Recently I’ve decided to read more. I love reading, but don’t often take enough time to do it. Meg picked up a few books for me on business, leadership, managing, and things of that nature. And that brings me to this book, Instant Turnaround!, Getting People Excited About Coming to Work and Working Hard.

What manager wouldn’t want his team to enjoy their days at work? I suppose some wouldn’t really care about how his employee feels, and that’s really the point of Instant Turnaround. The way a person feels about their job directly relates to their performance. Multiplied on the scale of an entire department and it begins to shape the performance of an entire department and an entire company.

This is an interesting and refreshingly brief read about the fact that success is hinged on an employee’s discretionary effort. There is a baseline amount of effort that each employee gives to their job to stay employed. This is effectively C-average work. For a companies to thrive, its employees must operate at A-level.

The difference, according to Instant Turnaround, is that these employees give all of their extra effort to their work. They can withhold and partially do the job. But if they give it all the results are demonstrated in the companies’ bottom line and in the perception that the workplace is somewhere you want to be, not just somewhere you have to be.

And as I’ve heard before, “it rises and falls on leadership.” The book explains that the leadership above the employee sets the tone and creates the environment whereby employees feel they want to give their discretionary time to the company. How? You’ll need to read the book for a full, detailed play by play of the author’s four distinct steps.

If a manager focuses his or her efforts on the employee, on engaging them as a person, that person will feel valued and cared for. Instead of hiding away in your office tirelessly pouring over the stats and numbers Instant Turnaround recommends a manager put himself on the production floor, in the mail room, or with his people. Talk to your people, be nice to them, truly seek to learn about their jobs and what frustrates them. When an employee feels like their manager is their fan rather than their foe, they will be more willing to give their discretionary effort to the cause.

The book even advocates an manager join his employees in the trenches from time to time. Get your hands dirty, especially on the toughest of days, and model how you want your team to act.

I had a few points of contention with some of the book’s assumptions. What do you do with an employee who is lazy or has a poor attitude? The book briefly addresses removing negative personnel. The lion’s share of the story focuses on the more typical case, that the manager sets the tone and people want to want to be there.

Why is the turnaround instant? You’ll have to read and find out. Typically the results are seen in days rather than weeks or years.

It is a short read with a focused theme. This is not the kind of book that spouts endless theories and principles. Instant Turnaround remains on target throughout, and by the end, you know what Harry Paul and Ross Reck want to communicate. For that, I recommend reading it. You may not 100% agree with their advice, but it is a good, useful lesson for any manager striving to realize success.