The Art of Engagement: Bridging the Gap Between People and Possibilities - Hardcover

"Haudan's approach helps organizations bring strategies to life by engaging the hearts and minds of their people.”
-Marcus Buckingham, bestselling author of Go Put Your Strengths to Work

Almost any business leader will admit that creating a strategy is far easier than executing it. That's because the majority of organizations don't know how to bridge the canyons that exist between executives, managers, and front-line employees. Most strategic initiatives fail when a company tries to execute strategy despite its people rather than through them.

As CEO of consultancy Root Learning, Jim Haudan has more than twenty years experience helping businesses bridge these canyons and achieve their strategic goals. Here, he shares his secrets for driving this strategic execution. Refreshingly accessible, this important book presents executives, managers, and team leaders with a proven, effective way to communicate, empower, and motivate employees at every level of an organization.

Through stories, illustrations, and insightful observations Haudan explores the concept of engagement in business--from the “roots of engagement” to the six reasons why so many workers rank themselves as disengaged to the keys to unlocking engagement in any organization. He also includes a framework for implementing the process of strategically engaging employees as well as a self-assessment for checking your own company's level of strategic engagement.

The Art of Engagement equips you with a range of tools--sketches, illustrations, and highly visual “learning maps”--to help employees speak the same language, see from the same point of view, and connect their individual actions to the success of the whole company. Included are:

• Engaging visual learning tools designed to help you communicate more effectively with your workforce
• Proven methods for successfully engaging employees at every level of an organization
• Real-world case studies of such organizations as Harley-Davidson, Pepsi Cola, and Blockbuster

A strategy may look perfect on paper, but it's worthless if leaders forget that human beings have to implement it. The Art of Engagement arms you with the knowledge and the know-how to engage your employees and drive effective strategic execution.

“We're using the insights in The Art of Engagement to redesign every element of our training systems. We've eliminated the manuals and PowerPoints, and we are building everything around visual images that stimulate dialogue and drive action.”
-Tom Davin, CEO, Panda Restaurant Group, Inc.

“Root Learning's Strategic Engagement Process has proved invaluable in ensuring that our executives, managers, and frontline employees all know and understand how their efforts directly connect with our strategic plan.”
-Rich Meelia, President and CEO, Covidien

“This book represents a career full of learning that Jim and his colleagues have acquired through years of helping organizations link 'boardroom' strategy to front-line execution."
-Connie Colao, Chief People Officer, Taco Bell

“Dialogue is the oxygen of change. The principles in The Art of Engagement have been vital in assisting Textron to change our conversations-which ultimately changed our results.”
-Lewis Campbell, CEO, Textron

“Haudan's ideas have helped us find new and compelling ways to engage every single employee at Harley-Davidson. These insights were a important contributor to the Partnership Philosophy--a philosophy that was pivotal to our success.”
-Rich Teerlink, Former Chairman and CEO, Harley-Davidson

“Jim Haudan and the team at Root Learning have been instrumental in helping our brand grow through employee engagement. This has strongly contributed to creating a common vision and strong ownership of our Hampton brand.”
-Gina Valenti, Senior Director, Hilton Hotels Corporation