, but don't hurry. Chapter 8: The team with the most mistakes...Wins! Chapter 9: Rules are made to be followed, not broken. Part 3: Organizing and Planning. Chapter 10: Keep it simple. Chapter 11: Concentrate on your team, not the opposition. Chapter 12: Adjust to your players - Don't expect them to adjust to you. Chapter 13: Failing to prepare is preparing to fail. Chapter 14: Practice doesn't make perfect; only perfect practice makes perfect. Part 4: Reinforcing Desirable Behavior. Chapter 15: Focus on effort, not winning. Chapter 16: Seek consistency - avoid peaks and valleys. Chapter 17: Great leaders give credit to others, but accept the blame themselves. Part 5: Engaging Your Team. Chapter 18: A good leader is first, and foremost, a teacher. Chapter 19: A great leader cannot worry about being liked. Chapter 20: Be honest, direct, and willing to risk it all for your beliefs. Chapter 21: Game time is when the coach's job is almost over. Summation. Closing Thoughts. Personal Reflections. Acknowledgements. About the Authors
Biography
William S. Kane is a faculty member at the Rutgers University School of Management and Labor Relations. Prior to joining Rutgers, he was a highly accomplished leader in the Human Resources field in the Fortune 500. Author of Thriving in Change and a lifelong learner with four advanced degrees, Bill’s specific expertise is in helping companies plan and execute sustainable people strategies associated with profitable business transformations.
Andrew Hill is a successful author and motivational speaker. His book, Be Quick – But Don't Hurry: Finding Success in the Teachings of a Lifetime, is now in its 15th printing. From January 1991 to April 1996, Andrew Hill served as president of CBS Productions. During Mr. Hill’s presidency, CBS Productions became the network’s leading supplier of primetime programs and returned more than $1.5 billion in foreign and domestic syndication income. During his tenure at CBS Productions, Hill was responsible for some of the decade’s most successful primetime programming including Touched by an Angel; Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman; Walker, Texas Ranger; and Caroline in the City.
