Synopsis

A keenly insightful, playfully irreverent, and productively heretical guide to leadership, culture & engagement for more human and profitable organizations.

Business is experiencing a shift. Complexity has never been higher and the traditional tools of the past century don't offer the same return as they used to. Social and market expectations are in flux and differentiation matters more now than ever. Executives and leaders intuitively know this, but they struggle to know how and where to apply effort to make an effective and sustainable change.

In Interconnected, William Powell takes readers on a journey of understanding how leadership, culture & engagement organically fit together and affect how humans make a business profitable, or not. He also reveals some important connectors between these three things that are at play within every organization, as well as the role they play in achieving business outcomes.

William deconstructs the traditional approach to leadership, culture & engagement and teaches why this antiquated approach does little for the organization and even less for the human beings that make the organization even possible. You will learn what is not working, but also why it typically fails to meet your expectations. William provides a framework that overcomes these failures and brings leadership, culture & engagement into everyday decision-making.

This book is NOT a quick fix to apply to a current problem and then sit back on the shelf, but instead it is a new way of operating - truly a new way of thinking about humans and business within the same context.

William Powell has helped executives and leaders across the globe to make their businesses both more human and more profitable for nearly two decades. In the course of his work, he discovered that most organizations address leadership, culture & engagement if a very fragmented way. William wanted to develop something that transcended this approach to these areas that are difficult to quantify, however are critical to business success.

Interconnected is the culmination of that work and is presented in a way that is informative, insightful, playful, and - most importantly - actionable. This book is a clarion call to kindred spirits who want to make business more human AND more profitable; to those executives and leaders who don't see people and profits in opposition to one another, but rather collaborative partners in the same effort.

Outline

Introduction

This will provide a brief overview of the book's premise and purpose. It will also detail the value the reader can expect to get out of the book. There will be some historical reference to help the reader understand the evolution of the thoughts about to be presented to them, as well as the goal of the author for writing the book.

Chapter One

Presenting the problem/pain point for the reader and/or their interests. The problem presented here is that most organizations have a fragmented approach to addressing leadership, culture & engagement issues and this creates unintended consequences that affect business outcomes. There will be a range of examples and cases that provide proof the problem exists, as well as the unwelcome effects that arise from the problem. This chapter will also detail the collateral damage that comes from the problem existing. Again, there will be a range of examples and cases as supporting evidence.

Chapter Two

Present the framework that supports leaders in addressing leadership, culture & engagement simultaneously as a new way of operating, developing strategy, and managing change. The focus of the chapter is to detail how the primary components of the framework are fitted together, as well as the secondary components - connectors - that make it work and why. This not only shows how the framework is constructed in its entirety, but also the manner in which it is to be understood from a conceptual standpoint. There will be business and non-business examples provided to increase reader understanding of the logic and applicability of the framework.

Chapter Three

The content of this chapter will explore all the various drivers of Leadership, the first primary component within the framework. There are 15 primary leadership drivers identified in the framework and each of them will be discussed with real-world examples to support the importance of each driver. There will be an effort made to show how Leadership fits into the overall framework and how it acts as an input to the next component of the framework - Context.

Chapter Four

As was mentioned in Chapter One, Leadership creates a Context, which is considered a secondary component. It is from this Context that Culture will ultimately develop. Understanding the 3 primary elements that reside within the Context portion of the framework is a critical stepping stone for venturing into the Culture work. By using practical examples, the importance of Context as a connector between Leadership and Culture will be explored in great detail. There will examples of how this has been done well and the value that comes from that. There will also be examples of how this has been done poorly and the unintended outcomes that occurred as a result.

Chapter Five

This chapter will dig deep into the idea of organizational culture, the next primary component of the framework. There are fairly standard cultural drivers that have been identified, and this chapter will reference them. One of the pieces that has been added is that of work flow/processes as a cultural driver. Each of the 9 cultural drivers mentioned in this chapter will be explored in detail, along with various examples to facilitate understanding them. This chapter will also show how Context acts as an input to Culture, and what Culture's role is in affecting Emotion.

Chapter Six

This chapter is where the human piece of the framework truly comes to life. Without human beings, organizations are mere legal constructs. Emotions are a part of the fabric that makes up the human condition. There will be examples that discuss the neutrality of emotions and how Context and Culture impact people's relationship with whatever emotion they are experiencing. There will be discussion on how the quality of a person's relationship with a particular emotion will add magnitude and direction to one's level of Engagement. It will also tee up the next chapter that deals with Engagement and how Emotion - a secondary component of the framework - acts as an input for it. Presenting practical examples also show how Emotion acts as a connector between Culture and Engagement.

Chapter Seven

Engagement has been a focus for organizations over the past couple of decades. Much discussion has been had regarding what makes for high levels of engagement, although global engagement has remained primarily flat. Instead of re-litigating the drivers of engagement, the commonly accepted drivers by various sources are distilled into 11 buckets for the framework. This serves to facilitate a general understanding of Engagement. This chapter will also tie in the impact of Emotion on Engagement and why that's important. 

Chapter Eight

This is the culmination of the entirety of the framework. The primary focus of this chapter is on organizational performance, which ultimately impacts business outcomes. Engagement affects the behavior of an individual, which shows up in their performance. Collectively, individual performance is organizational performance and affects whether or not business outcomes are achieved. A review of the framework and tying each of the components (primary and secondary) - Leadership, Context, Culture, Emotion, and Engagement - together is represented by practical examples that show how they all affect business outcomes. The goal of this chapter is to finalize an understanding of the framework. It will also discuss why its structure is critical for leaders to understand in order to affect organizational performance.

Chapter Nine

This chapter will begin to explore how to actually apply the framework. The first few chapters of the book followed a specific order as a means to describe the framework because it follows a natural process that dictates this order. In order to apply the framework, that process must be reversed. Common approaches, how those approaches misalign with the framework, and the unfortunate consequences that come from that misalignment will be explored. Various examples in different situations will be presented as a means to improve understanding of why following this process is critical. 

Chapter Ten

In the final chapter of the book, tips and tools will be presented as a way to make application of the framework easier. Understanding practical ways to address the various drivers of Leadership, Culture & Engagement is critical to being successful. The connectors - Context and Emotion - within the framework are key components that are usually missed by well-meaning leaders, so a significant focus will be on these two areas. There will also be tips on how to address each of the drivers and what to focus on in order to increase the probability of success.

Audience

The primary audience for this book includes:

• Executives (Vice President and C-Suite)
• Human Resource leaders (Director level and above)
• Senior Organization Development Professionals
• Consulting Professionals

Primary market - Service sector (IT, SaaS, Healthcare, Banking/Finance, Professional Services, etc)

Potential secondary market - light manufacturing (Chemistry, Pharmaceuticals, Robotics, etc)

Developing and strengthening the capability and capacity of the organization is of significant importance to executives. The astute leader understands the value for the bottom line in having solid leadership, a healthy culture, and high levels of engagement. While some leaders may view these areas as a cost, the opportunity cost of not investing in them is much higher than what you would pay to get it right. Human Resource executives/leaders understand this, but it is tough to get it right as organizations become more complex and have an increased need to be agile and adaptable.

The reality is what has been done in the past is not working.

Leadership Development

• U.S. companies' annual spend on leadership development programs is $14 billion
• 30% of U.S. companies admit that they have failed to exploit business opportunities fully because they lack enough leaders with the right capabilities
• A recent McKinsey report said, "Too many training initiatives rest on the assumption that one size fits all."
• Most organizations operate with a 5-10% productivity drag due to ineffective leadership practices

Organizational Culture

• 64% of employees do not feel they have a strong work culture
• 54% of change management efforts fail (which are often culture change initiatives)
• Turnover at companies with a poor culture is 48%
• Turnover at companies with a great culture is 14%

Employee Engagement

• Nearly $1 billion per year is spent on engagement
• The multi-year trend on engagement stats is statistically flat, despite the enormous financial investment
• 90% of leaders think an engagement strategy has an impact on business success
• Less than 25% of leaders actually have an engagement strategy
• Low engagement results in a 33% decrease in operating income and an 11% decrease in earnings growth
• High engagement results in a 19% increase in operating income and a 28% increase in earnings growth

There is a frustration that significant amounts of money are invested in improving leadership, culture & engagement, yet the returns are much less than optimal. There is a burning desire to find a way to do this well.

This book is a refreshing alternative to a status quo that has grossly underperformed. It is to be a guidebook to achieving better results through a shift in thinking to navigate an increasingly complex business landscape.

Promotion

There is ongoing effort to strengthen a marketing infrastructure for book promotion.

Current social media/online marketing efforts consist of the following:

Facebook business page - 400 likes
LinkedIn - 890 connections
Twitter - 8,400+ followers
Blog - Approximately 2,800 page views (2,000 users) per month

There is a structure in place to facilitate webinars on the topic of the book, and some of those webinars have already taken place. Each of these webinars are marketed to the above mentioned target market.

There are also developing opportunities for public speaking, webcasts, and podcasts regarding the topic of the book as a means to generate interest and a mailing list for book promotion once the book is closer to the launch date.

Current list of "willing evangelists" to assist in promoting the book closer to launch includes 3 published authors, one of whom is currently on a book tour, actively speaking on their book topic, and in discussions with their respective publisher for their next project.

List of "potential evangelists" could add possibly another 10 medium to highly influential speakers/authors/thought leaders who influence a similar target market who would be willing to be a part of my launch team. It is highly probably that a published and well-respected thought leader for a similar market segment would be willing to write a Foreward for my book. That discussion is still in process and will gain more momentum once Interconnected is further along in production and has secured a publisher.

Competition

Start With Why: How Great Leaders Inspire Everyone to Take Action
Simon Sinek, Publisher: Portfolio (2011)

Sinek starts with a fundamental question: Why are some people and organizations more innovative, more influential, and more profitable than others? Why do some command greater loyalty from customers and employees alike? Even among the successful, why are so few able to repeat their success over and over?

People like Martin Luther King Jr., Steve Jobs, and the Wright Brothers had little in common, but they all started with WHY. They realized that people won't truly buy into a product, service, movement, or idea until they understand the WHY behind it.

Differentiation for Interconnected:
Start With Why focuses on the motivation of people and leverages that notion as a means to accomplish business outcomes. Interconnected addresses the motivation of people, but through the systemic relationships that organically occur between leadership, culture, and engagement. Instead of leadership going directly from their behavior to influence the behavior of others, Interconnected paints a path for leaders to follow to address each contributing factor along that path.
__________________________________________________________________

The Leadership Challenge: How to Make Extraordinary Things Happen in Organizations
James Kouzes & Barry Posner, Publisher: Jossey-Bass, 5th Edition (2012)

For more than 25 years, The Leadership Challenge has been the most trusted source on becoming a better leader, selling more than 2 million copies in over 20 languages since its first publication. Based on Kouzes and Posner's extensive research, this all-new edition casts their enduring work in context for today's world, proving how leadership is a relationship that must be nurtured, and most importantly, that it can be learned.
• Features over 100 all-new case studies and examples, which show The Five Practices of Exemplary Leadership in action around the world
• Focuses on the toughest organizational challenges leaders face today
• Addresses changes in how people work and what people want from their work
An indispensable resource for leaders at all levels, this anniversary edition is a landmark update and must-read.

Differentiation for Interconnected:
The Leadership Challenge draws a straight line between leadership and affecting change within an organization. Interconnected embraces the nuanced journey that takes place beginning with leadership, moving to culture, then on to engagement, and finally impacting business outcomes in one form or another.
__________________________________________________________________

Winning Well: A Manager’s Guide to Getting Results – Without Losing Your Soul
Karin Hurt & David Dye, Publisher: AMACOM (2016)

It can feel like a rigged game. Executives set aggressive goals, so managers drive their teams to burnout trying to deliver. Or, employees seek connection and support, so managers focus on relationships . . . and fail to make the numbers. The fallout is stress, frustration, and disengagement, and not just among team members--two-thirds of managers report being disengaged.
To succeed, managers cannot choose between results and relationships. They need both: They must get people to achieve while creating an environment that makes them truly want to. Winning Well offers managers a quick, practical action plan--complete with examples, stories, and online assessments.
They will learn how to:
Stamp out the corrosive win-at-all-costs mentality - Focus on the game, not just the score - Reinforce behaviors that produce results - Sustain energy and momentum - Correct poor performance without drama - Build productive relationships - Be the leader people want to work for
Today's hypercompetitive economy has created tense, overextended workplaces. Keep it productive, rewarding, and even fun with this one-stop success kit.

Differentiation for Interconnected:
Winning Well is an introspective look at leadership from an individual perspective. While the philosophy and framework presented in Interconnected will encourage leaders to adjust their leadership, it will do so within a much broader context relative to achieving business outcomes. It will provide much needed insight into how any changes in leadership behavior will impact culture, engagement and ultimately business outcomes/organizational performance.
__________________________________________________________________

The Optimistic Workplace: Creative An Environment That Energizes Everyone
Shawn Murphy, Publisher: AMACOM (2015)

When it comes to work these days, we’re expected to do more with less—but is this nose-to-the-grindstone philosophy the best way to run a business? Alarmingly low employee engagement numbers indicate otherwise.
So, if pushing everyone harder isn’t the path to productivity, what is? Supported by the latest research, this eye-opening book argues that our best work is the product of a positive environment. That’s good news for you as a manager. While you can’t personally transform the corporate culture, you can influence the workplace climate and create meaningful and lasting change. Advocating a steward model of management, The Optimistic Workplace reveals how to:
• Explore personal and organizational purpose—and align them for astonishing results
• Overcome resistance and skepticism
• Build camaraderie and deepen loyalty
• Increase intrinsic motivation
• Help your team find meaning in their work
• Identify goals collaboratively and track progress
• And more
Examples from companies large and small demonstrate how this people-centric focus ignites employee potential, increases innovation, and catapults the organization to new levels of performance. Far from being a wish-upon-a-star discussion of workplace happiness, this book presents an array of surprisingly simple strategies as well as practical 30-, 60-, and 90-day plans designed to focus your actions and make employee optimism not just a worthy goal—but a real and measurable result.

Differentiation for Interconnected:
The Optimistic Workplace focuses primarily on middle to lower management as a means to adjust the climate of your team. The general sense is that if enough teams within the organization do this, the organization will effectively shift. Interconnected doesn't solely focus its message at the team level. The approach of the framework detailed within this project is a systematic strategic approach to achieving business outcomes at the executive level. It is also not only fixated on motivation alone, but rather where motivation fits into the other elements of the framework.
__________________________________________________________________

Carrots and Sticks Don’t Work: Build a Culture of Employee Engagement with the Principles of RESPECT
Paul L. Marciano, Publisher: McGraw Hill Education (2010)

Reward and recognition programs can be costly and inefficient, and they primarily reward employees who are already highly engaged and productive performers. Worse still, these programs actually decrease employee motivation because they can make individual recognition, rather than the overall success of the team, the goal. Yet many businesses turn to these measures first―unaware of a better alternative. So, when it comes to changing your organizational culture, carrots and sticks don’t work!
What does work is Dr. Paul Marciano's acclaimed RESPECT model, which gives you specific, low-cost, turnkey solutions and action plans-- based on seven key drivers of employee engagement that are proven and supported by decades of research and practice―that will empower you to assess, troubleshoot, and resolve engagement issues in the workplace:
1. Recognition and acknowledgment of employees' contributions
2. Empowerment via tools, resources, and information that set employees up to succeed
3. Supportive feedback through ongoing performance coaching and mentoring
4. Partnering to encourage and foster collaborative working relationships
5. Expectations that set clear, challenging, and attainable performance goals
6. Consideration that lets employees know that they are cared about
7. Trust in your employees' abilities, skills, and judgment
Carrots and Sticks Don't Work delivers the same proven resources and techniques that have enabled trainers, executives, managers, and owners at operations ranging from branches of the United States government to Fortune 500 corporations to twenty-person outfits to realize demonstrable gains in employee productivity and job satisfaction.
When you give a little RESPECT you get a more effective organization, with reduced turnover and absenteeism and employees at all levels who areengaged, focused, and committed to succeed as a team. In short, you get maximum ROI from your organization's most powerful resource: its people!

Differentiation for Interconnected:
Carrots and Sticks Don't Work addresses human motivation and how leaders can effectively influence that motivation as a driver of culture within the organization. Interconnected addresses the drivers of leadership, culture, and engagement - as well as human emotion - as a structured way to achieve business outcomes. This provides a much broader context at the strategic level for executives than solely focusing on motivation insular of other factors.
__________________________________________________________________

Employee Engagement 2.0: How to Motivate Your Team for High Performance (A Real-World Guide for Busy Managers)
Kevin Kruse, Publisher: CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform, 2nd Edition (2012)

Imagine if you could:

• Create massive emotional commitment among all your direct reports
• Turn apathetic groups into high performance teams exhibiting huge discretionary effort
• Be a leader who people fight to work with
• Win a "Best Place to Work" award within 12 months
Indeed, you can do all that and more, and it doesn't take a lot of time or a big budget.

This isn't just another ivory tower book on leadership. Employee Engagement 2.0 is the result of both massive research and real-world experience. The author, Kevin Kruse, is a former Best Place to Work winner, serial entrepreneur, and NY Times bestselling author. He has advised dozens of organizations, from Fortune 500 companies like SAP, to startups and non-profits, and even to the US Marines.

This is your step-by-step guide that will teach you:

• What employee engagement is (it does not mean happy or satisfied)
• How engagement directly drives sales, profits, and even stock price
• The secret recipe for making anyone feel engaged
• How to quantify engagement, even if you have no budget
• 7 questions to ask that will identify your engagement weakness
• What to say to facilitate a team meeting on engagement
• A communication system that ensures rapid, two-way flow of information
• How to make your strategic vision memorable and "sticky"
• How to implement a complete engagement plan in only 8 weeks!
Being a great leader--one who drives massive passion, commitment and engagement--is within your reach. Follow the step-by-step plan in Employee Engagement 2.0 and prepare to be a great place to work.

Differentiation for Interconnected:
Employee Engagement 2.0 gets into the tactical bits of what makes engagement work, as well as how best to build metrics for your engagement efforts as an organization. While Interconnected addresses the standard drivers for employee engagement, that is merely context for a much larger conversation of the role that engagement plays in how an organization achieves its desired business outcomes. Interconnected details the input and output of engagement so executives can take a more holistic approach to making engagement work in relation to all the contributing factors.
__________________________________________________________________

Give and Take: Why Helping Others Drives Our Success
Adam Grant, Publisher: Penguin Books, Reprint Edition (2014)

For generations, we have focused on the individual drivers of success: passion, hard work, talent, and luck. But in today’s dramatically reconfigured world, success is increasingly dependent on how we interact with others. In Give and Take, Adam Grant, an award-winning researcher and Wharton’s highest-rated professor, examines the surprising forces that shape why some people rise to the top of the success ladder while others sink to the bottom. Praised by social scientists, business theorists, and corporate leaders, Give and Take opens up an approach to work, interactions, and productivity that is nothing short of revolutionary.

Differentiation for Interconnected:
Give and Take approaches the notion of success from the perspective of relationship building and serving the needs of others as a means to achieve that success. Interconnected discusses some similar components in the section that dives into the leadership element of the framework it presents. This forms only an initial part of the entire framework and isn't the principal focus, nor the ultimate outcome, of this project. Interconnected looks at the totality of how leadership, culture, and engagement drive business outcomes and business performance.