The Rowers’ Code: A Business Parable of How to Pull Together as a Team – and Win!
by Marilyn Krichko with Jane Rollinson

I’ve got to be honest here in saying that I struggled a bit when I first heard about a book that shared a rowing metaphor to present a simple actionable set of truths about teamwork and communication that can be applied to every workplace scenario to supercharge performance.

However, once into the content, it made perfect sense. In fact, I was amazed at the similarities which exist between a rowing team and a workplace team as they face the daily challenges which stand between them and their ultimate goal.

The authors are both avid rowers who boast impressive business credentials as well. Marilyn Krichko was formerly an executive at a Swedish paper company and now enjoys a successful career as a corporate consultant. Jane Rollinson has held high-level board and executive positions at major healthcare companies.

This book is based on an overwhelming response to more than a decade of successful workshops based on the Rower’s Code. Its 26 chapters will teach you how to use the seven steps of the Rower’s Code to:

• Tap into the strength of peers.
• Maintain synchronicity with other members of your team.
• Work through issues directly with teammates.
• Personalize and powerfully leverage change.
• Unleash the effectiveness of the workgroup.
• Succeed in an increasingly competitive business landscape.

The authors provide an array of helpful elements that certainly enhance reader comprehension of key concepts:

1. At the end of each chapter, the authors provide a combination of summary and key concepts which I found very helpful.
2. They also provide a nine-page team assessment designed to help you evaluate the current state of your own team. You can complete the questionnaire in the book or online as a team on their website where they will tabulate your results and send you a report.
3. You can also visit their website to print and display Rower’s Code posters and bookmarks, print pages featuring helpful tips and tools, sign up for their free newsletter, and enjoy their blog.

I strongly suggest you get into the boat with the authors and step up to the challenge of The Rower’s Code.

The Rowers’ Code: A Business Parable of How to Pull Together as a Team – and Win! is available from Amazon. The AchieveMax® company is an affiliate of Amazon.com.

About Harry K. Jones

Harry K. Jones is a motivational speaker and consultant for AchieveMax®, Inc., a company of professional speakers who provide custom-designed seminars, keynote presentations, and consulting services. Harry's top requested topics include change management, customer service, creativity, employee retention, goal setting, leadership, stress management, teamwork, and time management. For more information on Harry's presentations, please call 800-886-2629 or fill out our contact form.

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The Five Dysfunctions of a Team: A Leadership Fable
by Patrick Lencioni

As long as I can remember, business leaders have traditionally borrowed from successful sports strategies to run their companies. Many players and coaches, from a variety of popular sports, have written books that ended up in corporate libraries. However, the proverbial “tables” have apparently turned. I just read a very interesting cover story on the front page of the Money section of USA Today. The focus of this two-page feature revolves around the ironic fact that this book is becoming a must-read for NFL head coaches.

The irony is obvious. The Five Dysfunctions of a Team was written for business executives and managers. A football audience was so far from the mind of author Patrick Lencioni that the parable’s heroine is a 57-year-old female CEO named Kathryn who talks about such sappy things as fear of conflict.

Apparently a large number of coaches and players in the NFL are learning a thing or two from a business book about winning tactics in the workplace. Author Lencioni says he was stunned to learn that his growing list of fans include: San Francisco 49ers coach Mike Nolan, Oakland Raiders coach Norv Turner, San Diego Chargers coach Marty Schottenheimer, Miami Dolphins rookie coach Nick Saban, Cleveland Browns coach Romeo Crennel, and Cincinnati Bengals coach Marvin Lewis. Several of the coaches even distributed copies to their assistant coaches and players, and Coach Lewis keeps a four-color printout of the book’s pyramid on his desk to remind him of the five dysfunctions that can cripple a team.

You might wonder why a business book would be of such great interest in the NFL? When you think about it, it’s rather obvious. Head coaches and players are struggling with many of the same challenges that CEOs and employees are forced to contend with in today’s competitive and ever-changing environment.

The popularity of The Five Dysfunctions of a Team isn’t exclusive to NFL coaches. Teams playing everything from cricket in New Zealand to tennis at Northwestern University have employed its lessons.

Published in 2002, The Five Dysfunctions of a Team never rose to the level of best seller. However, more recently, demand has grown, and over the past two years, it has outsold almost all but a few leadership/management books such as Who Moved My Cheese?, Good to Great, The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, The 8th Habit and Now, Discover Your Strengths, according to USA Today book sales data.

This is a genuinely significant book for anyone who works in a team environment, whether at work, in sports, in the community, at home, etc. Over the years, there have been hundreds of books written on the subject of building teams. This is one of the best for the simple reason that it gets at the ROOTS of team failure. Anyone who has been forced to go through corporate “team building” sessions, forcing you to sing with your fellow co-workers, tip toe across two-by-fours, or swing on a rope like Tarzan knows that this approach doesn’t work! The principles presented in The Five Dysfunctions of a Team are solid and will get results.

These are the five team dysfunctions that Lencioni uses in his leadership fable:

1. Absence of trust
2. Fear of conflict
3. Lack of commitment
4. Avoidance of accountability
5. Inattention to detail

This book will be a great asset to team members and leaders alike. You will see yourself and your team in this book. More than that, you will find specific steps you can take to make your team better. Through a real-life fable, the author leads you through the steps you need to take to move a team from dysfunction to health. You will find a clear model as well as examples that are as relevant as your last meeting.

The majority of the book deals with a fictional CEO and her efforts to unite a dysfunctional team that is in such disarray that it threatens to destroy the entire company. Throughout the story, the author reveals the five dysfunctions that go to the very heart of why teams, even the very best, often struggle. He outlines a powerful model and actionable steps that can be used to overcome these common hurdles to build a cohesive, effective team.

In the last few pages of the book, the author describes each dysfunction in detail, followed by suggestions to overcome that dysfunction. The Five Dysfunctions of a Team gives a simple message that inspires, energizes, and creates a vision of hope for how thing could be in a team. Coaches agree that there is a lot that goes into a winning team, and no book will ever play more than a tiny role. But in the NFL, as in business, a slight edge can make the difference.

(This book review was originally published in 2005 as one of the Top 10 Books – Edition 13.)

About Harry K. Jones

Harry K. Jones is a motivational speaker and consultant for AchieveMax®, Inc., a company of professional speakers who provide custom-designed seminars, keynote presentations, and consulting services. Harry's top requested topics include change management, customer service, creativity, employee retention, goal setting, leadership, stress management, teamwork, and time management. For more information on Harry's presentations, please call 800-886-2629 or fill out our contact form.

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The 17 Essential Qualities of a Team Player: Becoming the Kind of Person Every Team Wants
by John C. Maxwell

He’s b-a-c-k-k-k-k-k! If Maxwell wrote it—you should read it! He’s that darn good! Known as America’s expert on leadership, John C. Maxwell is founder of The INJOY Group, an organization dedicated to helping people maximize their personal and leadership potential. Through seminars, books, and tapes, Dr. Maxwell encourages and motivates more than one million people a year. Can you imagine having that kind of an impact on society? He’s earned it and certainly lives up to his reputation. He has authored more than 25 books including many we’ve mentioned in previous reviews and newsletter articles such as The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership, The 21 Indispensable Qualities of a Leader, Developing the Leader Within You, The 17 Indisputable Laws of Teamwork, and Failing Forward.

Dr. Maxwell returns now with The 17 Essential Qualities of a Team Player. Teams have been around forever in every aspect of society … business, family, church, and recreation. However, today they seem to be more important than ever. While most leaders have read the books, attended the seminars, listened to the audio tapes, and claim to have heard it all when it comes to teamwork … how do you explain the scarcity of productive teams in most organizations today?

The author points out that any team is simply a collection of individuals. The challenge for each individual (team member) is to become the kind of person who can and will maximize his or her contribution and push the team forward to fulfill its mission. As usual, Dr. Maxwell teaches by taking a look at what works. He examines the triumphs of winning team players from all walks of life, identifying the character traits that brought success their way. Learn how qualities such as discipline, enthusiasm, communication, preparation, and commitment in individuals can improve a team’s effectiveness as a whole.

Be sure to add this book to your library and Maxwell’s best-seller list, and you can’t go wrong!

(This book review was originally published in 2002 as one of the Top 10 Books – Edition 10.)

About Harry K. Jones

Harry K. Jones is a motivational speaker and consultant for AchieveMax®, Inc., a company of professional speakers who provide custom-designed seminars, keynote presentations, and consulting services. Harry's top requested topics include change management, customer service, creativity, employee retention, goal setting, leadership, stress management, teamwork, and time management. For more information on Harry's presentations, please call 800-886-2629 or fill out our contact form.

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The 17 Indisputable Laws of Teamwork: Embrace Them and Empower Your Team
by John C. Maxwell

Known as America’s expert on leadership, John C. Maxwell has authored more than 25 books including bestsellers The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership, Developing the Leader Within You, Failing Forward, and The 21 Indispensable Qualities of a Leader. Those of you who are familiar with this author can look forward to another inspirational masterpiece that will leave you eager to dive into and enjoy the process of team-building.

It had to happen sooner or later. The author offers a companion website, designed to go hand-in-hand with his book in order to enhance and complete our learning experience. You simply read a chapter, apply what you learn by following the suggestions at the end of that chapter, and then log on to the free interactive assessment. It will help you gauge your strengths and weaknesses when it comes to teamwork. There you will also find recommendations for ways to further your personal and professional development.

The format of the book will be familiar to those who have read Dr. Maxwell’s excellent leadership books. In this case, there are 17 laws, with each one being comprised of additional elements. Each law has one or two overriding examples, and then many small examples … usually one for each subpoint. At the end of each law’s section, you have questions to answer and assignments to do. This aspect of the book is like having a workbook to help you begin to apply the lessons to your own situation.

In his trademark, easy-to-get-it approach, Dr. Maxwell demystifies the process of building a winning team, making it simple to grasp, retain, and put into practice. He’s invested a great deal of time and effort to identify these 17 Laws of Teamwork. He says: “The wonderful thing about a law is that you can depend on it. No matter who you are, what your background is, or what circumstances you face, you can take these laws to the bank.” You’ll enjoy this one, it’s going to become a classic. Be sure to share it with others on your team.

(This book review was originally published in 2001 as one of the Top 10 Books – Edition 8.)

About Harry K. Jones

Harry K. Jones is a motivational speaker and consultant for AchieveMax®, Inc., a company of professional speakers who provide custom-designed seminars, keynote presentations, and consulting services. Harry's top requested topics include change management, customer service, creativity, employee retention, goal setting, leadership, stress management, teamwork, and time management. For more information on Harry's presentations, please call 800-886-2629 or fill out our contact form.

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High Five! The Magic of Working Together
by Ken Blanchard and Sheldon Bowles

My favorite quote comes from Jack Welch, considered by many experts to be the 20th Century’s greatest corporate leader. He said, “People always over-estimate how complex business is. This isn’t rocket science!” Apparently he hit the nail right on the head. Here is still another book written as a parable. It, too, delivers its powerful message by teaming its main character with a young person and a unique mentor. A fifth grade hockey player and former girls’ basketball coach teach our workaholic hero the magic of teamwork and that “none of us is as smart as all of us.” This is not rocket science. However, it is a delightful and charming story that brilliantly illustrates the dynamics of teamwork and why the collective power of a group outshines individual performance. 

Blanchard’s previous work warrants a mention at this point. Blanchard and company have enlightened many a reader with the following best-selling favorites … The One Minute Manager Series, Raving Fans, Mission Possible, Gung Ho!, The Heart of a Leader, Managing by Values, Big Bucks, The 3 Keys to Empowerment, How Leaders Lead, Everyone’s a Coach, and Winning Ways among others. If you enjoyed his previous work, you’ll want to add this classic to your business and/or personal collection.

(This book review was originally published in 2001 as one of the Top 10 Books – Edition 6.)

About Harry K. Jones

Harry K. Jones is a motivational speaker and consultant for AchieveMax®, Inc., a company of professional speakers who provide custom-designed seminars, keynote presentations, and consulting services. Harry's top requested topics include change management, customer service, creativity, employee retention, goal setting, leadership, stress management, teamwork, and time management. For more information on Harry's presentations, please call 800-886-2629 or fill out our contact form.

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