Lessons on Leadership: Treat People Right!

In July of 2011, the final Space Shuttle flight landed safely at the Kennedy Space Center.  For NASA (and in particular, the Human Resources community), we faced the most significant workforce transition since the Apollo era.  Our Director of the Johnson Space Center, Mike Coats, liked to say that Shuttle Transition was about three things, “1. People. 2. People.  And 3. People.”  He would’ve appreciated the book I read recently called Treat People Right! by Edward E. Lawler III (2003)…that describes Mike Coats’ leadership.

I recognized Lawler’s name from my days in graduate school for HR Management.  Dr. Lawler has been studying, teaching and writing about HR management and organization effectiveness for more than 40 years.

In this book, he outlines seven principles for how organizations and individuals can propel each other into a virtuous spiral of success.

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On Work-Life Fit: Dr. Cloud’s “One-Life Solution”

One-Life Solution Book

People used to have the structure of “work hours” that helped them know when work began and when it ended.  During the “good old days”, home was protected from work.  In the last two decades, however, the line between being available and unavailable blurred.

In his book, The One-Life Solution (2008), we join Dr. Henry Cloud as he counsels us to reclaim our personal lives while achieving greater professional success.

Continuing with ideas from his million-seller Boundaries, Cloud provides strategies to achieve success in 3 critical areas:

  • Be emotionally healthy
  • Be relationally healthy
  • Be performance healthy (fulfillment from your talents and passions)

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