Trevor Throness - The Power of People Skills: How to Eliminate 90% of Your HR Problems and Dramatically Increase Team and Company Morale and Performance

Praise for the author and The Power of People Skills:

The roadmap laid out in The Power of People Skills set our business up to quintuple in sales. Weve learned how to fix ongoing personnel issues once and for all, attract top talent, and spend our time focused on results, not on internal staffing problems. I highly recommend it to youits worked for us.

John de Jonge, owner and CEO, Artex Barn Solutions

Your staff is so friendly and seem to love their work! How did you find so many great people? are questions we are frequently asked. The answer, quite simply, is Trevor Throness and the tools he teaches about in The Power of People Skills. It was Trevor who patiently guided us through the process of assembling, then mentoring, a star team. He also taught us the essentials of creating an enjoyable and productive work environmentfor owners, managers, and staff. The Power of People Skills is a must-read, how-to guide for people dealing with people.

Charlotte Lepp, co-founder Lepp Farm Market

If youre interested in permanently solving your chronic people problems, this book is for you. We used to spend a lot of time dealing with these issues, but after implementing Trevors tools, we now spend 90 percent of our time making our product better and acquiring new customers. Sales and profits are way up, and were all having fun again.

Ted Visscher, CEO, Visscher Specialty Products

Choosing to work with Trevor and using the tools described in this book has been one of the best investments of time and money that we have made at Frontline. The results have been outstanding, as the company experienced consecutive years of 50%+ revenue growth while sustaining a healthy margin and improving team unity, focus and purpose.

Justin Mitchell, president and managing partner, Frontline Real Estate

The Power of People Skills shines a light on the number one issue in every company. People. I personally have benefitted from the skills Trevor has outlined, and would recommend you put it to the top of your pile.

Clayton White, CEO and managing partner, Alliance Concrete Pumps

Trevors tools helped us move from the middle of the pack to being selected by the Financial Post as one of the top 25 charities in the country (out of 86,000). I highly recommend his new book to you.

Bernie Willock, CEO, FH Canada

Trevors strategic and aggressive focus in the area of people and company alignment has helped our extremely fast-growth business become what it is today. Ive experienced Trevors approach first hand, and its been crucial to sustain our growth. I cant imagine a business that wouldnt benefit greatly from the lessons outlined in this perceptive book.

Brian Antenbring, founder and CEO, TEEMA Solutions Group Inc.

In his new book, Trevor teaches the skills, tools, and insights needed to meet their people challenges. Trevors HR strategies have set us up to grow double digits consistently for 10 years and running. His insights in how people work, and the skills and strategies needed to build the most engaged work force possible, are tremendous.

Dave Van Belle, CEO, Van Belle Nurseries

"Using the tools laid out in the book, I went from seriously considering selling everything, to acquiring seven additional stores, while reducing my time operating them by 90 percent. This gave me my life back and allowed me time to pursue new ventures. To say the process works is an understatement."

Derrick Westbrook, Booster Juice multi-store franchisee, Meat and Bread/Noodle Box restaurant chain partner

We decided to use Trevors methodology in our full-service law firm. At first, we resisted, telling him, This just wont work with a law firm. But we persisted, and the results have been remarkable: our client base and profits have steadily improved, and staff engagement and morale is the healthiest that its ever been.

Doug Lester Q.C., managing partner, RDM Law

HOW TO ELIMINATE 90% OF YOUR HR PROBLEMS AND DRAMATICALLY INCREASE TEAM AND COMPANY MORALE AND PERFORMANCE

TREVOR THRONESS

Copyright 2017 by Trevor Throness

All rights reserved under the Pan-American and International Copyright Conventions. This book may not be reproduced, in whole or in part, in any form or by any means electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any in-formation storage and retrieval system now known or hereafter invented, without written permission from the publisher, The Career Press.

THE POWER OF PEOPLE SKILLS

EDITED BY JODI BRANDON

TYPESET BY KRISTIN GOBLE

Cover design by Howard Grossman/12e Design

People image by Rawpixel.com/shutterstock

Printed in the U.S.A.

To order this title, please call toll-free 1-800-CAREER-1 (NJ and Canada: 201-848-0310) to order using VISA or MasterCard, or for further information on books from Career Press.

The Career Press, Inc.

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www.careerpress.com

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

CIP Data Available Upon Request.

To my parents, Harald and Edna Throness,
who modeled true leadership
by pouring out their lives serving others.

Thanks to my many clients for allowing me to field test these ideas in the real world. Thanks to Dave Van Belle for helping to develop the Coach and Connect tool, which we tested in his business before using it in other businesses and industries. Thanks to Gazelles International for introducing me to the concept of assessing people according to quadrants. Thanks to Jim Collins for the idea of using core values in a business (Built to Last). Thanks to my beautiful wife, Jenn, for her encouragement and editing of early drafts of the book. If only we werent married so that we could have a torrid affair. Thanks to Julia (who helped with editing), Sam, Ella, and Will, our kids, who have provided so much laughter, meaning, and growth over the past 20 years. Thank you to my brothers Laurie (for lots of editing help) and Lyndon (for drawing the illustrations) and to Doug Lester for critiquing the manuscript with a lawyers eye for detail, helping me avoid embarrassing mistakes.

And thanks to John Coltrane, Stan Getz, Dave Brubeck, Miles Davis, Oscar Peterson, Charlie Parker, Thelonious Monk, the whole Marsalis family, Sonny Rollins, Frank, Ella, Mel, and many other jazz greats for keeping me company during the hours spent in my office writing this manuscript.

Chapter 1
Attracting Stars Is Lucrativeand So Much More

Chapter 2
Determine Whether You Have Stars (or Not)

Chapter 3
Distill the Right Attitudesand Make Them Stick

Chapter 4
Take Action With Your Underperformers

Chapter 5
Use the Star Chart to Rate Your Current Team

Chapter 6
Dispel the People Myths That Most Affect Your Company

Chapter 7
Identify Problems That Might Cause Your Stars to Leave

Chapter 8
Reward and Develop Your Stars (The A Box)

Chapter 9
Coach Your Potential Stars (The B Box)

Chapter 10
Navigate the Wrong Fits (The C Box)

Chapter 11
Deal With Your Productive-but-Difficults (The D Box)

Chapter 12
Learn Team Leadership Skills From Parenting

Chapter 13
Help Everyone Be Their Best