Handshake Pledge — Magical Teamwork: Magical Teamwork

Author: Ken Blanchard
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2003-10-01
Features: "The Pledge" highlights the power and vision of outstanding teams, showcasing the strength of teamwork and the nearly perfect performance it creates. Whether you're part of a large business team or in a partnership with just one other person, "The Pledge" will show you how to focus on your common goals and engage in trained collaboration and coordination. In "The Pledge," you will learn:
Establishing inspiring, boundary-challenging, and passion-igniting goals.
Transforming workplace "ball-hog" members into true team players.
Turning individual skills into team skills, enabling the team to overcome adversity and achieve self-transcendence even when losing individual members.
Using two legal methods—repeatedly rewarding and recognizing—to keep your team on a rapid upward trajectory.
After a light yet touching story, "The Pledge" conveys a powerful idea. "The wisdom of one person can never match the wisdom of a group," as this simple statement can create miracles for all kinds of groups. This book uses a deeply moving story to explain the importance of teamwork and demonstrates how to build a successful team. The book tells the rise and fall of Ron Foster—a man who excelled in his work. Through his personal experience, it reveals the four key elements of a successful team. Ron Foster was a top-performing product salesperson but was fired for lacking teamwork. His boss explained, "I do need excellent product salespeople, but I also require these top salespeople to have team spirit." Reluctantly, Ron had to swallow this bitter pill. Heartbroken, Ron took his son to an ice hockey game and discovered that his son's team, the River Rats, also lacked teamwork. The two overwhelmed coaches learned of Ron's situation and kindly invited him to join the coaching staff. Ron found that his task was to teach these children—and himself—how to work as a team. Ron sought help from a friend—a former coach of a women's basketball team who was also "the most state championship-winning coach to date." With her help, Ron and his River Rats began a miraculous journey of teamwork and realized that "the wisdom of one person can never match the wisdom of a group." "The Pledge" is written in a concise and easy-to-understand style. For those who grasp the concept of teamwork and harness its power, this is a classic must-read.