Leading the Malcolm Baldrige Way: How World-Class Leaders Align Their Organizations to Deliver Exceptional Results Hardcover – December 1, 2016

This book is so valuable and useful, and filled with so much organizational knowledge in a small package, that I’m not sure where to begin to convince you that it will change your perspective on how organizations should be run.It is in part about the Baldrige Framework. That’s the first part of the title and while information about it is sprinkled throughout the book, much useful detail about Baldrige may be found in the appendix.But it’s the second part of the title that should capture your attention. Whatever your job, volunteer position, role on Boards or leadership of people and organizations, you must be concerned about alignment to deliver results.This book looks at this dilemma from primarily three perspectives.ENGAGEMENT: The authors’ note, “Study after study cites a clear correlation between increasing employee engagement and improving performance in results.” Yet many organizations make no attempt to engage their staff. You will find many useful examples in this book.LEADERSHIP: Among so many other things, leaders develop and communicate a compelling vision. They create transparent organizations and build trust. They compare themselves to others, set aggressive targets, welcome feedback and have an open door policy that allows them to learn and improve.EXECUTION: Successful organizations put structures in place to support people in doing their jobs and take away obstacles. Workers are not only given responsibility and accountability but the authority to execute and overcome challenges.The details about these areas discussed in the book, will set your mind racing about how you might begin to change your church, your school, your business, your nonprofit, your healthcare and any structures and relationships that matter in your life.

This is a must-read book for leaders of any organization that wants a road map to exceptional results. It works for organizations in any industry (education, healthcare, services, manufacturing, government or nonprofit), and it can help organizations that are in crisis as well as those that are doing "pretty good".It explains in clear language and short, readable chapters, exactly why and how to boost the organizational culture, employee engagement and senior leadership that are essential to improving customer satisfaction and loyalty, employee loyalty, and financial performance. Using many examples of firms that are recognized as among the best in the nation, it proves that using the Malcolm Baldrige approach will help organizations outperform 75% to 90% of others in their industries.I plan to share this with business friends and colleagues. It's like a quick MBA course in performance excellence.

This is a collection of anecdotes about the experiences of people who have adopted the Baldrige system, and what their challenges and results were. If you need some mild inspiration, you might enjoy reading this. If you want to really understand how to apply Balrdrige in your business, you need to find another book.

The book Reads like an infomercial for the Baldrige journey. Does not leave the reader with any tangible feeling of why it’s important or how to do it.

This is not a flavor of the month management help book, filled with trite suggestions repeated multiple times with examples from companies from days gone by or of which you have never heard. It is a solid business book that will stand the test of time and point the reader toward a framework that continues to improve and represents the leading edge of validated leadership and performance practices. This is a must read for anyone looking to lead their organization from mediocrity toward excellence.I have known Kay as a fellow-Examiner for many years and there is no one who understands the criteria and its practical application better. The book is well organized, quick to read, and provides something for every reader. No matter your familiarity with the Baldrige Criteria for Performance Excellence; this book delivers a rich history of the program, provides evidence of the powerful results it is capable of delivering, and is filled with quotes from leaders within organizations supporting the use of the criteria, the challenges they faced, changes they would make if given the opportunity to implement it again as well as how they continue to succeed and grow beyond the period they became an award recipient. Along the way, it asks the reader very good questions that makes the book actionable for every leader.One of the best takeaways for me included the comments related to the importance of an organizations culture. There were also comments about an organizations vision which I found to be equally valuable to the reader. I had not expected to find so many references to Employee Engagement within the book, I found the linkage to trust in senior leadership, the hidden tax it brought about and impacts on results to be compelling and of value to the reader. I will certainly share these and other concepts found in the book with leaders I coach.

As principals of BaldrigeCoach, Kay Kendall and Glenn Bodinson share their professional expertise as consultants and in-depth experience of excellence in this well-written, concise description of the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Program. The book includes many powerful examples of how the Baldrige Excellence Framework is consistently used in high-performing organizations across industry, business, government, nonprofit, education, and health care to optimize leadership, management, and employee engagement, and to drive operational and economic results. This book explains the Baldrige Criteria for Performance Excellence and can be used with confidence as the definitive guide to the Baldrige journey.