The Fearless Front Line Part One

I've been a member of Soundview Executive Book Summaries for around three years now - it's a great way to get a feel for a book without having to read the entire book. I like that the summaries are available in many formats as well as audio versions - great to listen to while walking!

Another feature includes four or more webinars each month by an author presenting a session on his or her book. Last week it was Ray Attiyah and The Fearless Front Line. This book presents a system to empower front line employees to allow them to lead in running and improving the company. This allows the leaders to grow the company. This is an area that our company could benefit from.

The presentation was very good, and this evening I went ahead and ordered the book for my kindle. It has excellent reviews and I will enjoy reading it (I also added to my phone's kindle app). On the cover, it says "The key to liberating leaders to improve and grow their business." The book is divided into three sections which comprise the "Run-Improve-Grow" model proposed to empower each person to do their best.

The first section of the book outlines how to empower front line employees to be fearless and to be able to Run the company's core functions without help (interference) from management. If managers are constantly involved in the Run of the business, they do not have time to Improve or Grow the business, and front line employees cannot reach their potential. The goal is develop Fearless Front Line employees and reduce the bureaucracy that builds up over time.

A feature of this book is that it provides some specific instructions on how to implement these changes. One recommendation concerns daily huddles - as we currently have daily meetings with the front line staff, I can see areas to improve already! Once I've read through the Improve and Grow sections, I'll write more.