By Gino Wickman, René Boer
Practical leadership and management practices
Subject
Themes
Employee engagement remains a critical challenge for organisations worldwide. Research consistently reveals that roughly 70 per cent of employees report feeling disengaged at work, representing billions in lost productivity and innovation. This pervasive problem stems not from employees themselves but from inadequate leadership and management practices.
Employee engagement remains a critical challenge for organisations worldwide. Research consistently reveals that roughly 70 per cent of employees report feeling disengaged at work, representing billions in lost productivity and innovation. This pervasive problem stems not from employees themselves…
Published in 2016, *How to Be a Great Boss* emerged during a critical period of workplace transformation and employee engagement crisis. The authors wrote this book against the backdrop of persistently low employee engagement rates, as documented by Gallup's State of the American Workplace report,…
Before embarking on the journey to become a great boss, honest self-assessment proves essential. Not everyone possesses the necessary attributes to lead people effectively, and acknowledging this reality serves both individuals and organisations better than forcing unsuitable placements. The…
Great bosses recognise that their time represents their most precious resource. Yet many find themselves trapped in tactical activities that others could handle, leaving insufficient capacity for genuine leadership and management responsibilities. The Delegate and Elevate tool provides a systematic…
Organisational success depends fundamentally on having the right people in the right seats. This deceptively simple concept encompasses two distinct but interconnected dimensions. Right people share the organisation's core values and fit its culture. Right seats match individuals' capabilities and…
The equation L+M=A provides elegant simplicity for understanding how great bosses create accountable teams. Leadership and management represent distinct but complementary functions that together produce genuine accountability. Neither alone suffices. Many bosses excel at one dimension whilst…
The Quarterly Conversation represents the single most powerful management tool available to great bosses. This structured ninety-minute discussion between boss and direct report occurs every three months, creating dedicated space for meaningful dialogue about performance, development, and…
Contemporary workplaces face a profound crisis of employee engagement that undermines organisational performance and costs billions in lost productivity. Research conducted annually since 2000 by Gallup reveals persistent patterns: only 31.5 per cent of full-time workers report being engaged at…
Before embarking on the journey to become a great boss, honest self-assessment proves essential. Not everyone possesses the necessary attributes to lead people effectively. Three critical dimensions determine leadership readiness: get it, want it, and have the capacity to do it. Understanding these…
Time represents the most precious resource great bosses possess. Yet many find themselves consumed by activities that others could handle, lacking capacity for genuine leadership responsibilities. The Delegate and Elevate tool provides systematic framework for analysing activities and reclaiming…
Bosses possess both opportunity and responsibility to choose team members. Even when inheriting direct reports through promotion or hire, bosses must decide whether to retain them. This privilege bears enormous responsibility. Great bosses invest time evaluating teams systematically to ensure people…
Great bosses create work environments where people feel fully engaged and highly accountable. Most bosses rate accountability in their organisations around 4 on a 10-point scale, revealing widespread frustration when employees fail to follow through on assigned responsibilities. Understanding…
Dwight Eisenhower illustrated leadership art through a simple exercise with string on a table. Pull the string and it follows wherever you go. Push it and it goes nowhere. Leadership functions identically when leading people. The five leadership practices provide systematic approach to effective…
Management is not what you do to someone but what you provide for someone. If you feel like you must manipulate or overly manage someone, you have a people issue. Jim Collins states that the moment you feel like you must manage someone, you have made a hiring mistake. Management boils down to five…
Rarely do bosses express complete confidence in their ability to coach, provide feedback, and have completely open discussions with direct reports. Some start with good intentions but become overcome by anxiety about where conversations might go and what to do if meetings start going badly. They…
Even applying everything from previous chapters and despite best efforts, bosses occasionally have direct reports not behaving or performing at or above The Bar, the minimum acceptable standard for Great People. Problems do not fix themselves. Proactive and constructive ways exist to deal with…
People represent your number one competitive advantage. Whether you have hired them or inherited them, you must take responsibility for them because they are your most valuable resources. Ultimately, you are accountable for their performance or lack thereof. Great bosses succeed in getting the most…
By Gino Wickman, René Boer
Subject
Themes
Employee engagement remains a critical challenge for organisations worldwide. Research consistently reveals that roughly 70 per cent of employees report feeling disengaged at work, representing billions in lost productivity and innovation. This pervasive problem stems not from employees themselves but from inadequate leadership and management practices.