This is the second time David Burkus comes to the show. The first time was episode 057 David Burkus, a Friend of a Friend. This time, we talk about his new book Pick a Fight.
People don’t want to join a company; they want to join a crusade.
David is a professor, writer, and speaker. He considers himself to be a writer first. To be a writer has always been his goal. When he was 14-15 years old, English was his favorite subject, he loved composition. When he went to university, he went with the purpose of getting a degree in creative writing.
Like most students, David thought that to be a writer, he thought that he would be writing novels, fiction, but then he discovered a new genre which was creative non-fiction. That’s when he made the decision to become a writer of creative non-fiction, You can use every technique of storytelling found on fiction writing, but turn it into a more utilitarian subject.
After obtaining his bachelor’s, he went to graduated studies to focus on organizational psychology. After graduation, he got a job in academia.
His writing focuses on motivating people to do their best job ever, to be more engaged in their jobs. His field of expertise is organizational psychology. While going to school, he got the advice to apply for a job in a business school instead of the psychological department, for the simple reason that the business department pays better for the same job. David took the same advice and started to write about psychology in the context of business.
David’s latest book, Pick a Fight: How Great Teams Find a Purpose Worth Rallying Around is not really a book, it’s an audiobook.
People don’t really want to join a company, they want to join a crusade, a cause, a revolution, something bigger than day-to-day work.
Why are some people and teams more motivated, more innovative, and more successful than others?
Why do some teams of talented and seemingly compatible people fall short against lesser teams with less suitable members? Why do some leaders cast bold inspiring visions that fail to materialize, while other, seemingly inconsequential leaders rally their teams to victory? More often than not, it’s actually quite simple:
They picked a fight.
From battlefields to boardrooms and everywhere in between, leaders who frame their mission as a fight to be won against a threat that must be removed have been able to bring together even the most divided teams and push them to the highest levels of performance. They’ve tapped into something more inspiring – and more visceral – than casting a visionary strategy or struggling to get buy-in on a mission statement. They’re fighting to remove an injustice. They’re fighting to make their customers’ lives better. Sometimes, they’re even just fighting to survive. But, surprisingly, they’re rarely framing their fight as a battle for market share against the competition.
Those who pick the right fight don’t have to manipulate their people; they inspire them. And the people who follow don’t do it because they have to; they follow because they choose to fight alongside.
People don’t want to join a company; they want to join a crusade.
In this persuasive and provocative new work, David Burkus, argues that what a team is fighting for is a powerful and potent driver of performance and collaboration, but not just any fight will do. Drawing on decades of social science research and real-life examples from billion-dollar companies, French pirates, Olympic champion curling teams (you read that right), and more, Burkus weaves together a clear picture of how people are inspired, how movements are led, and how organizations win.
The most motivated and bonded teams know what they’re fighting for, but too many organizational leaders don’t know how to communicate that crusade.
This book is for anyone who wants to inspire their people or themselves. It won’t just teach you why to pick a fight; it’ll teach you how to pick the right fight as well.
Support this blog by getting David’s Audio book with this link.
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