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Bridging the Gap Between People and Possibilities

Creating strategies without making your employees find meaning in them is useless.

That is why it is crucial for you to learn “The Art of Engagement”.

About Jim Haudan

Jim Haudan is a CEO and co-founder of the management-consulting firm Root Inc.

“The Art of Engagement Summary”

The Engagement Imperative

To understand what engagement is, just look at any game in which the fans are excited, they are keeping their eyes on the field; they clap, they cheer, they get angry.

They experience emotions. They are engaged.

Now, this is not a scene you will find at a typical office.

Employees do not feel engaged with their jobs – instead, they just find ways not to do it.

When employees are not engaged, the company cannot grow and change.

So, when a company comes up with a new strategical imperative, it is vital that it find a way to make the staff feel that it has a meaning.

Now, what can you do to connect with your employees?

There are six tactics you can use:

• • “Connecting through images and stories.”

• • “Creating pictures together.”

• • “Believing in leaders.”

• • “Owning the solution.”

• • “Playing the entire game.”

• “Practicing before performing.”

You have to understand that strategic engagement is a process, and the six “connection steps” are part of it, instead of being individual activities.

When it comes to engagement, we also must not forget to mention the truths and principles that apply.

• • “People will not change if they perceive the ‘need to change’ to be an indictment of

• • their past performance.”

• • “People will tolerate the conclusions of their leaders, but they will act on their own.”

• • “People without an understanding of a company’s strategy can’t take responsibility

• • for change.”

• • “People don’t need help in starting new actions; they need permission to stop the

• • old ones.”

• • “Strategy is…a purposeful adventure

• • “People need an honest assessment of where they are and a clear picture of where

• • they want to go

• • “It’s impossible to visualize fuzz.”

• • “Good comedians can be more valuable than strategists.”

• • “People must overcome the ‘or’ and embrace the ‘and.’”

• • “Dialogue is the oxygen of change.”

• • “Competitiveness is not determined by the learning speed of the ‘fastest few,’ but

• • by the learning and execution speed of the ‘slowest many.’”

• • “Success is not about a few people having better answers; it’s about everyone asking

• better questions.”

Key Lessons from “The Art of Engagement”

1.      Primary Corporate Goals
2.      Obstacles to Employee Engagement
3.      Providing Meaning to the Strategies

Primary Corporate Goals

• • “Create a line of sight.”

• • “Connect goals.”

• “Develop capabilities.”

Obstacles to Employee Engagement

• • “I can’t be engaged if I am overwhelmed.”

• • “I can’t be engaged if I don’t get it.”

• • “I can’t be engaged if I’m scared.”

• • “I can’t be engaged if I don’t see the big picture.”

• • “I can’t be engaged if it’s not mine.”

• “I can’t be engaged if my leaders don’t face reality.”

Providing Meaning to the Strategies

Managers spend a lot of effort and time to develop strategies.

However, if the employees find these strategies meaningless, they won’t execute them successfully.

Hence it is vital that managers find a way to connect with their employees and make them engaged with the task at hand.

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“The Art of Engagement” Quotes