Summary: Making Horses Drink

Review and Analysis of Hiam's Book

BusinessNews Publishing

• Publisher: Must Read Summaries
• Year: 2016
• eBook ISBN: 9782511019573
• Topic: Business
• Subtopic: Human Resource Management
• Index: Business

The must-read summary of Alex Hiam's book: `Making Horses Drink: How to Lead and Succeed in Business`.

This complete summary of the ideas from Alex Hiam's book `Making Horses Drink` shows that, in a commercial setting, your employees are your horsepower - the people with the potential to take the company to great results. In this book, the author explains that realising this potential is the central challenge and goal faced by every leader and, just like the proverbial horse, you can't force employees to be exceptional if they don't want to be. This summary reveals the key to motivating your workforce and how you can make small changes to improve your leadership skills.

Added-value of this summary:
• Save time
• Understand key concepts
• Expand your leadership skills

To learn more, read `Making Horses Drink` and discover the key to getting the best from your employees.

Summary of Making Horses Drink (Alex Hiam)

1. Commitment

The first task facing any rider is to make certain the horse wants to win. In other words, organizations succeed when everyone within them wants to excel. It isn’t enough just to have highly motivated managers.

Traditionally, it was thought the key to success was just to get people to show up for work. Today, the organizations which succeed engage their people – everyone is invited to come up with ideas on how the work can be improved.

To build commitment:

• Look for new employees who not only have training and experience but also high levels of commitment and motivation.
• Make certain every employee knows exactly what’s required of them and has all the resources he or she needs to be efficient. Also check employees aren’t waiting for further information or instructions from their supervisors before getting on with their work.
• Give employees more authority to self-manage their work. Combine that authority with knowledge by also providing the additional training they’ll need to be able to use any new business tools more effectively.
• Combat boredom in the workplace and add some fun by:
  • Having a weekly draw for a small $50 prize.
  • Integrating job rotations into your regular routine.
  • Finishing work an hour early and throwing a party.
  • Setting some imaginative growth goals with big rewards.
• Keep things fresh by introducing regular changes in the work environment – even little things like altering the lighting level can enhance productivity.
• Help employees develop a strong esprit de corps in their team – by letting them do whatever it takes to build that team spirit. And the more zany these activities, the better.
• Develop charts or graphs that track how the business is doing in real time if possible.
• Consider ways you can let the employees choose their own bosses. And provide enough training that every employee could become a leader of some project or another.
• Let the employees decide what goes in the newsletter or which imprinted merchandise should be purchased.
• Throw some memorable parties.
• Encourage employees to take the skills acquired at work and use them at home in their family situations.
• Suggest to bosses they should ask more than they tell and encourage them to defer to employee judgement whenever and wherever possible.
• Create a sense of mission on why tasks are important by making the key milestones well known. Post time lines where people will see them and make progress on those charts. Then celebrate when those goals are realized.

“I don’t think I’m the primary motivator. I give people license to be themselves and motivate others in that way. We give people the opportunity to be a maverick. You don’t have to fit into a constraining mold at work – you can have a good time. We also try to show that what they do matters. That’s why we share with employees the letters we get from passengers.”

– Herb Kelleher, chairman, SouthWest Airlines

“All the soft things that leaders have to focus on are becoming very important – areas such as professional and leadership development, work and family, and quality of life issues – whatever it is that gives your people a reason to be excited about waking up and going to work each day.”

– Kenneth Lewis, CEO, Bank of America

“It is easier for employees to feel a commitment to other individuals rather than an abstract entity such as the company.”

– Peter Capelli, Wharton School

2. Communication

A good horse and rider understand and listen to each other. This is important because often, the horse will know what’s best. A wise manager listens to and learns from the horse.

Great leaders are great communicators but in great workplaces the communication flows smoothly in all directions. Leaders need to get into the habit of asking probing questions and then listening and acting on what is said.

To create a rich communications environment:

• Generate your own rumors – by responding in writing to any rumors that are circulating the organization during times of change. Help people have accurate information.
• Reward the employees who share...

Table of contents

• Title page
• Book Presentation
• Summary of Making Horses Drink (Alex Hiam)
• About the Summary Publisher
• Copyright