Workbook trumpets team-building

The secret to business success is getting everyone in the boat and rowing in the same direction, Spokane business consultant Linda Oien says.

Like the Gonzaga University women’s crew, which Oien used to illustrate her new workbook, “ ‘power 10’ Leadership: How to Engage People and Get Results.”

A “power 10,” in rowing parlance, is 10 strokes ordered by the coxswain during a race that can close a gap, or widen a lead.

If business leaders can get their employees swinging together the way a good crew does, their companies will beat the competition, Oien says.

She says studies done by Gallup found that less than 30 percent of employees are fully engaged in their work, slightly more than half are passive, and the rest are so disengaged as to be counterproductive.

The 213-page workbook was designed to allow users to self-identify weaknesses in skills such as team-building or communication. Then they can skip to those parts of the book that discuss ways of overcoming those problems.

For leaders just trying to keep up with everyday demands of their jobs, Oien says the workbook’s organization saves time by allowing them to focus on the changes they need to make.

Over time, they can return to the book to calibrate their progress, make further adjustments, or move on to other objectives, says Oien, who has managed her own consultant business for 16 years. Before starting businessPATHS, she spent 25 years with Xerox.

The book is available at Amazon.com or at www.businesspaths.net.