Work That Counts

Book excerpt: One of Silicon Valley's top leadership trainers distills his proven framework that has empowered teams at the world's most innovative companies--from Google and Facebook to Cisco Systems and biotech giant Genentech/Roche--to do the best work of their lives. Richard Lee has worked with thousands of ambitious leaders and their teams, and has found that they all share the same frustration. Whether it's because of communication breakdowns or increasing complexity, people at every level of an organization feel like their results fall short of their expectations--even though they are putting in a lot of effort. Management gurus will tell you that you need to overhaul your entire organization in order to maximize its full potential, but that is simply not true: You only need to give your people the tools to succeed inside it. The framework outlined in Work That Counts draws on examples from teams he has worked with at the world's most cutting edge, disruptive companies, and provides practical solutions to the problems that hold people back in nearly every organization. Among other critical skills, you'll learn: • How a team leader can hold team members accountable without micromanaging--and what team members need to do concurrently to earn the team leader's trust. • How to get support for your objectives from other teams, even when they don't report to you or your division or your business unit. • How to partner with others, within your team and on other teams, to achieve the results you want. Work That Counts is a commonsense yet groundbreaking guide, filled with assessments and real-world examples that will empower organizations to make the most of their people and become more than the sum of their parts.