- Excerpt from The Wisdom of the Flying Pig -
Caring isn’t about how you feel —but it IS about how they feel.
Would it be good if productivity went up in your workgroup? What if your employees missed fewer days of work—would that have a positive effect? How about if there were fewer accidents, fewer worker’s compensation claims, and less theft? Well, here’s the deal. All this stuff improves when your employees feel cared for. Common sense tells you this should be true, and about a jillion research studies confirm it.
The field of play for managers—the arena in which they can make their unique contribution—is defined by the relationship they have with each of their direct reports. The professional challenge for managers is to make each employee more productive than that employee would be working for some other manager. There is only one road to this result—your people must be possessed of the genuine, unshakable belief that their success is your primary objective.
“As a manager, the one signal you need to steadily send to your people is how important they are to you. In fact, nothing is more important to you.”
Captain D. Michael Abrashoff
Former Commander, USS Benfold
Captain Abrashoff’s counsel is not what I would normally expect from an officer in the United States Navy. But in his book It’s Your Ship, there are numerous surprises, including this one: “My experience has shown that helping people realize their full potential can lead to attaining goals that would be impossible to reach under command and control.” A military man disparaging command and control? What’s up with that?
Here’s what: No matter what type of organization you manage, gaining the trust and commitment of your people is paramount. And it is a cosmic truth that people will trust you and commit to your goals to the exact extent that they believe you care about them.
More posts on:
Captain D. Michael Abrashoff,
USS Benfold,
United States Navy,
It's Your Ship,
Caring
- Excerpt from The Wisdom of the Flying Pig -
“To care for another person, in the most significant sense, is to help him grow and actualize himself.”
Milton Mayeroff
On Caring
Great managers understand two important ideas about caring. First, caring is an activity, not an emotion. How a manager feels about a person has little to do with the responsibility of caring for that person in a managerial sense. Second, because caring is primarily about helping people grow and develop, it is among the most pragmatic and productive activities a manager can undertake.
Think about it this way: At its core, business is fundamentally about people completing tasks. As people grow and develop, they get better at completing those tasks. So in a very real sense, caring is a direct link to productivity.
How can I best help each of my people grow and develop?
You can’t care unless you know. You can’t help people grow and develop until you understand who they are. What is their talent, their unique capacity for near perfect performance? What are their limitations and their needs? How do they experience meaning in their work? You have to know, because the only way to grow a great business is one person at a time.
Some miniscule percentage of managers has the gift of naturally perceiving every individual as unique. The rest of us have to work at it. We have to consciously and consistently seek ways to discover what our people are capable of and what we need to provide in order for them to realize that capability.
I don’t think psychologist Carl Rogers was thinking about management when he made the following statement, but it applies just the same: “The degree to which I can create relationships which facilitate the growth of others . . . is a measure of the growth I have achieved in myself.”
More posts on:
Milton Mayeroff,
Caring,
Carl Rogers
- New To Be A Leader Episode -
Great people and great businesses have one indispensable characteristic.
Watch the full episode.
In a couple of previous posts I've commented on workplace conditions that are required for fun. I suggested the first prerequisite for fun was freedom from fear and the second, a positive regard for the contributions of others. Today, I'd like to mention what I believe is the third requirement - freedom from a stifling formality.
Formality is like a too tight pair of pants. They're both uncomfortable (maybe even painful) and restrictive. Formality imposes a caution (maybe even paranoia) that is antithetical to fun. If you doubt this, try to conjure up a memory of the most formal situations in which you've found yourself. Now, how much fun did you have in those situations? I'm betting not much.
So why does fun matter at all. Well, fun is ... fun, and fun is good. But for the more statistically inclined, here's another reason. As reported in Fun Works by Leslie Yerkes: "Lou Harris and Assoicates recently asked 1,000 'peak performers' what kind of workplace they would be reluctant to leave. 74% responded: 'One that promotes fun and closer work relationships with collegues'."
More posts on:
Fun
- Excerpt from The Wisdom of the Flying Pig -
Contrary to what you might have heard, there IS a secret formula.
The fourth principle of effective recognition: Praise often.
This seems intuitive, but there is empirical data that lends credence to the idea. I first heard about some fascinating research in a terrific book by Tom Rath, How Full is Your Bucket.
According to positive psychology expert John Gottman, there is a secret formula in relationships. Gottman’s research revealed that marriages are significantly more likely to succeed when the interactions between the couple are five to one, positive to negative. In 1992, Gottman recruited seven hundred couples who had just received their marriage licenses. A fifteen-minute conversation between prospective husbands and wives was videotaped, and the number of positive and negative comments was counted. Then, based on the five to one ratio, Gottman predicted whether each couple would stay together. Ten years later, Gottman’s predictions turned out to be 94 percent accurate.
The secret formula is simple: Praise often.
Research from the American Management Association reveals that less than one-third of all people report they frequently receive praise or recognition.
A few months ago I had the opportunity to teach (and learn from) some managers working in a casino in northern Nevada. I worked intensively with a group of ten managers who had been identified as thought leaders. Most of these managers were deeply committed, working hard in hectic, often difficult, situations.
But there was one who didn’t seem to get it. At all. When we started talking about recognition he said, “I don’t praise people because that just makes it harder when I have to fire them.” (Sound of me pounding my head on the table!)
Later he asked, “Don’t you think you can give too much recognition?” Well, I guess it is theoretically possible to give too much recognition. But from a practical standpoint, if you’re always recognizing honest effort and positive results it seems virtually impossible to give too much recognition.
More posts on:
How Full is Your Bucket,
Tom Rath,
John Gottman,
effective recognition
In my last post, I started writing about fun in the workplace - specifically, what are the conditions conducive to fun. I suggested the first prerequisite for fun is a workplace free of fear. Today, I'd like to offer the second prerequisite for fun: Respect for the contribution of others.
To be productive as an individual contributor, I need to understand what the company is trying to achieve and how my work contributes to that achievement. But to have fun in the workplace, I must also have positive regard for the contributions of my co-workers. Think about this: If you're working your tail off, but you see your co-workers slacking - how are you going to feel about those co-workers? It's tough to have fun with people for whom you feel disdain. On the other hand, if you know the contributions of others are similar to your own contributions - if you know the company can't win and you can't win without their efforts - how are you going to feel about them? Quite a bit better in all liklihood. And that feeling of positive regard is a foundational element for having fun at work.
For fun to flourish, everyone has to have an oar in the water.
One of my associates told me her previous employer had mandated "Fun Fridays". Apparently a staff member was assigned the responsibility of creating "Fun" every Friday. Seems that was a bit of a problem because the "Fun" was strictly legislated - it was required to be an activity, it was required to take place in the break room during normal breaks (no extra time for "Fun") and it had to cost ... nothing. From what my associate told me, "Fun Fridays" weren't so much fun. That story got me thinking about what it takes for a workplace to be fun.
It seems to me, the first prerequisite for fun is freedom from fear. Fear can come from a variety of sources. But where it usually comes from is bad management. When managers are erractic or capricious people don't know what's expected - they wonder, they worry and they get scared. When managers are moody or volatile or abusive, fear permeates the culture and there is absolutely no way for fun to flourish - or even exist. And when the workplace is unfair there is simply no solid ground, fear is the predictable and logical result.
Fundamentally, freedom from fear requires this: First, people must understand explicitly what is expected of them. Second, rewards and consequences must be consistent with the stated expectations. And finally, all people - regardless of performance - must be treated with dignity.
- Excerpt from The Wisdom of the Flying Pig -
According to the U.S. Department of Labor, the number one reason people leave their jobs is they do not feel appreciated.
The third principle of effective recognition: Individualize recognition.
In order to properly recognize your people, you need to know them well enough to be absolutely certain the recognition you provide is welcome. Both the symbol of your recognition and the setting in which you deliver that symbol are critical to providing recognition that is rewarding and inspiring. Please remember recognition is NOT a one-size-fits-all proposition. Recognition that is inspiring to one person could be worthless to another. Recognition that is affirming to one person may be humiliating to someone else.
Not everyone loves plaques.
People are different. For example, I think brussel spouts are nasty. But there’s a guy in my office who loves brussel sprouts. I’m aware that some people don’t get jazzed up if they win a trip. Other folks don’t assign much value to a plaque. In fact, I heard a story about a guy who was absolutely incensed when his company gave him a plaque. The guy’s name was Lou, and apparently Lou was the hands-down leading producer in a large sales organization. Every year he won the plaque. And every year he told them he didn’t want the %*#%&^ plaque!
This particular year the group had gathered in Maui. There had been several days of meetings and speakers, as well as a number of outdoor activities that included tropical drinks, which may have contributed to the looming fiasco. Once again, Lou was the leading producer. But this time, as they unveiled a stunning plaque and called his name, Lou stood up, flipped off the executives standing on the dais, and stomped out of the ballroom.
More posts on:
U.S. Department of Labor,
effective recognition,
individualize recognition
- New To Be A Leader Episode -
A common question is asked and answered in a most definitive manner.
Watch the full episode.
On the television show, Boston Legal, there is an occasional appearance by idiosyncratic judge character. The judge is adamant (in his peculiar and hilarious manner) that he will countenance no "blither-blather" in his courtroom. Now I don't have a courtroom, but I have really had it with the blither-blather about branding. The final straw was a post I read recently about "brand character". Give me a break.
As close as I can tell, here's the reality. Just as happiness is a by-product of right living, the brand is a by-product of right operation of the business. Don't focus on "building the brand" - focus on delivering a kick-ass product, a product that provides a customer benefit so profound that she wouldn't consider liviing without it. Don't focus on "building the brand" - focus on delivering an experience that makes the customer feel so good it's addictive.
Do you really think Jobs and Woz were talking about "the brand" in that garage years ago? What are the chances that Guy LaLiberte was obsessed about "the brand" when founded Cirque de Soleil? Not so much. Think about the "brands" you hold most dear - chances are they start with a product that makes your life better and/or an experience you truly value.
Here's another reality: Not much is going to change because of this rant. A massive amount of time is going to continue to be wasted and mountains of cash are going to continue to change hands around the issue of branding. But I sure feel better.
|
|
