Deborah Bright - The Pro-Achievement Principle: Cultivate Personal Skills for Effective Teams

THE PRO-ACHIEVEMENT PRINCIPLE

Cultivate Personal Skills for Effective Teams

Dr. Deb Bright

THE BRIGHT PRESS

HOW TO USE THIS BOOK

This book is intended to be read as both a learning and a coaching guide for cultivating skills for leaders and team members. Top among these skills are attitudinal alignment and a collaborative mindset. The book is formatted as a companion manual for advancing a spirit of positive and forward cooperation among individual team members. The steps, therefore, are sequenced as Lessons rather than chapters. End-of-lesson Takeaways are provided as teaching points for one-on-one or small group meetings, or as a quick reference for review purposes.

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publications Data

Bright, Deborah

THE PRO-ACHIEVEMENT PRINCIPLE: Cultivate Personal Skills for Effective Teams

ISBN 978-1-7342060-0-5 (print) ISBN 978-1-7342060-1-2 (ebook)

ISBN 978-1-7342060-2 (Accompanying Workbook)

1. BUS106000 2. BUS071000 3. SEL027000

To view all books, BIZLETS, blogs, and articles published by
The Bright Press go to: www.drdebbright.com

2020 The Bright Press

All rights reserved

Printed in the United States

All rights reserved. This book or parts thereof may not be reproduced in any form, stored in any retrieval system, or transmitted in any form by any meanselectronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording, or otherwisewithout prior written permission of the publisher, except as provided by United States of America copyright law. For permission requests, write to the publisher, at Attention: Permissions Coordinator, at the address below.

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To my Dad, Saul, whose loving memory will
forever bring joy and positiveness
to me and my husband Paul

Contents

Foreword

In the spring of 2019 MIT Sloan Management Review and the Cognizant U.S. Foundation surveyed 4,394 global leaders, conducted twenty-seven executive interviews, and facilitated focus-group exchanges with next-gen emerging leaders worldwide to explore what the future of work portends for the future of leadership.

In brief, what this study concluded is that A generation of leaders in large companies are out of sync, out of tune, and out of touch with their workforces, markets and competitive landscapes. Details of the study show that just 12% of respondents strongly agree that their leaders have the right mindsets to lead them forward. Additionally, only 40% agree that their companies are building robust leadership pipelines to tackle the demands of the digital economy.

On the other hand, the study identified several leadership teams that are embracing new and more effective ways of working and leading. The study notes that: The great leadership teams pay attention to cultivating not only the leader competencies and skill sets but, also the mindsets required to build authentic and passionate communities of leaders. These teams dont simply rearrange the relationship between leaders and followers, they unleash the talents of every person to cultivate communities of leaders.

In an interview, Amber McCord of Johnson & Johnson expressed todays demands of leadership well when she said, Organizations need to completely rethink what they are about and what it means to lead. Its not about one person or even those only at the top. In todays world everyone has to be a leader. We have to think of ourselves as members of a leadership community. Its not just something we talk about. Its who we are.

What Deb Bright tackles with The Pro-Achievement Principle is much more than changing unproductive behaviors for the advancement of achieving goals. She emphasizes the importance of collaborating in creative ways for all in the workforceleaders, followers, and team membersto focus on adding value in everything they do. Her concept of Pro-Achievement is in complete harmony with the findings of the recent MIT/Cognizant Studys co-author and head of talent management and leadership at Cognizant, Carol Cohen, who said, A key to success is artfully introducing new leadership approaches that particularly appeal to a new generation of employees while at the same time honoring the time-tested behaviors and attributes that inspire trust, build a sense of community, and motivate employees to improve performance.

This is a book that will help teams, and the individuals who make them up, achieve the expectations they collectively desire. In a profound and simple way, readers will learn how to deal with issues central to the challenge of advancing positive change in the behaviors of individuals, teams, and organizations in general.

This empowering, quick read is something you can do on your own, without help from a therapist, coach, or boss. Deb even includes lessons on how to spread the idea of The Pro-Achievement Principle up and down the organization by harnessing ideas generated by staff people at all levels. The Pro-Achievement Principle is more than another book on how to get commitment from workers. It stands as a short, highly readable manual for creating enthusiasm for going from good to better and from better to best. It moves the readers to take a close look inside themselves and examine ways that can make a better me.

I have known Deb for a number of years now and she has made it her mission to seek practical ways to help people perform at their best. In this book she emphasizes, with the use of enlightening examples, how to look inside yourself to not only perform at high levels but to create true value for yourself, your team, and your organization.

Life is good,

Marshall Goldsmith

Spring 2020

Acknowledgements

We are particularly appreciative of three very talented freelancers who helped in the early development of this work. They are Frank Blackwell who assisted in the role of the books developmental editor, and Wayne Purdin and George Mason who copyedited and formatted the material. Each of these talented editors provided contributions that were key in helping this book be the quality read that it is.

Working with the very talented people at the Nonfiction Authors Association (NFAA) has been a welcome and delightful experience. Stephanie Chandler and her team of energetic and competent editors, designers, and developmental experts are highly recommended for any authorboth new and seasonedwho wants guidance through the publishing process while maintaining control of their work.

We are also grateful for the contributions and advice of our early reviewers. In particular, Natalie Edwards, president of The Network Doctor, offered valuable advice to make this book more understandable.

Lastly, we are honored by the willingness and enthusiasm of Marshall Goldsmith for his generous contribution of writing the foreword to the book. Marshalls signature phrase Life is good not only permeates his written works but is evident in his general outlook as well. Thank you, Marshall.

And most importantly, to my beloved husband Paul Donnelly, whose creative ideas helped to successfully drive this project. At every turn, he Pro-Achieved!

LESSON 1
Pro-Achievement: The Individuals Tool for Organizational Success

Can you name even one manager, team leader, supervisor, or CEO who would hesitate for a minute to accept an opportunity to get more and better-quality work from their employees, without having to offer monetized incentives like salary increases or bonuses? The lessons you will read in this BIZLET are specifically designed to show you the pathway to precisely that objective.