Employee Entanglement

It’s a new year so is it time for a new leadership buzzword? I have got to start inventing new words or phrases. Here’s an article that introduced me to the term ‘Employee Entanglement’ as the better thing beyond mere ‘Employee Engagement.’

I was quite prepared to put on my cynical hat and mock yet another buzzword that some author or consultant had invented to be a guru about. I’m not saying that Employee Entanglement isn’t that but, based on this brief article, I like what he’s saying, it seems to be a fresh and novel way to catch attention about a timeless and essential approach to leadership and I want to read more.

The article cites a book by Ramon Benedetto, a retired U.S. Air Force Colonel and co-author of It’s My Company Too! How Entangled Companies Move Beyond Employee Engagement For Remarkable Results. I haven’t checked it out yet. I’ll do so though. The Kindle sample chapter awaits me.  I’m intrigued. Nevermind judging books by their covers, many of us can’t get past the title. And this is a good one.

The article’s final paragraph nicely sums up Benedetto’s key point, “So if leadership is wrapped up in a command-and-control mentality, they’re not going to achieve success. Instead, they need to foster a trust-and-track type approach: hire the right people and give them the ability to succeed.” Sounds very engagementy to me with its strong autonomy references. I applaud the attention-getting because it’s getting attention for something very worthwhile.
That said, they definitely want to you to buy the book and the subsequent speaking and consultancy but, hey, who doesn’t?

Happy new year everyone – the time when many of us resolve to give things up like smoking, over-eating and making unachieveable resolutions.