Book Review: Win the Heart

Employee engagement is a continuing problem in today’s workplace. Everywhere you look, you see reports with statistics that claim anywhere from 50% to 85% of employees are disengaged at work. And, as this disengagement impacts employee attitudes and morale, it impacts fellow employees, customers, and family members as well – and rarely in any positive way.

Drawing on over 40 years of experience, bestselling author and leadership expert Mark Miller has written a new book, Win the Heart, the fourth in his High Performance series, where he shares his four-part formula for helping to solve this problem and create a high-engagement workplace culture.

The research is clear, great companies have engaged workers – employees who care about their work, their teammates, their customers, and the organization as a whole - and it is up to the leaders of these organizations to build and nurture a culture that creates the competitive advantage that high engagement affords. In this book, Miller gives us a story about CEO Blake Brown who desperately wants to build such an environment. In the story, Brown goes on a journey of discovery where he learns the secrets to creating a workplace where employees want to be, where they get excited and bring passion to work, and then leave energized at the end of the day.

It all begins when Brown realizes his employees are somewhat lifeless at work and he wants to build something better. When he learns that his recently deceased father was working on a book about creating an energized workplace, he finds the research notes, and, with his wife, goes on a trip around the globe to learn what those notes mean. In finding the answers, Brown puts together a simple formula for unlocking the potential in his employees and creating an engaged environment.  

As with the other three books in Miller’s series, this installment is another simple, short read that gives easy, actionable steps that managers can take to create more engagement and enthusiasm in their workforce. And while the lessons here can be immediately applied, Miller has produced a companion field guide for those who want to take a deeper dive and work through the material in a structured way. 

I recommend all of the books in this series as a primer for any manager who wants to lead better, hire better, serve better, and create a great workplace.