Build Bridges, Not Walls

M. Wayne Cunningham is the director, Academic and Career Programs at the
College of the Rockies/East Kootenay Community College in British
Columbia.

As the author describes it, this folksy and humorous professional
management book is not “a scholarly work of business policy” but
rather “a book with heart, the warm kitten of business books.” In
keeping with its user-friendly approach, the book provides useful
summaries of theories and concepts gleaned from more rigorous books of
this kind. Thus, Andersen crystallizes volumes that have been written
about team building with this observation: “Great bosses provide the
leadership that allows employees to say, ‘We did it.’” Following
up on the team-building concept, she states, “I really want to be a
member of a winning team, but first I need to know the coach”—a
pretty good summary of what leadership is all about. Her wish to know
the coach leads her to recommend occasional face-to-face meetings
between employees and the CEO, chair of the Board, or company
shareholders.

None of the book’s 56 sections runs longer than a page and a half.
Many of the topics are typical of career-oriented business books (e.g.,
“Hiring Employees,” “Training—the Tool of Advancement,”
“Employee Service Awards,” “Quality or Quantity,” “Customer
Service: A Byproduct.” The difference in this volume, of course, is
Andersen’s point of view, which she characterizes as the Jelly Bean
approach—“a personal bowl of jelly beans—goodies I’m inviting
you to share.” Readers will respond to the book as they would to any
bowl of jelly beans—relishing some parts and declining others.