January 15, 2022
Improving Profits Through People:
Boosting Your Organization’s Bottom Line with Results-Oriented Leadership Strategies
Isaac Russell
Aviva Publishing (2021)
ISBN: 978-1-63618-144-8
New Books Offers People-Centric Solution to Business Success
Isaac Russell’s new book Improving Profits Through People: Boosting Your Organization’s Bottom Line with Results-Oriented Leadership Strategies is all about how leaders can invest in their people as the best way to invest in their business.
And Isaac knows what he is talking about. He has more than thirty years of combined experience as a leader and business owner. As the principal of Success Plus Consulting, he has worked with numerous businesses, including Coca-Cola, Trident Seafoods, and Johnsonville Sausage, to help them increase their profits by learning how to use their people as their greatest asset.
Written in short, straightforward chapters, Improving Profits Through People offers practical advice and a dose of Isaac’s Southern charm to provide pragmatic solutions for business leaders to improve performance within the business by managing both up and down.
Early in the book, Isaac makes an importance statement by expressing his belief that “Anyone with the physical and mental capabilities to do a job, who understands their job, and who has a clear understanding of what is expected of them, will do a good job.” Another strong belief he has is that if people are not doing a good job, it is because their leaders are not doing their jobs. In these pages, he teaches leaders how to do their jobs effectively so their people will have the tools they need to make the business profitable.
One problem managers/leaders have is taking their job too seriously. They focus on managing, when they need to focus on leading. As Isaac states, “You manage inventory. You lead people.” If you take your job too seriously, people will feel division and act accordingly. Instead of being their boss, you must be their motivator and facilitator. If you coach people on how to do their jobs well, they will willingly follow you. As Isaac points out, it’s well known today that many people don’t quit their jobs; they quit their bosses. Isaac’s method is to help people develop their leadership skills so no one will ever quit on them.
Isaac offers five steps for improving profits through people. He walks us through all five steps in the book. One step is about creating a vision for the business and getting everyone on the team to buy into the same vision. Another step is based on results. You have to be able to measure your progress. Isaac teaches leaders how to do that from a statistical standpoint, but more importantly, through having one-on-one conversations with employees.
Throughout the book, Isaac offers real-life examples and case studies from his personal experiences working with individuals at various businesses. He usually works on an individual and personal level with people, and he shares the results of those interactions, even those with people who were at first resistant to his help. Overall, he shows that we have to be well-versed in people skills if we are going to motivate people, and we do that by listening to them, meeting with them individually, capturing their thoughts and opinions, and creating a mutual vision for the company’s success.
While that all sounds nice, it isn’t always easy. Isaac illustrates the many difficulties in dealing with other people in the workplace. He believes most people basically want to do a good job but are not always given the tools to do so. Others get in their own ways. Isaac devotes one chapter to ineffective bosses and explains that these are not bad bosses or bad people, but simply people who never learned how to transition from being doers to leaders. He also talks about how to eliminate “silos”—people who may be hurting your workforce’s success. He notes that too often we group people together and may assume the group is the problem, resulting in situations like feuds between departments within companies, but usually it is just one or two people within a department who are the problem. Isaac explains how to get these people on the same page as you in terms of vision and goals, but also how to know when they can’t be saved and need to be eliminated from the workplace. He states, “Anyone not helping to achieve the goal is a roadblock to the goal and roadblocks are to be eliminated. It is that simple.”
Fortunately, Isaac believes most employees will be responsive if you make the effort to invest in, educate, and motivate them. Isaac discusses how to create a company culture that allows everyone to feel they are an important part of the business. He notes that workplaces with strong, positive cultures have voluntary turnover rates that are as low as 35 percent that of their competitors.
One of the most important chapters in the book is about knowing your processes. Too often, leaders don’t understand the processes their employees use. Worse, they try to save money without thinking through the consequences, which may result in cutting key elements of the process. Isaac states, “If you don’t know your process, then you are in paralysis. You need to see what things could happen before they happen; otherwise, you may have to wait for your doer boss to bail you out with a project team that uses custom-fit tools in an off-the-rack world, only to still be unable to analyze your problem…. To bring in others outside of your department to solve simple things is a slap in the face to your people. Don’t do it unless it’s absolutely necessary.”
Additional chapters of Improving Profits Through People discuss the importance of diversity in the workplace and why diversity efforts too often fail; how we need to embrace Millennials and others who may have skills different than ours—as Henry Ford recommended, you want to hire people who are smarter than you; and how to hold one-on-one conversations with employees. Isaac states, “Get in the coaching and mentorship business and remember that whatever you make or sell, you don’t do a product; you do people.”
Improving Profits Through People is a refreshing look at how leaders can simply be more human and learn to relate to their people. Isaac’s humor and straightforward advice cuts to the chase and allows the reader to think clearly about what needs to be done to improve their business. Every manager should be given this book when they are first promoted into their new role. It would solve a lot of workplace problems before they even begin.
For more information about Isaac Russell and Improving Profits Through People, visit www.SuccessPlusConsulting.com.
— Tyler R. Tichelaar, PhD and award-winning author of Narrow Lives and The Best Place
