Better Humans, Better Performance

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    About the Book

    “A refreshingly practical book on how it's possible to achieve success by cultivating virtues. The authors show how being a good person can actually make you a better performer.”

    - Adam Grant, #1 New York Times bestselling author of THINK AGAIN and host of the TED podcast Re:Thinking

    Better Humans, Better Performance

    Driving Leadership, Teamwork, and Culture with Intentionality

    When it comes to business performance, character matters. When you cultivate character and virtue in yourself, you flourish as a human and as a leader. When you cultivate character and virtue in teams, engagement increases. There is no question that good character drives good business. There is no question that a company’s organizational culture represents its reputation to internal and external stakeholders. Today, perhaps more than ever, leaders must be intentional about preserving this most valuable asset.

    The good news for each of us that character is a skill that can be learned, and this uniquely insightful guide walks you through the process.

    Better Humans, Better Performance explains how to develop an organizational culture where the practice of virtue is the norm. The authors present practical ways to apply the seven classical virtues to amplify performance. These virtues, created by the world’s greatest thinkers thousands of years ago, have stood the test of time. When we get better at who we are, we get better at what we do—a universal truth that is roundly overlooked in business schools, training classes, and leadership guides.

    Whether you run a small local business, lead teams and departments across global entities, or operate a nonprofit or a health care organization, these virtues cross social, religious, and cultural divides and, when built into your organization’s DNA, will improve performance outcomes.


    Read What People Are Saying About Better Humans, Better Performance

    A company’s financial value is measured by the balance sheet. A company’s true value is in its team members, its culture, and how well its people perform together every day. Better Humans, Better Performance is a great tool for building on that value and developing happier, fulfilled people who will dedicate themselves to better performance every day.
    — Parker Chief Financial Officers Jon Marten, 2010 to 2017, Cathy Suever, 2018 to 2021, Todd Leombruno, started 2021
    The world of professional sports revolves around individual, team, and organizational performance. In recent years, we have been charged with delivering performance in an increasingly complex environment exacerbated by a once-in-a-century pandemic and a once-in-a-generation labor disruption. In complex environments like this, it is impossible to plan our way forward and follow a predetermined script. Instead, we rely on guiding principles and values to chart our future. By spotlighting the classical virtues and clearly making the connection between better people and better performance, the authors have given us a time-tested and researched-based framework to rely upon in those moments when the path seems unclear and the choices seem impossible. I am grateful for the time and energy the authors devoted to such important work and their commitment to share their learned wisdom and knowledge with others as we seek to better ourselves and the performance we aspire to achieve. The ideas detailed in Better Humans, Better Performance made a strong culture founded on teamwork even stronger.
    — Chris Antonetti, President of Baseball Operations for the Cleveland Guardians
    The title of this book says it all. Better humans do drive better and more sustained results. Most of us want to believe this, but what does it mean and is it true? You will find the convincing answers in the pages of this book. The concept of virtue is more important now than it ever has been. The world is skeptical, and the nobility of business is under heavy fire. There is a yearning for examples of people in all walks of life who are achieving results with an uncompromising commitment to a life of virtue. This book is the most comprehensive and compelling book I have read that ties virtue to performance.
    — Steve Reinemund, former Chair/Chief Executive Officer, PepsiCo; retired Dean of the Wake Forest University School of Business
    Decades of work with elite performers across domains as diverse as sports, art, business, special military operations, nonprofits, divinity, medicine, and many others have taught us this: some of the most powerful performance determinants have to do with an individual’s character as defined by virtue, regardless of pure talent. While people can succeed without practicing virtue, their performance is ultimately less than optimal. More importantly in team environments, their impact on others will detract rather than enhance a high-performing team culture. The research and tools detailed in this book unite people of every age, background, discipline, and identity through a shared passion to become better humans and better performers.
    — Andy Walshe, Ph.D., Chief Executive Officer and founding member of Liminal Collective
    Cleveland Clinic London caregivers learned to perform at an elite level despite the pressures and uncertainties created initially by Brexit and then the global pandemic. These conditions stretched and strengthened our ability to perform despite continually changing adversity. We learned to normalize discomfort and build resilience to successfully design, build, activate, and open a new private healthcare system located in central London. We had no choice but to manage and thrive under pressure. We focused with intentionality to build a resilient culture by investing in the ideas outlined in Better Humans, Better Performance. The empirical insights on how purpose, social support, and virtue affect performance and engagement were well received. How do we know the ideas from Better Human, Better Performance created a resilient culture despite pressure and uncertainty? In addition to the enriching the culture we built to recruit and retain nearly 1,200 people to the Cleveland Clinic London team, we were also proud to have achieved engagement scores that were among the highest in the clinic’s system of 70,000 caregivers.
    — Brian Donley, Chief Executive Officer, Cleveland Clinic London
    As we build our teams and our organization, the San Antonio Spurs rely on values as our first filter for selecting players, coaches, and staff. Basketball is a global sport. Our program has engaged players, coaches, and staff from more than 20 countries around the world. Shared values including character provide alignment to build elite teams. Through character and diversity, the Spurs compete by recognizing our obligations to each other as people, not just as performers. Better Humans, Better Performance makes clear through research and stories how performance starts with relationships—the order matters. We learn that virtue is the best relationship technology ever invented. Virtue is the language of excellence that cuts across time and borders. To create the high-performing organization of the future, it is powerful to look backward to this ancient wisdom. Character defined as virtue has a profound performance impact on culture, teamwork, resiliency, coaching, families, innovation, diversity, and more. Better Humans, Better Performance captures why the word compete means “strive together.”
    — R. C. Buford Chief Executive Officer, Spurs Sports and Entertainment
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    Goal

    Set a goal that matters to you. Make it both hard and realistic to achieve.

    Effort

    Devote your full concentration to the effort of working toward your goal.

    Coach

    Seek feedback from someone you know, like, and trust.

    Reflect, Refine, Repeat

    Virtue is more likely to become a habit when practiced regularly as part of striving for your goals.

    Goal

    Set a goal that matters to you. Make it both hard and realistic to achieve.

    Effort

    Devote your full concentration to the effort of working toward your goal.

    Coach

    Seek feedback from someone you know, like, and trust.

    Reflect, Refine, Repeat

    Virtue is more likely to become a habit when practiced regularly as part of striving for your goals.

    Example 1

    I remember working on one of the biggest projects this division had ever embarked on. There were multiple challenges relating to design and manufacturing and to make things really interesting; the competition said it couldn't be done. But we had this vision and were passionate about the product and were not to be discouraged. After long hours at the office and the encouragement and support of my supervisor, we were able design, patent and produce a high-volume component that was very lucrative for the division. Management was very appreciative of the work performed and gave plaques and other forms of recognition.

    Example 2

    The safety engineering team has been consistently voicing proper protection equipment when on the shop floor. As I had witnessed on one occasion, vendors would be out of uniform while servicing our plant, yet the safety team would still be there to ensure safety. A big plus that they have not become complacent.

    Example 1

    During a major acquisition and integration, our Group President was extremely respectful to me and the whole team. As a new employee to Parker, the Group President went out of his way to spend time with me. I was lucky enough to be located near his office. This gave me the ability to go to his office in person and do division reviews and other meetings typically held over the phone. He always took time after these meetings to talk to me and get to know me. Best of all he would mentor me and try and pass on his years of experience as a GM. I will always be grateful for this experience.

    He showed a neverending love for Parker and what it stood for. During his subsequent illness, he never complained and came to work every day no matter how bad he felt. The way he handled himself throughout this period inspired others to work harder and fight harder for what they wanted and believed in. He had extreme respect for his senior leadership. Even when he did not agree with their direction, once it was decided, he was 100% supportive of the decision and never looked back.

    Example 2

    Early in my career I worked for the General Manager at a non-U.S division. His leadership style was not always easy. He pushed the team through constructive confrontation, by challenging your opinion, yet also provided recognition and rewards. As I began attending staff meetings he took the time to meet with me afterwards and coach me on how I could learn to participate more actively and deal with opposing viewpoints.

    At the time he was very focused on technology needs for the division. Whether it was implementing new software to run in the office, introducing new technology to the sales team or building a stronger growth plan based on data mining and reporting, he encouraged all of the staff to get involved and empowered us to take on new challenges that required new skill sets. I had the opportunity to lead a team in the development of what would be our Data Warehouse on a SQL server. The access to all of our division data electronically revolutionized our ability to understand the business and start doing strong data based marketing growth plans. His vision and support made that happen.

    Example 1

    I remember working on one of the biggest projects this division had ever embarked on. There were multiple challenges relating to design and manufacturing and to make things really interesting; the competition said it couldn’t be done. But we had this vision and were passionate about the product and were not to be discouraged. After long hours at the office and the encouragement and support of my supervisor, we were able design, patent and produce a high-volume component that was very lucrative for the division. Management was very appreciative of the work performed and gave plaques and other forms of recognition.

    Example 2

    The safety engineering team has been consistently voicing proper protection equipment when on the shop floor. As I had witnessed on one occasion, vendors would be out of uniform while servicing our plant, yet the safety team would still be there to ensure safety. A big plus that they have not become complacent.

    What is the Strength-Based Leadership Survey and how does it work?

    The Strength-Based Leadership Survey is designed to improve your performance. There is clear evidence that as your character (who you are) strengthens, you get better at what you do.

    By providing input on your own character and assessing the feedback given to you by your colleagues, family, and friends, you will begin a journey of self-discovery and practice, which will build character and amplify performance in all areas of your life.

    What is a “Rater” and why is feedback important?

    People you know, like, and trust will be referred to as “Raters.” These are people who have your best interests at heart. This can include family, friends, teammates, bosses, colleagues, etc. These are the people who can confirm or help you confirm or gain new insights on how your strengths can enhance your performance. We all have blind spots, and asking for feedback from a trusted group of colleagues, family, and friends can lead to powerful insights and positive actions.

    What will you learn by using the survey?

    You will receive scores that compare how you rated yourself on each virtue and how others evaluated you. This information provides you with a way to evaluate how closely your self-image matches the image others have of you.

    What is the value of stories?

    In the survey you and your raters will be asked to share stories about your greatest character strengths organized by virtue.

    Stories are an entry point to understand how others see us and how we see ourselves. Stories have the power to transform us because they give us insights to see the world in a different way. Stories are also an effective learning tool. They can strengthen our relationships with others, forge new insights, and motivate us to change and grow.

    What is the Strength-Based Culture Survey?

    This Strength-Based Culture Profile is designed to identify your culture’s character strengths defined by seven classical virtues (Trust, Compassion, Courage, Justice, Wisdom, Temperance, and Hope). It will also help assess engagement levels and discover and understand the culture as experienced by members of the team. There is clear evidence that virtue increases engagement, teamwork, and collaboration.

    What will you learn by using the Survey?

    This Strength-Based Culture Profile will help you answer the following questions about the team culture:

    • Do members of your team feel they belong?
    • Do team members believe they matter?
    • Do team members feel they make a difference?
    • How is virtue working well in your culture?
    • How can you further strengthen and broaden the adaptive muscles of your culture?
    • Are the virtues of your team hidden in plain sight?

    How will we use the results included in the Culture Profile?

    Exploring the information included in the Culture Profile is an important first step in helping the team identify and understand the strengths that exist and find opportunities to grow together.

    What is the value of stories?

    In the survey you and your team will be asked to share stories about the team’s greatest character strengths organized by virtue.

    Stories are an entry point to understand how we see ourselves. Stories have the power to transform us because they give us insights to see the world in a different way. Stories are also an effective learning tool. They can strengthen our relationships with others, forge new insights, and motivate us to change and grow.