Title page -- Copyright page -- Contents -- Foreword -- 1: Discretionary Effort and the Case of the Mysterious Mr Underhill -- Roman taxis -- Leveraging your human capital -- Action beyond engagement -- People power -- Engagement, discretionary effort and coercion -- A different perspective on performance -- 2: A Manifesto for Discretionary Effort -- A solid foundation -- Towards a model of discretionary effort -- Testing the model -- The drivers -- Internal drivers -- External drivers -- Discretionary effort drives improved performance -- Closing the gap - a manifesto for discretionary effort -- 3: Free to Decide -- Choosing your boss -- Freedom from the micro managers -- Creating a culture for autonomy and empowerment -- Without fear -- Coach, don't do -- Freedom within frameworks -- Hiring, values and behaviours -- The value of values -- The power of empowerment -- Free to decide - Action Points -- 1. Run meetings with high inclusion and ownership -- 2. Ask 'How do you like to be managed?' -- 3. Provide cover -- 4. Expect things to be different -- 4: Getting to Know You -- Treat people differently -- How do I get to know my people? -- Different strokes, for different folks -- Room to be yourself -- Targeted rewards -- Walk the floors -- Different types of conversation -- Listening -- Communication challenge -- Visible leadership -- At a distance -- Cascading communications -- Calling all people -- How much does your boss care? -- Getting to know you - Action Points -- 1. Be visible - MBWA (or management by walking about) -- 2. Build a personal database - be interested‚ not interesting -- 3. Ask advice -- 4. Do it because you care -- 5: Putting Others First -- Creating a culture of service -- Selecting employees with the right characteristics -- New hires -- Career reassurance -- Culture -- All in it to win it -- Still room for cash.

Other aspects of assessment -- Not just what you do - but how you do it -- Personal leadership behaviours -- After you -- The leader as coach and mentor -- Staying in touch with who you are -- Showing everyone that you love what you do -- Putting others first - Action points -- 1. Be accountable - keep promises and admit mistakes -- 2. Mentor and coach -- 3. Don't gossip - avoid talking about co-workers, line managers, customers or the company when they are not present -- 4. Notice your own shadow -- 5. Work with truth not perception - be transparent, talk straight -- 6. Be the best self you can be -- 6: Fair's Fair -- Perceptions of organizational fairness as a whole -- Procedural justice -- People that are not pulling their weight -- Favouritism -- Tackling inequity -- Managing expectations -- Performance plan -- The internal promotion process -- Reward and recognition -- Playing fair -- Fair's Fair - Action Points -- 1. Listening meetings - a specific time to listen not to brief -- 2. Understanding the whole -- 3. Talk straight, be fair, and treat everyone equally -- 4. Attitudes and perceptions -- 7: Team Talk -- Teams and discretionary effort -- Team means different things to different people -- Alignment -- On your team -- Knowledge share -- Formal team building events -- Team responsibilities -- Shared tasks -- Enter the matrix -- At a distance -- The difference teams make -- Team Talk - Action Points -- 1. Establish the 'next 100 days' meetings -- 2. Encourage initiations and team rituals -- 3. Conference calls - keep them focused and have a theme -- 4. Create a hall of fame or team zone -- 5. Who is on my team? -- 8: The Importance of Trust -- Trust and discretionary effort -- Why should I trust you? -- ILM's six dimensions of trust -- Ability -- Understanding -- Fairness and openness -- Consistency -- Integrity -- Trust is a state of mind.

The importance of trust - Action Points -- 1. Behind every 'what' there is a 'why' -- 2. Five simple rules -- 3. Make a commitment to improve -- 4. No one is right all of the time -- 9: Next Steps -- The business case for discretionary effort -- Discretionary effort in your organization -- The survey -- Top down, bottom up -- Overcoming barriers -- Key success points -- Planting seeds -- Acknowledgements -- Reading List -- About the Authors -- Index.