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Fired Up or Burned Out: How to Reignite Your Team's Passion, Creativity, and Productivity

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Michael Stallard's "Fired Up or Burned Out" addresses organizational and personal passion, creativity, and productivity. Stallard notes in his introduction that fewer than three in ten Americans are engaged in their jobs (surviving rather than thriving), and sets about to explain why and how it can be fixed.

"Fired Up" is organized into four sections (and 15 chapters): what fires us up; the keys to connecting a team and lighting their fires; where it begins; and lessons from twenty great leaders. Each section begins with a "What you will learn guide," and each chapter ends with a "Review, Reflection, and Application" summary. The former provides the theme and the latter provides an excellent reference for future review.

What you will learn includes:

* Why a sense of emotional connection is necessary for people and organizations to thrive.

* How the oft discussed elements of vision, value, and voice are reflected in the richer concepts of inspiring identity, human value, and knowledge flow.

* Why connection depends on the right kind of people whose actions increase connection.

* The three types of people who affect connection: intentional disconnectors, unintentional disconnectors, and intentional connectors.

Stallard begins with the fundamental belief that all people want and need to feel valued and shows how the "Power of Connection" works to this end. "Connection meets basic human psychological needs for respect, recognition, belonging, autonomy, personal growth, and meaning." People with a higher degree of connection experience superior mental and physical health improving the performance of both. And the lack of connection will gradually diminish both leading to burn out.

Psychiatrists have also observed that the lack of connection leads to feelings of loneliness, isolation, confusion resulting in behaviors of distrust, disrespect, and dissatisfaction. And at a time when the public is concerned about organizational ethics, it has been noted that in cultures where large numbers of people are disconnected, unethical behavior is more likely to occur.

Stallard links connection to vision, value and voice. Many business authors have underscored the value of the first two elements but less has been written on "voice." I found the discussion of "voice" one of the most interesting and refreshing aspects of this excellent book. Stallard explains in detail how "voice" or knowledge flow increases connection and fires up people, helps people to make better decisions (the wisdom of the crowd), and increases creativity and innovation. He then suggest several strategies on how to increase knowledge flow within the organization - top to bottom, bottom to top, and across all functions.

Author Michael Stallard has had an interest in work cultures throughout his career as he wanted to understand the culture that would bring out the best in himself. His interest led to a generalized notion of what would bring out the best in all, and left Wall Street in 2002 to start a think tank, E Pluribus Partners, to assist people and organizations in achieving their potential.

The final section, "Learn from Twenty Great Leaders Over Twenty Days" provides excellent examples of Stallard's principles in practice by great leaders - Marquis de Lafayette, George Washington, John Wooden, Howard Schultz, and many others.

"Fired Up" is an excellent read for those who lead, those who want to lead, and, even, for those who do not want to lead. All can fall into the traps of life that lead to failure. "Fired Up" shows us a practical way to avoid these traps and to live a full, productive life.

The power of connection is at once essential and evasive. The good organizations have it, the mediocre organizations give lip service to it, and the poor organizations just don't care if they have it. Yet, for those leaders who seek greatness -- for themselves, their organizations, and their organizations -- connection and engagement are indispensible.

Co-author Michael Lee Stallard is the founder of E Pluribus Partners, an employee engagement consulting firm, concisely and inspiringly outlines the three keys to connections: Visions, Value, and Voice. Along with Carolyn Dewing-Hommes and Jason Pankau, he asserts that connection is neither created nor maintained through a panoply of superficialities, but rather through the clarity of example rooted in human integrity and concern. Without genuineness, team members will quickly disengage (and perhaps justifiably so) and seek connection elsewhere, if not physically, then at least mentally, emotionally and spiritually -- all with disastrous consequences for the organizations.

The first part of the book outlines the importance of connectivity and meaning. The second part moves into the three keys of Vision, Value and Voice with examples drawn from various areas of life. Part three delves into the leader as instrument of connection -- again reinforcing that to increase connectivity, he or she must embrace those qualities within their mind, heart and soul. Lastly, the authors offer a twenty-day "program," examples of leaders who have engaged their people in various endeavors. These can be read "one-a day" -- a daily dose of wisdom, or reviewed in various order.

Appendix A, a scant three pages, provides a roadmap by which anyone can begin to evaluate connectivity within their own organization. The key of course, is that the aspiring leader must approach each question with honesty and integrity -- even if the answers are discomforting and indicative of immediate action.

This is a great book. As someone who highly values the principles of connectivity, the authors have enable me to place my own personal experiences in a more structured context and provide a blueprint for my own leadership in different areas of my life.

Nicely done!

Working in retail as I do and applying the messages of this book to my own situation, I saw how dependent the tone of an organization is on the abilities of its managers and supervisors. You can do a lot on your own, but how functional a workplace is, and how fun or fulfilling it will be to work there, come from the immediate leadership. If you're grinding away in an atmosphere that undermines your ability to apply these principles, find a better work environment. And if you're using the principles the authors have presented, your "can do" attitude will help you find something better.

I liked how the book recaps main ideas at the end of each chapter for quick overview and reinforcement.

Like most management books, this is basically an extended riff on a one-hour Powerpoint presentation, padded with anecdotes and written at a ninth-grade level. In this case, it sounds worse than it is. Some of the anecdotes are entertaining or even inspiring, and the core message -- that you can get people excited about their work by treating them with respect, increasing communication and involving them in the business -- is a sound one.

The problem is that if you actually don't already know how to treat folks with respect, it's not clear that this little book will teach you how. It tries to plead, cajole and even threaten: several times, the author describes a manager whose generally antisocial practices led to his ruin. But somehow I doubt that those antisocial folks would have been swayed by this book.

My recommendation: buy this for your manager as an anonymous Christmas gift, and hope for the best. Meanwhile, you go off and read Machiavelli. Maybe the two of you can meet in the middle.

I am currently taking a PMP class and found this book to be a good compliment on the essential element PMP misses: teamwork. Management is not solely a numbers game, but a process that can be more about the use of soft skills, as it requires the commitment of individual talents and the connection between people. Worth reading.

Before reading Fired Up or Burned Out, I had really thought that I wasn't capable of reading business books anymore. Too often there is very little substance-- a good magazine article gets expanded past its value point. There is also the seemingly overwhelming temptation to over-complicate, and to forget about common sense in the rush to appear proven or academic.

I was particularly dreading reading this, because I had just finished a book on a similar topic (talent management) which had left me depressed about the future of business as a whole. I was honestly afraid that this was going to be more of the same nonsense.

Imagine my surprise. Fired Up or Burned Out is a practical and readable little gem of a business book. In two sections, Stallard explores the nature of connection and provides some useful tools to help rebuild connection in your team or company.

I have the great good fortune to work for a company which is justly famous for its culture and for the connection and loyalty felt by the coworkers to the business. It was delightful for me to see many of the same concepts that we espouse internally coming back in these well-written and common sense chapters. Additionally, I felt that there was still a lot here that was worth learning. I was particularly interested in the idea of biography as inspiration. After this, I spent a long time thinking about how leaders and even ordinary coworkers can serve a role as kind of a living flag for values.

I would tend to call the concepts in the book evolutionary, not revolutionary. But this is not a bad thing. I would certainly recommend it over other similar books that are flooding the market at the moment in response to the perceived talent gap.

Where to start...this book might be a tool for some people, looking to "pep" up their people at work, with many as one reviewer put it. "common sense" strategies. While nothing noteworthy as especially new, it does give good advice to new employers, or people who now find themselves in charge of unmotivated individuals. One thing I really liked was the fact that it supports the notion that trust is important in an employer/employer relationship. I would recommend this for new management and small business owners that have underlings.

One of the better books of this type, and a great western additive to such works such as a Book of Five Rings or the Art of War in the business sense.

The purpose of "Fired Up or Burned Out" is to promote human connections within an organization. Strong bonds between co-workers (and clients) strengthens the individual as a person, they make employees WANT to come to work and do a good job, they keep people at companies longer, and they improve interaction with those outside the organization. The focus on connections within "Fired Up or Burned Out" continues a growing trend in leadership books; the pendulum continues to swing toward character, relationships, and sacrificing short-term gain for long-term happiness/stability.

Part I of the book makes the argument for creating a "connection culture" in the workplace. The drawbacks of a cold, "business only," "I just work here" environment are laid out and contrasted with the superior culture in which the whole person is respected, cared-for, trusted, and empowered. In this section, the authors rely heavily on statistical/scientific evidence, but also provide anecdotal evidence to support their claims.

Part II presents practical principles that can be applied to improve the connection culture of your workplace. Included is both explanations of "what to do" and "what not to do." In this section also, the three dimensions of a connection culture (voice, vision, and values) are described. A fairly even balance is struck between anecdotal and statistical evidence to support the authors claims.

Part III narrows the focus from the organization to the individual within the organization. It addresses the question, "what can I do to increase connection in my workplace?" As with previous chapters, both "to do and "not to do" are presented. The tone is encouraging yet challenging as the authors emphasize the weighty importance of the task at hand. Anecdotal evidence is emphasized in this section.

In Part IV, the authors move the reader down the road from explanation to application. This section is essentially a month of "daily devotions" designed so that the reader can be inspired by others who have succeeded via a connection culture, have the book's principles reinforced, and take a realistic look at the degree of connectivity in the reader's life. Designed to be read and discussed in a small-group setting, each "day" presents a two-page biography of a leader, how he applied the principles outlined in previous chapters, and ends with a summary and discussion questions.

The book ends with an emotionally-charged Conclusion and an appendix in which questions are asked to further assist the reader in evaluating the connectivity (or lack thereof) in his organization.

This book has many good points to it. One pro is that the book is well structured for educational purposes. Each section begins with a "pre-set" or bullet-pointed list of things the reader should learn in the section and each chapter ends with a bullet-pointed list that summarizes the chapter, asks critical thinking questions, and applies it ("so what?" statements).

The authors are also very careful to present anecdotes from a variety of sources. Business anecdotes (Howard Schultz of Starbucks; the Ritz-Carlton hotel chain, etc.) are present, as are anecdotes from the sports industry (Phil Jackson and Michael Jordan of the Chicago Bulls; the New England Patriots), but also present are anecdotes concerning the military (John Marshall), history (Fredrick the Great, George Washington), and not-for-profit, volunteer-based organizations (Rev. Rick Warren, the Girl Scouts of America).

Finally, the inspiring tone of the book suits its subject matter well.

There are few weaknesses, but they should be mentioned. One aspect of this book that this reader found frustrating is that the three diminutions of a connection culture were not adequately explained until late in the book, where the authors changed the names of the principles. Vision became "increase inspiring identity." Values became "increase human value." Voice became "increase knowledge flow." It is only toward the end of Part III that this reader realized that the terms had changed and finally understood what the principles actually meant.

Another aspect of this book that, while not necessarily a weakness, should be mentioned relates to its implied audience. This book is geared toward people "in charge" at various organizations. The authors rightly point out that organizational culture is often "top-down," that the one in charge dictates the culture and attracts like-minded co-workers; thus it is the responsibility of the leader to create a culture of connectivity. It does not address the needs of those who would like to increase a culture of connectivity from the "bottom-up." The closest they came to this concern is John Marshall's decision to allow Eisenhower to become Supreme Allied Commander during World War II and thus sacrifice any presidential aspirations for the good of the country and when Marshall disagreed with President Roosevelt's decisions yet worked to implement them anyway. A future "bottom-up" book on increasing connectivity would be appreciated.

The authors, Michael Lee Stallard, Carolyn Dewing-Hommes, and Jason Pankau are the founding partners of E Pluribus Partners, an think-tank whose purpose is to promote connection culture within organizations and facilitate its implementation. Stallard, the principle author, has a background in law and high-level investment management. Dewing-Hommes also comes form a business background, specializing in comparing corporate cultures around the world. Pankau is an ordained minister/associate pastor in a congregation and also serves as a corporate coach.

As this book clearly presents principles that will improve any organization, is inspiring, and is practical, it is recommended.

Mike Stallard's new book brilliantly addresses one of the most significant challenges that will be facing virtually every business in the years to come: cultivating the corporate culture and workplace environment (what I call the "invisible architecture" of an organization) that will help organizations recruit and retain enthusiastic and capable people in a hyper-competitive job market. Mike correctly points out that many of the left-brain techniques that have predominated in the past fifty years or so have reached or surpassed the point of diminishing returns, and that now progressive leaders must give more emphasis to promoting right-brain qualities such as passion, creativity, and loyalty. The book is richly illustrated with stories from history and contemporary business, and is must-reading for any manager who wishes to foster a fired-up workplace.

"Fired up or Burned Out: How to Reignite your Team's Passion, Creativity and Productivity," by Michael Stallard, is a breath of fresh air to leaders seeking to reinvigorate their organizations with a renewed sense of vision, purpose and synergy. Ever been involved with an organization that seems stuck or lacking a clear direction or vision? This book is a great resource to help leaders rekindle sparks of synergy, purpose, and passion for excellence.

In the book he makes a very persuasive case for:

* Why a sense of emotional connection is necessary for people and organizations to thrive.

* How the oft discussed elements of vision, value, and voice are reflected in the richer concepts of inspiring identity, human value, and knowledge flow.

* Why connection depends on the right kind of people whose actions increase connection.

* The three types of people who affect connection: intentional disconnectors, unintentional disconnectors, and intentional connectors.

Stallard also looks at leaders and organizations that have succeeded in cultivating this atmosphere of synergy and connection with excellent results as well as those with great potential that missed the mark and why.

An excellent book that I highly recommend to anyone in a position of leadership.