ENGAGE. COACH. DEVELOP.

A how-to for managers looking to build stronger relationships with their team members.

In this guide, Smith provides managers with a practical framework for engaging with employees, coaching them, and developing their skills for a more productive and positive work environment. The engage, coach, develop (ECD) framework’s foundation is a human interaction model that provides guidelines for effective interactions, specifies the context in which these interactions occur, and outlines the desired behaviors and outcomes. Coaching consists of open and honest dialogue about what employees are doing well and which areas need more attention. Engagement involves consistent, meaningful interactions that build trust and support. Developing employees means making an intentional investment in their growth so they can thrive professionally. Smith discusses “mindset regeneration,” or the process of replacing strength-based thinking with effort-based encouragement and swapping self-criticism for self-compassion. He also recommends regular, casual conversations and expressing curiosity about employees’ personal and professional lives. The author suggests tactics to stave off negative reactions and wariness among employees; to promote ongoing learning, Smith recommends managers create a written personal development plan for employees that analyzes business needs and required skills and provides a skills gap assessment, methods for filling the gap, milestone markers, a timeline, and progress check-ins. Essentially, Smith stresses engagement as a manager’s top priority. The author includes many actionable strategies (and examples demonstrating how to implement them) in the book; for example, he provides sample scripts for engaging with employees, including lines such as, “I know you speak Spanish, so I’m wondering if you’ve visited any Spanish-speaking countries.” His recommendations consider employees’ personality differences—he touts asynchronous communication, like email, for connecting with introverted workers. While the book’s concise format makes for a quick read, readers may have benefitted from end-of-chapter, bulleted takeaways. A “further reading” reference list (rather than in-text book recommendations) would have also improved the narrative’s flow.

A focused, practical toolkit for managers seeking deeper employee engagement.