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12 reviews for:
Zapp! The Lightning of Empowerment: How to Improve Quality, Productivity, and Employee Satisfaction
Jeff Cox, William C. Byham
3.29 AVERAGE
12 reviews for:
Zapp! The Lightning of Empowerment: How to Improve Quality, Productivity, and Employee Satisfaction
Jeff Cox, William C. Byham
3.29 AVERAGE
informative
inspiring
lighthearted
fast-paced
A little forced at times, but the anecdote is fun to connect with and the lessons are clear. Worth the read.
informative
reflective
medium-paced
A business allegory, written to describe, promote, and teach the "hows" of employee empowerment. It is an entertaining read, though lightweight. It focuses almost exclusively on the positive outcomes of employee empowerment, ignoring the challenges and downsides that make it so difficult to implement fully. Nonetheless, it may serve for some as a motivating force to dig deeper into the whys and wherefores of empowerment, and to that extent it is useful.
This book has some great tips on being a better leader, but the presentation is why it gets two stars. The book is written in this insipid fairy tale/sci fi type style. If I had taken management courses at UT and been asked to read this, I would have quit the very next day. The book seems to insult my intelligence. Like I couldn't grasp the concepts of what it takes to be a better leader if it were written in regular non-fiction expository style. NO, I am of such low intelligence I need it written with a magic machine that can travel to the 12th dimension!
I would recommend the Manager Tools podcast instead of this book. The manager tools podcast covers most of the same territory and doesn't treat you like a child. The key concepts of the management trinity (feedback, one on ones, and coaching) are essentially what the Zapp book is trying to get you to adopt in your company. Give your employees constructive feedback with action items for the future, talk to your employees one on one about the things they need and find important, coach your employees to be better and more efficient. Most importantly DELEGATE. Give up responsibilities to your employees and help them grow in the organization. Don't micro-manage. It's better to have something good and done, than do it yourself (usually at a higher pay rate). The employee you delegate a responsibility to may not do it as good as you, but by virtue of them (and not you) doing it, the company saves money and you spend your time doing something more important.
Skim this book if you have to.
I would recommend the Manager Tools podcast instead of this book. The manager tools podcast covers most of the same territory and doesn't treat you like a child. The key concepts of the management trinity (feedback, one on ones, and coaching) are essentially what the Zapp book is trying to get you to adopt in your company. Give your employees constructive feedback with action items for the future, talk to your employees one on one about the things they need and find important, coach your employees to be better and more efficient. Most importantly DELEGATE. Give up responsibilities to your employees and help them grow in the organization. Don't micro-manage. It's better to have something good and done, than do it yourself (usually at a higher pay rate). The employee you delegate a responsibility to may not do it as good as you, but by virtue of them (and not you) doing it, the company saves money and you spend your time doing something more important.
Skim this book if you have to.
informative
slow-paced
I'm torn between liking some of this book's good managerial advice and my absolute hatred of cutesy business parables. Unfortunately I think the hate won out. Yuck.
The book was written as a fable. Gives good advice for empowering yourself and others. Through out the book they have quick points, I just wish they consolidated the points in an appendix at the end or even showed the model written out and discussed.
Business/management allegory. Nothing in here is a bad idea (respecting, listening to, and coaching your employees are all good ideas.) But it also is kind of also like 'when we step into this hallucinatory world we can see what's really going on' which is very, very goofy.
informative
fast-paced