Book SummaryWhen They Win, You Win, by Russ Laraway

1-Page Summary1-Page Book Summary of When They Win, You Win

In When They Win, You Win, employee experience expert Russ Laraway explains that employee engagement in the workforce is at an all-time low, but it’s not the employees who are at fault; it’s their managers. Poorly trained, ineffective managers are everywhere, and they’re costing companies billions of dollars every year. However, Laraway says he has the solution: By developing a few key leadership skills, you can greatly improve your team’s morale and performance. Laraway also offers tools to gauge your...

When They Win, You Win Summary Introduction: Bad Management Is a Widespread Problem

According to Laraway, bad managers are everywhere—they’re in every industry and company. To make matters worse, bad managers create disengaged, unhappy, and unproductive employees. In short, bad management hurts employees and employers alike.

(Shortform note: A Gallup poll estimates that, in the US alone, disengaged employees cost companies $450 billion to $500 billion annually. These costs are the result of reduced productivity and sales, absenteeism, and high employee turnover.)

In this section, we’ll discuss why Laraway thinks bad managers are so common, how you can determine your own effectiveness as a manager, and why improving your management skills is easier than you might think.

The Root of the Management Problem

Laraway says that this widespread management problem largely comes from how companies choose and train (or rather, fail to adequately train) their managers.

There’s a common assumption that people who are good at their jobs will naturally be good at managing others...

When They Win, You Win Summary Management Focus #1: Goals

The first area of focus for an effective manager is setting clear goals for your employees: Your workers should know exactly what’s expected of them and when. In this section, we’ll examine several tiers of goals that managers can set for their employees, and then we’ll explain how to evaluate your effectiveness in this area.

Goal Tiers: From Short-term to Long-term

Laraway divides goals into four tiers, starting with shorter-term goals and culminating in the company’s long-term goal. Each tier supports the one above it—short-term Tier 1 goals create progress toward Tier 2 goals, which in turn build toward Tier 3, all of which culminates in the company’s ultimate, long-term Tier 4 goal. In other words, every goal that employees work toward should ultimately contribute to that Tier 4 goal, and each employee should understand how their work supports that goal.

(Shortform note: Angela Duckworth (Grit) says that you can use short-term goals to discover long-term goals. Her method for doing so is simply to ask why you have goals that you do,...

When They Win, You Win Summary Management Focus #2: Coaching

Laraway says that setting clear goals is only the first part of being an effective manager—you also need to coach your workers on how to reach those goals. Not only does effective coaching make your employees into better workers, but it also helps build bonds of trust and mutual support between you and your team. Those bonds, in turn, make your employees feel more comfortable and happier at work; in other words, they become more engaged.

In this section, we’ll review the two aspects of coaching that Laraway discusses: encouraging what’s working well and fixing what’s not working well. We’ll then go over Laraway’s suggestions for how to measure your effectiveness as a coach.

Encourage What’s Working

Many people think that coaching employees means correcting their mistakes, but it’s just as important to provide positive reinforcement for the things your employees are doing well. Laraway says that the majority of your coaching should be encouragement and praise. People like to hear when they’re doing well, so positive feedback factors heavily into employee engagement and retention.

(Shortform note: Positive feedback is good for more than just employee morale....

When They Win, You Win Summary Management Focus #3: Career Development

Laraway’s third and final focus area for managers is career development: helping employees to plan and realize their long-term career goals, not just their current job goals. Notably, this focus area includes helping your workers advance their careers even if doing so means they eventually leave your company.

In this section, we’ll examine Laraway’s suggestion of using three crucial meetings to build the foundation for an employee’s career development. We’ll then discuss how you can gauge your effectiveness in this area.

The Three Meetings

As with all management focus areas, career development should be an ongoing process with each of your employees. However, to be effective in this focus area, Laraway recommends setting three meetings with each employee, each with a specific focus.

At the first meeting, ask your employee how they got to their current job role. Ask about their past—their education, their previous jobs, and why they applied for their current position. Knowing your employee’s history will give you a more thorough understanding of them as a person, including their interests, shortcomings, and job skills that may not come up in their current...

Shortform Exercise: Boost Your Leadership Skills

Now that you’ve read Laraway’s advice on how to become a more effective manager and leader, think about how you could start improving your leadership skills. Remember: Engaged employees are productive employees, and good management is a crucial factor in employee engagement.

Which of the three management focus areas (goals, coaching, and career development) do you think you need the most work in? Why?