Team Turnarounds: A Playbook for Transforming Underperforming Teams

178 Pages·2012·1.54 MB·English

by  Joe Frontiera

Table of Contents
Cover
Title page
Copyright page
Dedication
Foreword: Adversity Introduces Us to Ourselves
Introduction
MICHIGAN FALLING
TURNAROUNDS IN THE MODERN LANDSCAPE: THE
TEAM TURNAROUND PROCESS
OVERVIEW OF THE CHAPTERS
MICHIGAN RISING
1 Stage I: Leading Past Losing
OBSERVE AND LEARN
FACE REALITY
DEFINE ROLES AND RESPONSIBILITIES
THE PLAYBOOK FOR LEADING PAST LOSING
2 Stage II: Committing to Growth
LAUNCH THE VISION
ADOPT GUIDING VALUES
ESTABLISH A PLAN AND SET GOALS
THE PLAYBOOK FOR COMMITTING TO GROWTH
3 Stage III: Changing Behaviors
TEACH BEHAVIOR
MODEL BEHAVIOR
REINFORCE BEHAVIOR
THE PLAYBOOK FOR CHANGING BEHAVIORS
4 Stage IV: Embracing Adversity
TURN CHALLENGES INTO GROWTH OPPORTUNITIES
BUILD RESILIENCE
THE PLAYBOOK FOR EMBRACING ADVERSITY
5 Stage V: Achieving Success
DEFINE SUCCESS
ADAPT
THE PLAYBOOK FOR ACHIEVING SUCCESS
6 Stage VI: Nurturing a Culture of Excellence
CONTINUE LEARNING AND INNOVATING
UNDERSTAND THE CULTURE
THE PLAYBOOK FOR NURTURING A CULTURE OF
EXCELLENCE
7 The Team Turnaround Workbook
STAGE I: LEADING PAST LOSING
STAGE II: COMMITTING TO GROWTH
STAGE III: CHANGING BEHAVIORS
STAGE IV: EMBRACING ADVERSITY
STAGE V: ACHIEVING SUCCESS
STAGE VI: NURTURING A CULTURE OF EXCELLENCE
Acknowledgments
About the Authors
Index

Copyright © 2012 by Joe Frontiera and Daniel Leidl. All rights reserved.
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Frontiera, Joe, 1975–
Team turnarounds : a playbook for transforming underperforming teams / Joe
Frontiera, Daniel Leidl. – First edition.
pages cm
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-1-118-14478-7
ISBN 978-1-118-26372-3 (mobipocket) – ISBN 978-1-118-23908-7 (epub) –
ISBN 978-1-118-22574-5 (pdf) 1. Terms in the
workplace. 2. Organization. 3. Leadership. 4. Management. I. Leidl, Daniel,
1974– II. Title.
HD66.F76 2012
658.4'022–dc23
2012016807
To our friendship,
our wives, our team
Foreword: Adversity Introduces Us to
Ourselves
What do NFL teams, a Broadway musical, a university childcare center, a pizza
maker, a public school system, a motorcycle trailer manufacturer, a collegiate
lacrosse team, and a state all have in common? Stumped? They, and other
equally fascinating organizations, are the case examples in Team Turnarounds, a
highly entertaining and enlightening read about very diverse organizations that
shared one common problem: they were all failing or floundering and needed to
reverse course.
Because of the sheer breadth of their examination, it’s hard to imagine how Joe
Frontiera and Dan Leidl could pull this off. But they have—and to great effect.
These stories are so well narrated that you’ll think you’re reading an edge-of-
your-seat detective story. And Team Turnarounds really is like that in many
ways. Here are tireless leaders who face severely vexing challenges and puzzling
situations—many of which they and others have never before encountered. And
these leaders are refreshingly honest about the realities of life in organizations
that aren’t performing up to expectations. That life can be embarrassing,
depressing, exhausting, and heartbreaking. Yet, at the same time, it can also be
exhilarating, uplifting, meaningful, and rewarding. It all depends on how you
view the challenge.
While reading this book, we were reminded of a comment made by John
McDonnell, former CEO of McDonnell Douglas, when that company was going
through its struggles before eventually merging with Boeing. “Adversity
introduces you to yourself,” he said, reflecting upon what that struggle had
brought for him. And we recalled another thought from Randy Melville, whom
we interviewed when he was with Pepsi. Quoting his Princeton University
basketball coach, Pete Carril, Randy said, “Adversity doesn’t build character, it
reveals it.” Challenges, difficulties, setbacks, adversities—they are all familiar
sights on the leadership landscape. And one of the things that they cause us to do
is come face-to-face with ourselves. They are a rather harsh way of reminding us
of what’s important to us, what we value, and where we want to go.
Leaders are no strangers to challenges. In fact, exemplary leaders thrive on
them. Team Turnarounds offers you the hard-earned lessons learned by the
amazing people who led the transformations. And Joe and Dan have done an
exemplary job of pulling these lessons together in a way that is not just
applicable to the folks in the book. They show us how these lessons are
applicable to all of us, and how they are especially useful during the turnarounds
we are now dealing with, or will inevitably confront, in our organizations and
our lives. There are lessons in here about the importance of values and visions,
about commitment and meaning, about teamwork and relationships, about
resilience and positivity, about initiative and commitment, and about courage
and heart.
But you don’t have to wait for things to get bad on your team or in your
organization to benefit from Joe and Dan’s insights and practical wisdom. Filled
with fresh, revealing examples from sports, business, education, retail, and large
and small organizations, the examples are illuminating in their depth and take-
away applications. You and your entire team will benefit from the book’s Team
Turnaround Workbook—it alone is worth the price of the book. You’ll find
essential questions you must answer, tasks you must complete, and preparations
you must take to successfully reverse the course of a losing team, a failing
company, or a stalled initiative.
Team Turnarounds is, in the end, a book about hope. A book about how you
can mobilize others to transcend the present difficulties, bounce back from
failures, and reach for greatness. It’s a book about the power of the human spirit.
Enjoy.
Jim Kouzes
Orinda, California
Barry Posner
Santa Clara, California
March 2012