Employee Engagement

How Great Leaders Bring Out the Best in People

Great leaders bring out the best in people. In fact, that’s what makes them a great leader. They bring out the best in their team, they bring out the best in their organization, they bring out the best in their vendors, and they bring out the best in their customers. The art of leadership is learning how to bring out people’s best.

Here are five things a leader must do if he or she wants to be truly effective:

1. Treat People Like People
If you really want to bring out the best in people, you need to treat them like…well…people, rather than things. When we interact with people without compassion, empathy, or understanding, we’re relating to them as things.

The consequence of treating people like things is that you’ll get compliance, but not commitment. In contrast, when leaders regard people as people, they recognize that everyone – regardless of position or title – has hopes and dreams, needs and desires, goals and aspirations, fears and stress, and strengths and weaknesses.

A leader who regards people as people adopts an attitude of being of service to them. He or she helps them to be their best, to correct mistakes for the future, and is empathetic towards them and the feelings they have.

Leaders who treat people like people bring out the best in them.

2. Treat Adults Like Adults
If you want to bring out the best in people, you also need to treat adults like adults. Unfortunately, leaders often fall into the habit or pattern of treating adults like children. What constitutes treating adults like children?

When a leader micromanages people, he or she is treating them like children. When a leader doesn’t trust his or her team to follow through and act responsibly, he or she is treating them as children. When we micromanage people, it demonstrates a lack of respect and trust. It sends the message that we don’t trust them to do what needs to be done and don’t trust their judgment.

Why would a leader treat an adult like a child? The most prevalent reason stems from the flawed perspective that if people aren’t told what to do, they will do the least amount of work possible, doing just enough to keep from losing their job.

In order to treat people like adults, we need to eliminate the false perception that people will do as little as possible if left to their own initiative. Most people truly want to do the best job possible and take pride in the work they do.

An effective leader ensures that people have the right tools, the appropriate skills, and the proper judgment to do their job effectively. Then, the leader can confidently delegate tasks and hold people accountable for getting their work done accurately and in a timely manner.

Leaders who treat adults like adults bring out the best in them.

3. Earn Trust and Respect
The importance of earning the trust of the people you lead is well accepted yet still remains an issue. Trust is earned through having integrity and is absolutely essential for keeping people engaged. A leader who lacks the trust of others has a difficult time influencing and inspiring them. It’s not simply a matter of being honest, nor is it a matter of not being dishonest. Our integrity is reflected in what we do and who we are. People assess us by our words and actions over time (although a single negative event can change that opinion instantly). We don’t earn trust by how we act during major events, but rather how we act in everyday situations. Our words and actions will carry more weight and have greater impact if we’ve earned the trust (and respect) of others in advance.

The level of trust and respect given a leader by his or her team determines—to a great degree—the lengths people are willing to go for them. A leader who has earned a high degree of trust and respect creates a loyal team. A leader who has earned trust and respect gains the ability to greatly influence the actions and performance of his or her team. And a leader who has earned trust and respect will be more easily and more quickly forgiven for mistakes they make. And we all make mistakes…

Respect, like integrity, is one of those things that no one argues against. Yet not every leader earns the respect of his or her team. If a leader wants to be influential and bring out the best in people, he or she needs to have the respect of those they lead. There is a big difference between compliance and commitment.

We earn respect by showing respect and we demonstrate respect by how we interact with others. We show respect to people when we give them our full attention. It demonstrates that we care about their ideas and concerns and that we feel what they have to say is valuable. People can also feel they’re not respected when they’re spoken to in a manner that either minimizes them or makes them feel they and their ideas are being dismissed.

Leaders who earn the trust and respect of people bring out the best in them.

4. Show Appreciation and Recognition
In order to bring out the best in people, people need to feel valued. And in order for people to feel valued, a leader must show appreciation for their efforts and recognize them for their accomplishments. Being taken for granted is disheartening and demotivating, but it frequently happens in the business world, nevertheless.

Some leaders adopt the attitude that people are paid to do a job and therefore the payment of a salary is sufficient appreciation and recognition for their work. While it’s true that people have an obligation to do good work in exchange for fair pay, people are still people. They have emotions, pride, fears, self-esteem, and a desire to please.

Recognition is typically offered as a reward and acknowledgement for an accomplishment. Public recognition boosts a person’s stature within an organization and enhances their self-esteem.

Appreciation, on the other hand, is generally shown in response to the effort someone makes, rather than an accomplishment. Sincere appreciation is generally spontaneous and heartfelt – given from one person to another. When we show appreciation for someone’s efforts, it communicates that we respect and value them.

Leaders who show sincere appreciation for people bring out the best in them.

5. Develop Compelling Strategic Initiatives
When leaders develop a strategic initiative that incorporates a compelling reason, it tends to bring out the best in people. People do their best when they’re inspired by and aligned with the work they’re doing. When people are working on an initiative that matters to them, they’re engaged and enthused.

When an initiative matters to people, they invest their discretionary effort in developing creative solutions and overcoming the inevitable obstacles that present themselves.

People will give (and be) their best for something they believe in. Accomplishing a meaningful initiative is personally and professionally fulfilling. Effective leaders provide a reason to accomplish something. They understand that an initiative without a “why” is simply a goal – and no one gives their all for a simple goal. A good strategy addresses an issue or problem and provides a direction for the company. It also provides a compelling reason for the initiative (a cause, a philosophy, a passion), creating a desire to achieve it.

Leaders who help people stretch and use their creative abilities bring out the best in them.

5 Strategies for Becoming an Inspiring Leader

For years, leaders have asked me how to motivate people. Regardless of whether you’re talking about large teams or small teams, sales teams or project teams, the answer is the same. You can’t motivate people.

Motivation comes from within and people are either self-motivated or they’re not. It’s one of the main reasons that only a handful of people respond to sales promotions or contests. Only the people who are driven by money will respond, while the rest won’t.

The most effective means of spurring people on to better performance and greater results is by inspiring them. In contrast to motivation, which comes from within, inspiration comes from others. The dictionary defines inspire as “To exert a stimulating or beneficial effect upon, or to arouse with a particular emotion.”

We – as leaders – inspire people by who we are, by what we do, or by what we did.

Why strive to be more inspiring? Here are some notable benefits of being an inspirational leader:

It elicits an emotional response
It creates the desire to accomplish or achieve something
It sparks the imagination as to what is possible
It creates belief
It creates enthusiasm
It creates hope
It creates admiration
It creates respect
It causes people to want to emulate us

When people are inspired, they aspire to reach new heights/goals and resolve to overcome obstacles, challenges and fears. They begin to dream bigger and regain hope that they can achieve those dreams. And when people are inspired by you, they make an effort to emulate you, they strive to be respected by you, and they become willing to align themselves with your passion, vision, or cause.

As you can see, the impact of being inspiring is significant. Of course, the big question is how to become inspiring. What transforms a leader into an inspirational leader? Here are five strategies for becoming a more inspiring leader:

Never miss the opportunity to share what you’re passionate about. People are attracted to and respond to leaders who are passionate about something. When a leader is passionate, people will follow then and be inspired by them.
Use stories to make your point and paint a picture. People relate to stories and analogies, and when told effectively, will evoke an emotional response. Stories can be very inspiring.
Share past challenges that you’ve overcome. It doesn’t have to be a major life altering challenge; it can be any kind of physical, mental or emotional challenge you overcame which made a difference in your life. People are inspired by those who overcame adversity.
Set an example of high integrity. Do what you say you’re going to do. Show up on time. Return phone calls and emails. Finish projects on time or ahead of time. And don’t be afraid to let people know when you’ve gone out of your way to do what you said you would do. People are inspired by leaders who earn their trust and respect through their actions.
Let others know what matters to you. Become clear on the values that matter most to you. Reflect throughout the day as to whether your actions are in alignment with those values you say matter. Leaders who live their values inspire people. (Conversely, saying one thing but doing another is not very inspiring.)

If you want to move your team into high gear, forget about trying to motivate them and instead, focus on becoming an inspiring leader.

Recognition is useful, but not as much as…

It’s widely accepted that an important part of any employee engagement strategy is having a recognition program. People want to feel valued and acknowledged for their work, so organizations implement recognition programs to accomplish that by offering awards, plaques, mugs, pins, gifts, certificates, and/or bonuses. All of those things are nice and the concept sounds good – except for one thing.

Recognition is only marginally effective at improving employee engagement if not also accompanied by the practice of showing appreciation. Recognition and appreciation are both important, but each has a different dynamic and should be used for different purposes.

Recognition programs are great for publicly acknowledging and drawing attention to accomplishments. Public recognition boosts a person’s stature within the organization and enhances self-esteem, both of which improve engagement.

But the impact of recognition programs is limited. It’s limited for two important reasons. The first reason is that although receiving a reward as recognition for accomplishment is welcomed, studies have shown that once rewards become expected, they no longer motivate and often produce declining results. The second reason for recognition having only minimal impact on engagement, is that it’s generally given to acknowledge an achievement. And the reality is that much of what we achieve on a day-to-day basis is routine and not especially noteworthy.

Appreciation on the other hand, is generally shown in response to the effort someone makes, rather than an accomplishment. Sincere appreciation is generally spontaneous and heartfelt – given from one person to another. When we let people know we appreciate their efforts, it communicates that we’re grateful for their efforts, and that we respect and value them. The impact of showing appreciation is immediate and long-lasting. When a person’s efforts and sacrifices are appreciated, self-esteem rises and consequently engagement and loyalty rise as well.

Recognition and appreciation each have a place in making a difference with people, but appreciation’s impact is stronger than recognition’s and has a more positive impact as well. Additionally, the opportunities for showing appreciation are more numerous and more frequent than those which deserve recognition.

In order to bring out the best in people, get into the practice of showing sincere appreciation.

Company Culture by Design or Default

I’ve had some interesting conversations recently with a couple of clients regarding their company’s culture.

With the first client, someone I was helping to groom as the owner’s successor, he told me how much they value their culture. Not only that, but they felt very strongly about “hiring to their culture”. In other words, they made certain that every new hire understood how important the company’s culture was.

As an executive coach focused on developing successors, these statements were music to my ears! I naturally asked him, “So, what IS your company’s culture?” AND HE HAD NO ANSWER! It turns out, when they speak to new hires about culture, they simply tell them that their culture was important to them but offered no guidance as to what that was or meant. I was confident that he understood what their culture consisted of in general terms, so I sent him off to try to better define their culture and reduce it to a handful of statements.

In our next coaching session, we discussed the list of values and behaviors the company strove to live by. We spent that session refining and clarifying the list so he could better express to employees what mattered to the company and so he could better hold them accountable to those values and behaviors.

With the second client, the president of his company, we had a very different conversation. This client had very clearly defined their culture and like the other client, made sure that new hires were aligned to it. But there was a problem. In fact, it was a major problem.

Most people think that a company’s culture is defined by the values and behaviors a company aspires to. That sounds great and makes sense. Except it’s not true.

A company’s culture is defined by the values and behaviors the company tolerates.

And who does that tolerating? The leaders do. The values and behaviors that the leaders tolerate become the company’s culture. But it doesn’t end there. It gets worse. When a leader professes to value one behavior but acts in a manner at odds with it, it demonstrates a lack of integrity. And when a leader is seen to lack integrity, people lose respect for them. And when people lose respect for a leader, engagement and productivity suffer.

And that’s EXACTLY what was happening at this client’s company. My client was as guilty as anyone in the company, acting at odds with the stated culture. But nevertheless, he couldn’t understand why they had so much trouble making progress and holding people accountable. Consequently, we began strategizing about how to change his behavior and the behavior of others.

So, here’s the bottom line:

A company’s culture needs to be defined. A culture that exists by default is always inferior and leads to lower engagement.
Although a defined culture is good (and important), the true culture is really defined by the values and behaviors the leaders tolerate.
If you want to drive a positive culture, the leaders (and everyone throughout the organization) need to strive to live those values and behaviors and hold one another accountable to them.

A positive, well-defined culture that people live by results in better engagement, higher productivity, and improved profitability.

Employee Turnover is Not a Problem

Don’t get me wrong, I understand and appreciate that turnover creates challenges. Employee turnover causes a decrease in productivity, lower profits, inconsistent quality, and certainly creates work overload.

But here’s the question: Is employee turnover a problem or a symptom?

Turnover is a symptom.

But what is turnover a symptom of? You might argue that turnover is a symptom of unmotivated people, apathy or a labor shortage. But most often, turnover is a symptom of poor leadership. Turnover occurs because poor leaders lack purpose, lack integrity, lack a plan for developing people, have poor communication skills, and treat people like things instead of like people.

Have you ever worked for someone who lacked integrity? Someone who would say one thing and do another? Someone who promised to do something but never did it? Someone who took the credit and placed the blame? Unfortunately, I’d have to guess that each of us has had that kind of boss at one time or another.

When you were in that situation, did you continue to do your work? Of course you did. Was your work accurate and correct? Of course it was. Did you take the initiative on new projects for the benefit of the company? Maybe not. Go the extra mile to make a difference? Hmmm… Did you leave the company at the first opportunity? Point made. When an individual or a company lacks integrity, turnover occurs.

Have you ever worked at a company where the prospect of advancement was nonexistent? Someplace where you knew that you weren’t going anywhere? Did you stay very long? That’s my point. Without opportunity for growth and expanded responsibility, people leave.

Have you ever worked at a company where major changes were “sprung” on you? Where work was assigned to you and after you completed it, you found out you had done the wrong thing? What happens when people don’t communicate effectively? Poor communication leads to misunderstanding, conflict, de-motivation, and stress. What does misunderstanding, conflict, de-motivation and stress lead to? You got it – turnover.

And then comes the most insidious issue of them all – treating people like things rather than like people.

How does someone treat people like “things”? They do it in several ways. They do it when they’re insensitive to them and interact with people as if they have no feelings. They treat people like things when they ignore the fact that everyone has hopes and dreams and fears and stress. They treat people like things when they relate to people as if their own goals and aspirations are more important than the goals and aspirations of the other person. And they treat people like things when they don’t show respect for people or value their contributions and efforts.

When someone treats a person like a thing, it sends the message that they are unimportant and that they just don’t care about them. And when people sense a leader doesn’t care about them, they start not to care about that leader. When the company tolerates leaders who don’t care about people, people tend not to care about the company. When a leader treats people like things, turnover occurs.

In contrast, an effective leader understands that people’s hopes, dreams, fears, and stresses are real and matter to them. An effective leader inspires people. An effective leader interacts with people as people, helping them to be their best. And an effective leader helps people achieve their goals.

When a leader and an organization have a clearly defined purpose, they attract and retain the talent they need. When a leader and an organization have integrity, it builds trust and loyalty. When a leader and an organization are committed to developing people, people become the best they can be. When a leader and an organization communicate effectively, conflict and tension diminish, and cooperation increases. When a leader and an organization treat people as people, they appreciate it and reciprocate.

Turnover isn’t a problem – it’s a symptom caused by leadership problems. Fortunately, these problems can be resolved, and you have the power to make that difference. Strive to become the best leader you can be.