Army of Entrepreneurs: Create an Engaged and Empowered Workforce for Exceptional Business Growth [Hardcover]

Jennifer Prosek (Author), Darrren Hardy (Foreword)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 2, 2011

Imagine the benefits to be gained from a pool of employees who act as though they own the business: greater motivation, increased productivity, and a supercharged desire to succeed. As a young entrepreneur who turned a small PR business into a highly successful, international communications firm, Jennifer Prosek has experienced firsthand the power of instilling an 'owner's mind-set' in every employee. In "Army of Entrepreneurs", Prosek presents an easy-to-follow action plan any company large or small can use to build a workforce dedicated to generating new business, creating new products and services, and sustaining growth. Filled with inspiring examples, the book shows readers how to: motivate, train, and reward their employees; provide everyone from interns to executives with the skills and support they need; and refresh and evaluate the program over time for continuous results. Great businesses aren't built by a single leader or rainmaker. This book shows how to transform any workforce into a profit-generating army and reap the rewards.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Small-business owners will find much of value in public relations consultant Prosek's claim that employers should harness the energy and initiative of their workforce to drive new business rather than being strapped with sole responsibility. Prosek recounts how she successfully transformed her company into an environment that empowered, motivated, and rewarded employees to pitch business and pursue clients themselves. Using case studies from such companies as Edward Jones and Harley Davidson/Buell, she maintains that in both large and small businesses, employees can be empowered to become an "army of entrepreneurs." The theory, and even application, of employee-based growth is credible when applied to small businesses, but may be less feasible in larger organizations. While the opening chapters advance her argument by concentrating on the potential of employees as rainmakers and use her business as a template, she drops the thread in subsequent chapters, which drift to broad cultural and structural issues faced by larger companies, including how to create a formal training program and recruit and retain talent. (Feb.)
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Review

“Small-business owners will find much of value.” -- Publishers Weekly

"Jennifer Prosek not only takes a fresh look at business as usual, but gives the reader immediate tools to create a true partnership between employees and management." - eBABM (Bay Area Business Magazine, FL)

“Prosek has extracted the essence of entrepreneurialism and turned it in to a management system for the new economy….It’s a must read for small businesses.” - New Age Retailer

“Army of Entrepreneurs: Create an Engaged and Empowered Workforce for Exceptional Growth…lives up to—and exceeds the expectations—of its title.” - Heather R. Huhman, BusinessInsider.com

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 224 pages
• Publisher: AMACOM (February 2, 2011)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 081441673X
• ISBN-13: 978-0814416730
• Product Dimensions: 6.3 x 1 x 9.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,061,842 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Jennifer Prosek is the founder and CEO of CJP Communications, a leading international public relations and financial communications consultancy with offices in New York, Connecticut and London. Prosek built the firm using a management strategy she developed called an "Army of Entrepreneurs." The "Army" model is the subject of her first book, Army of Entrepreneurs: Create an Engaged and Empowered Workforce for Exceptional Business Growth, which will be published in February 2011.

CJP and Prosek have won numerous honors. CJP was named an Inc. 5000 Fastest-Growing company, has been recognized as one of the "Top Places to Work in PR" by PR News, and was named "Small Agency of the Year" by The Holmes Report.

Prosek was a finalist for the 2010 Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year award. She was also named an "Emerging Power Player" by PR Week magazine, which lauded her for "combining an MBA education and instinct." She is a member of the Arthur Page Society, which includes chief communications officers from major corporation and CEOs of leading public relations agencies.

Prosek lectures frequently at leading business schools, including Columbia, and entrepreneurial and business groups, such as the Yale Chief Executive Leadership Institute.

She is a graduate of Miami University of Ohio and the Columbia Business School. She lives in New York City and Westport, Connecticut with her husband and daughter.


For more information visit http://armyofentrepreneurs.com or follow @EmployeeArmy on Twitter.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars How to grow great gardeners March 22, 2011

By Robert Morris HALL OF FAMETOP 100 REVIEWERVINE™ VOICE

Format:Hardcover

The title of my review refers to what I believe is Jennifer Prosek's key point in this book: To paraphrase, Think like a gardener and decide what you want to grow, when and where to plant it, prepare the soil, plant, and then nourish the soil and protect the garden. In the business world, the gardeners are supervisors and what they must grow is what Prosek describes as an Army of Entrepreneurs (AOE), high-potential leaders with an entrepreneurial temperament and worldview. Prosek offers what many of these supervisors need to develop that potential: "An easy-to-follow, replicable [key word] plan of action that can be instituted [two more key words] quickly and inexpensively."

Organizations reflect those who lead them and that is especially true of the largest organizations, such as General Electric. Consider what Jack Welch said years ago at one of the company's annual meetings. He responded to a question: Why do you admire entrepreneurial companies so much that you want GE to become more like one?

"For one, they communicate better. Without the din and prattle of bureaucracy, people listen as well as talk; and since there are fewer of them they generally know and understand each other. Second, small companies move faster. They know the penalties for hesitation in the marketplace. Third, in small companies, with fewer layers and less camouflage, the leaders show up very clearly on the screen. Their performance and its impact are clear to everyone. And, finally, smaller companies waste less. They spend less time in endless reviews and approvals and politics and paper drills. They have fewer people; therefore they can only do the important things. Their people are free to direct their energy and attention toward the marketplace rather than fighting bureaucracy."

In addition to the aforementioned "game plan," Prosek also offers anecdotes and case studies that illustrate the AOE model in real-world circumstances as well as statistics, research, and commentary from various experts in the business community. Years ago, Thomas Edison observed, "Vision without execution is hallucination." That is why Prosek places such great emphasis on explaining or at least suggesting how to create, lead, deploy, and support an AOE. At the conclusion of each of 12 chapters, she inserts a "Six Steps Forward" section that lists what to do right after reading the material in the given chapter.

In Chapter 3, she shares her own thoughts about why big companies need entrepreneurs (i.e. to support innovation, keep in touch with customers, retain the most valued workers, move faster, and expand globally) and then recommends seven specific strategies for larger organizations (Pages 35-42). The case studies include those of Edward Jones, Emerson Electric, Ernst & Young, IBM, and Intuit. Again, the focus is on what works, what doesn't, and why. Other material within her narrative that caught my eye include "boot camp" (Pages 59-60), conducting training "workshops" (Hunting for Business, Advanced Hunting, Intrapreneurship, Planning and Organizing, and Teaching the Business), creating a talent pipeline (six steps, Pages 83-85), measuring success (formal and informal, Pages 113-129), managing disaster (Pages 172 and 189-190), and "Ten Questions to Ponder" in Appendix A (Pages 191-192).

Throughout her lively and eloquent narrative, Jennifer Prosek skillfully invokes a variety of military metaphors as she explains how to create "an engaged and empowered workforce for exceptional business growth." She rigorously covers each step of the process: recruiting, hiring, orientation, training, deployment, and performance measurement. There is no shortage of metaphors to call upon when describing this difficult but nonetheless essential process. I congratulate her on this brilliant achievement.

Those who share my high regard for this book are urged to check out Brian Carney and Isaac Getz's Freedom, Inc.: Free Your Employees and Let Them Lead Your Business to Higher Productivity, Profits and Growth, Erika Andersen's Growing Great Employees, Dean Spitzer's Transforming Performance Measurement and Enterprise Architecture as Strategy co-authored by Jeanne W. Ross, Peter Weill, and David Robertson.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Great Insights and Tips on Growing Your Business While Motivating and Empowering Your Employees February 24, 2011

By CynInCali

Format:Hardcover

Army of Entrepreneurs is a great book for any entrepreneur, business owner, senior executive, or manager.

The idea that every employee can contribute to building the business, no matter what their level of experience, seems obvious. Employees have a lot to offer. And, helping them understand the business, by having an open environment where the CEO or top people communicate and let people know how the business operates, makes sense. Often employees don't feel ownership in a company, don't feel appreciated, and do not even realize how integral they can be to the success of the company. This book shows how you can "show the love" to your employees, by investing in them, playing to their strengths, and engaging them in your business or department.

Companies are finding that old management models do not work well in this newly competitive and fast moving world. They realize that it takes more than just money to motivate and retain employees. Prosek shares not only her own experiences, but brings in stories from other companies. She details what worked for her company and others--during a major downturn (!)--and shares her recipe for success.

Prosek's advice and "action plan" are not complicated...she uses a lot of common sense and articulates WHY to "do" it, HOW to "do" it, WHAT to expect. She takes you by the hand and gives you a roadmap that you can customize to your company. No expensive consultants or complicated plans needed.

Even if you do not own your own business, but manage a team of people, Prosek's takeaways are spot on--there are things you can do right now! They make sense...

I read the book in one sitting. Well done!

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Better than expected March 28, 2011

By Bret L. Simmons

Format:Hardcover

Honestly, this book started very cheesy. It looked like another tired book by a consultant just trying to drum up speaking engagements or business. But to my surprise, this really was a good book with tons of excellent advice. Chapters 7 and 10 were the best for me, about how the leader needs to blog and how to pay so people will stay. I don't write long reviews, because personally I don't read long reviews, but trust me, if you are a business owner or leader, this book is worth your time.