Left of Boom

Do you spend your days fighting one employee relations fire after another? It may seem like job security, but it is stressful and unproductive. The U.S. Army discovered in Afghanistan and Iraq that jumping from one fire to the next isn't just unproductive, it costs lives. Instead of reacting to "boom" events the Army learned that proactively working "Left of Boom" prevented tragedies and saved lives. This book provides a practical "how-to" guide to implement these important lessons in your company. The results would astound you. This book, like many others, is about transformation and change. My focus is on change in organizations; more specifically about transforming employee relations environments in companies that have recently won union organizing campaigns. Yet fundamentally its lessons are about moving any group from a state of negative energy to positive energy. Physics teaches that it takes a considerable amount of energy to change direction or momentum, much more than it takes to simply continue going in the same direction. The same thing is true with organizations. In organizations this means it is much easier to stay mired in negativity (complaining, second-guessing and undermining others) than to change direction and become positive. In my experience, when it comes to organizational change, the physics equations may be too optimistic. Once an organization has altered its course and achieved some positive gains, a new momentum is established. This creates momentum just as powerful as that which reinforced the negative environment. The goal of this book is to teach you some principles for creating this energy shift that is so elusive for some organizations. We often look for quick fixes and instant gratification. Give us something in a box that will solve all of our problems, but only if it will work by the end of the day. Most of the time the promise of the quick fix is a myth; it is almost always a myth in organizations. Phillip B. Wilson, President of Labor Relations Institute and the founder of Approachable Leadership. He is a natural expert on leadership. He is a national expert on leadership, labor relations, and creating positive workplaces. He is regularly featured in the business media including Fox Business, Bloomberg News, HR Magazine, and the New York Times. Phil is the author of more than a dozen books and publications, including his most recent The Approachability Playbook: 3 Essential Habits for Thriving Leaders and Teams and Left of Boom: Putting Proactive Engagement to Work (which reached #2 on Amazon's Hot HR Books list). Wilson is also a highly regarded keynote speaker, delivering keynotes, workshops and webinars regularly for audiences and companies across North America. His publications and speeches cover a wide range of labor, employee relations and leadership topics for both represented and union-free organizations. Phil practiced labor and employment law in Chicago after earning his J.D. from University of Michigan Law School and remains licensed in the State of Illinois. He remains active in the American Bar Association's Labor and Employment Law Section. Phil is a recognized thought leader on labor, positive employee relations, and leadership topics. He serves on the Society of Human Resources special Labor Expertise Panel, the US Chamber of Commerce Labor Relations Committee, and the Consultant's Advisory Committee for CUE. Phil has been called on multiple occasions to testify before Congress as an expert on union financial reporting and labor law reform. LRI is a full-service labor and employee relations consulting firm dedicated to helping businesses sustain direct relationships with employees and avoid union intervention. Our mission is to improve the lives of millions of working people by teaching their leaders how to cultivate trust and collaboration in the workplace.