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Thirteeners: Why Only 13 Percent of Companies Successfully Execute Their Strategy--and How Yours Can Be One of Them

Daniel Prosser

3.33 · Rating details · 18 ratings · 5 reviews

Prosser’s can-do attitude, paired with the book’s wealth of worksheets and easy-to-use exercises, make this an appealing and encouraging guide to success through improved communication.
-- Publishers Weekly

In today's corporate world, 87 percent of companies fail to successfully execute the strategy they set for a given year. In the pages of this book, CEO mentor and Coach ...more

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Hardcover, 272 pages

Published March 3rd 2015 by Greenleaf Book Group Press

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Feb 16, 2015 Melissa Lindsey rated it did not like it

Shelves: abandoned

I didn't get through this book, so perhaps my one-star review is not entirely fair. By about 20% into the book, I felt like I was being given a sale pitch, not reading research about the Best Place to Work material that was promised. I kept coming across references to trademarked work and promises of what to come, but by the time I quit reading, all I had read that was applicable in any way was a questionable affirmation exercise that I am quite certain would get me laughed out of any room I att ...more

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Mar 20, 2015 Darren rated it really liked it

The first claim made by the author is shocking – 87% of companies fail to successfully execute a pre-determined key strategy in a given year. Imagine the wasted cost and opportunity. Imagine what could be achieved if things just worked.

In other words, you want to be operating in the winning zone, being a so-called Thirteener – one of the 13% who consistently execute strategy and understand the necessity of interaction and connectedness.

In this book, the author manages to raise a number of provoc The first claim made by the author is shocking – 87% of companies fail to successfully execute a pre-determined key strategy in a given year. Imagine the wasted cost and opportunity. Imagine what could be achieved if things just worked.

In other words, you want to be operating in the winning zone, being a so-called Thirteener – one of the 13% who consistently execute strategy and understand the necessity of interaction and connectedness.

In this book, the author manages to raise a number of provocative points that might give you the necessary boost to transform your business or professional dealings. Noting a direct correlation between true leaders and motivators of companies and their companies succeeding financially and being acknowledged and acclaimed as a “Best Place To Work”, the author does grab your attention, adding that such companies can achieve two to three times greater bottom-line results, making it a real, measurable, actionable and potentially worthwhile difference.

The author believes that his strategy can work for everyone, whether you are a for-profit organisation or a not-for-profit venture. The strategic growth and development can be the same and it is the same reasons for potential failure that may be dragging it down.

Leadership starts from the top – an obvious claim you might think yet there is a real shortage of great leaders. A confident, humble, forward-thinking, mature and authentic leader who has the capacity to be approachable and vulnerable is the key. That might sound counter-intuitive in this macho business world but a great leader is the custodian of ideas, employing hopefully the best available talent to work towards a common goal. As the author notes: “Authentic leaders lead out loud by displaying their vulnerability and by asking for and accepting input from their employees so that everyone can contribute to and “own” the company’s strategy for the future. For many leaders it’s scary to let employees see that you don’t have all the answers, but if you want them to commit to making your organisation unstoppable, it’s critical.”

It can be a hard concept to accept, even if you believe in the theory, yet the potential rewards are great. The author adds: “When people feel they belong to something bigger and more meaningful than themselves, they jump at almost any opportunity to contribute. They will voice their views, add their suggestions for innovation, and offer anything else that will improve “their” organisation and help it exceed even your expectations. However, when people feel excluded — for example, if they’re not involved in planning the work they are going to perform - they typically fail to care.”

You won’t transform your business through good luck, a nicely written mission statement or a bit of hope. You will need to get your hands dirty and drive the transformation in a structured way. You will change how you look at your business and this will permeate change because of your changing attitude, your changing use of language and possibly your change in management and leadership style. This positive change will be contagious. The dots will start to be connected, everyone will start pulling in the same direction. It is not going to be a perfect, utopian world. There will still be friction, some conflict and disagreement yet this may be more focussed, well meaning and collegiate. The author likens it to a marriage. “Incompatibility is actually the foundation of a successful marriage. The same is true for organisations. Without conflict, we become accustomed to equilibrium and try not to ‘rock the boat’, yet without conflict (or chaos), a complex, evolving system - whether it’s a marriage or an organisation - withers and dies.”

Certainly this book gets the brain cells whirring. It is controversial with a small C because it challenges the status quo, yet it is not necessarily revolutionary but common sense. Sadly, however, as we have seen, most companies seemingly are not overburdened with common sense, hence the prevalence of the “Thirteeners”.

Will you be a member of this relatively exclusive club? Take a look for yourself with this book. It could be one of your better journeys.

Thirteeners, written by Daniel F. Prosser and published by Greenleaf Book Group Press. ISBN 9781626341593, 272 pages. YYYY ...more

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Dec 21, 2016 Soundview Executive Book Summaries rated it it was amazing

Shelves: 2015-best-business-books

Thirteeners: Why Only 13 Percent of Companies Successfully Execute Their Strategy - and How Yours Can Be One of Them by Daniel Prosser was chosen by Soundview Executive Book Summaries as one of the Top 30 Business Books of 2015.

THE SOUNDVIEW OVERVIEW:

In today’s corporate world, 87 percent of companies fail to successfully execute the strategy they set for a given year. CEO mentor and coach Dan Prosser shows you how to make your company one of the other 13 percent — a Thirteener. In the process, ...more

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Apr 01, 2015 Bryan Dulaney rated it it was amazing

THIRTEENERS taught me a lot about "who I am being" for myself, for others and for the world vs. focusing constantly on "what I am doing" or even "why I'm doing it." All that doesn't matter until you truly understand WHO you are being for others. Another aspect of Thirteeners that I just love from Dan is about creating a "connected driven organization" where others feel connected and are able to contribute. I have seen it first hand in my company where people are "contributing" and from that plac ...more

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