Description
Matt James is in trouble. Recently promoted to head his division, he’s delivered two years of divisional losses in clients, market share, and profits. He knows his workers are talented and creative, but they don’t respond to his efforts to lead them, and he’s on the brink of being fired. In desperation, he reaches out to an old mentor, David Butler, who now works with wild mustang horses and hard-to-place foster children on a ranch in Colorado. David agrees to work with his former student but only on the condition that Matt comes to him—to the ranch. Matt has no idea what the ranch could possibly have to do with his problems, but David assures him that if he spends some time there, he’ll learn exactly what he needs to know.
Through David’s unorthodox tutelage, Matt discovers that leaders who succeed in engaging their workers do so because they see their day-to-day work as an opportunity to build an organizational culture of engagement. The engagement model is illuminated as Matt comes to understand its components piece by piece—and ultimately discovers how to engage those on his team and in his life.
In this inspiring leadership fable, John Stahl-Wert and Ken Jennings draw on their years of experience as consultants and chief executives, as well as on findings from Gallup’s groundbreaking Q12 survey of 4 million workers from 360,000 workgroups, to lay out an innovative leadership model that will turn employees from dutiful drones to committed contributors. But Ten Thousand Horses is also a story of personal transformation. Beyond specific practices and techniques, Matt must learn a whole new way of relating to his employees—because, as he discovers, leading an engaged workforce is as much about who you are as what you do.
About the Author
A recognized expert and trusted advisor in strategy, execution, and leadership with purpose, Ken Jennings draws on experiences across industries and sectors. Ken founded ThirdRiver Partners, a consultancy specializing in helping leaders and their teams by aligning everyone in the organization to their "Greater Goals." Through ThirdRiver, Ken focuses on improving the capability of people to design organizations that achieve critical strategic breakthroughs, and foster a culture of engagement, service, and success.Ken has a particularly rich background in life sciences, health services, and medical products organizations, and further industry expertise in financial services and aviation. He has served as a global managing partner at Accenture, and was a co-director of the Global Leadership in Healthcare Program at the University of Michigan Business School. He has consulted at many healthcare technology, pharmaceutical, and biotechnology organizations, as well as at over 25 academic medical centers and integrated delivery systems.Ken's projects have included CEO and top executive coaching, team development, rm-wide goal setting, strategic facilitation, and rm-wide performance and talent management. He has performed confidential assignments at the top of major investment management rms, dealing with sensitive partner performance, communication, board, and teamwork issues.Ken began his academic and service career at the U.S. Air Force Academy, obtained a graduate degree in Management from the Air Force Institute of Technology, and holds a Ph.D. in Organizational Development from Purdue University. He is also a graduate of the Kellogg Management Institute at Northwestern University, and has returned to academia to teach at top institutions, including Columbia University, The University of Maryland, King's Fund College-London, and the Shanghai University of Finance and Economics, China.Ken's book Changing Health Care: Creating Tomorrow's Winning Health Enterprise focuses on the key strategies and core competencies of leading health organizations for transforming health care. His best-selling book The Serving Leader, co-authored with Dr. John Stahl-Wert, and published in the Ken Blanchard Leadership Series, centers on leading with character, integrity, and courage. Ten Thousand Horses explores how leaders bring out the very best in their people through building high-performance teams. Ken Jennings is passionate about helping organizations, and the people in them, build on strength and achieve their greater goals. Ken's book, The Greater Goal (2012), gives practical advice on achieving strategic breakthroughs through focusing on Great Purpose and Shared Goal Achievement for teams and individuals.
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