On Leadership and Counting Carrots

Posted on April 15, 2013 by Alan Mikolaj

Carrot and Stick

“When you blame others, you give up your power to change.” ~ Dr. Robert Anthony

So What’s Your Carrot?

Do you know what motivates others at work? Research from Duke University and George Mason University reveals that, although you might think you do; you probably don’t.

At regular intervals over a forty-year period, executives were asked to rank what they thought motivated their employees. They consistently got it wrong.  Executives erroneously believed that external factors and incentives such as compensation, bonuses, job security, and promotions are what most motivated their employees.

But what do the employees say?  They report that it is inherent factors, such as interesting work, being appreciated for making meaningful contributions, a feeling of being involved in decisions, and being part of something bigger that motivates them the most.

However, employees were no better off predicting what motivated their bosses and peers. They got it wrong, too; believing it is external factors that motivates others – especially their superiors.

The fact is, executives report being motivated mostly by autonomy, their inherent interest in their work, big challenges, and a sense of relatedness with colleagues.

True Incentives & Rewards

In psychology we call these biases – particularly the self-serving bias and the extrinsic incentive bias. We give more credit to internal and inherent motivations to ourselves than we do to others and think others are more externally motivated than they probably are.

These biases between boss and employee can lead to sub-optimal incentive, reward, and compensation programs. It can lead to negative thoughts such as

“Since I can’t pay my staff more and promote them like I want to, they don’t seem very motivated. I guess there’s nothing I can do.”

———————————————————————————————

L2L Reader Survey 2013

———————————————————————————————

“Each morning I come in, my inbox is filled with mail and the first thing I read is L2L. Always!”

———————————————————————————————

Eroding Trust

But more importantly, these biases and their corresponding negative thoughts erode trust. Anil Saxena recently wrote of trust in a recent L2L blog and how trust can only develop when our relationships are adult ones.   When they’re not and we allow biases and negative thinking to flourish instead, this can erode trust and make working well together difficult.

This doesn’t mean that money, promotions, and the like are not important. They are. Just much less than we think.

Other research shows that as long as employees feel they are earning a fair wage, inherent factors begin to take over as motivators, or if not met, as a detriment.

Lee Ellis also recently wrote on an excellent piece here on L2L about trust and coaching.  He learned employees valued two attributes most from their leaders: support and helping direct reports develop.

This can’t happen unless you also have some clues about what motivates them.

Undercover Revelations

I don’t watch much commercial TV, but one show I occasionally enjoy really knows how to bring this awareness out in bosses: Undercover Boss. In almost every episode I’ve seen, the CEO has an eye-opening experience not only about what frontline employees and their supervisors do, but more importantly, what motivates them.

The boss always walks away from the experience with a transformed perspective.

When both bosses and employees reduce blame and finger-pointing by reversing erroneous beliefs and ANTs (automatic negative thoughts) about each other, we foster trust, engagement, and a better working environment – and we know this leads to higher productivity, reduced turnover, higher customer satisfaction, and increased profits.

And who doesn’t want that?

How do you foster a keener awareness of what motivates your employees? How do you use that knowledge and awareness to develop trust and motivate others? What beliefs can you let go of that will help you be a better leader?

**********

Never miss an issue of Linked 2 Leadership, subscribe today here! 
Learn, Grow & Develop Other Leaders™

——————–
Alan Mikolaj

Alan Mikolaj is a Professional and Inspirational Trainer, Keynote Speaker & Author
He is the author of three books and holds his Master of Arts  in Clinical Psychology
Email | LinkedIn | Facebook | Twitter | Book | Web

Image Sources: anticap.files.wordpress.com

Related articles

Filed under: Coaching Corner, Emotionally Intelligent Leadership, Leadership Lessons Learned, Practical Steps to Influence, Servant Leadership | Tagged: , , , | 14 Comments »

On Leadership and The Force of Connection

Posted on January 9, 2013 by Alan Mikolaj

Connect With People

“If knowledge traps are the cholesterol of organizations, then the force of connection that fosters relationship excellence is the statin drug that breaks up knowledge traps, restores knowledge flow, and keeps the environment healthy.” ~ Michael Lee Stallard

An Eye-Opening Story

There’s a story about a manager who bumped into one of her former employees in the grocery store. The former employee gave her the cold shoulder.

“What’s the matter, Phyllis? We used to get along so well when you worked for me!” the manager asked quite puzzled.

“Well, to be quite frank, I was only nice because I worked for you. I’ve never liked you. You’re a conceited, power-hungry, hypocrite who never listens to what anyone else has to say! And now that I don’t work for you anymore, I don’t have to be nice!” the former employee exclaimed as she stormed off.

Relationship Excellence

“What does relationship excellence have to do with employee engagement? Plenty!

And depending on where you lead, the term employee engagement may be substituted with other terms.

  • If you teach, you might call it school spirit or classroom morale.
  • In the military it is called esprit de corps.
  • If you lead in a church, you might call it fellowship.
  • In your personal relationships, it may be what I call your state of being.

No matter what term works for where you lead, employee engagement is not about some New Age, feel-good fad.

Employee engagement and the force of connection

In fact, research has closely tied employee engagement to our innate need to connect and belong as a species – relationship excellence or the force of connection. In a recent Webinar, Most Admired Companies: Boosting Employee Engagement, experts Mark and Bonita Thompson presented some interesting findings from a survey they conducted of over one-thousand employees.

They teased out the engaged employees from the sample – the kind of employees we wish all of ours were – and wanted to know what these ‘best’ employees were looking for in a leader.  Of the eight most admired traits, seven of them were relationship-oriented (indicated with *).

Getting Engaged

8 traits engaged workers want from their leaders:

  • Ambitious and Hardworking
  • Cooperative*
  • Supportive and Helpful*
  • Honest*
  • Straight-forward and Clear*
  • “Family” team-focused*
  • Loyal*
  • Fun-loving and Playful about the work*

Build Relationships

The well-respected 2011 BlessingWhite report made four recommendations to managers to foster employee engagement.  One of them was to build relationships.  They wrote, “The more employees feel they know their managers as people, the more engaged they’re likely to be.”

In a 2002 review of the Gallup studies on employee engagement, it was interesting to find that seven of the twelve items defining and measuring employee engagement were directly tied to relationships.

Connecting with others, especially the boss, correlated to lower turnover, higher customer satisfaction, and increased productivity and profits.

Force of Connection

7 employee engagement items that use the force of connection:

  • Opportunities to do what I do best
  • Recognition and Praise
  • Cares about me
  • Encourages Development
  • Opinions count
  • Committed
  • Opportunities to Learn and Grow

“Please allow me to point out again that these were all correlated to lower turnover, higher customer satisfaction, and increased productivity and profits.

The force of connection – our relationship excellence – not only makes sense from a psychological and spiritual perspective, but from a business one, as well.

Effects of Stress on Employee Engagement

In his recent L2L post, Leaders: 4 Ways to Improve Your Ability to Learn, Denis McLaughlin revealed how stress impacts our ability to learn.

Stress can also have a severe impact on your employee’s engagement.

Michael Stallard points out in the Spring 2012 edition of Training Industry Quarterly that neuroscientific research has established that as stress rises; cortisol levels rise. When cortisol levels rise, people tend to behave in reactionary or rash ways.

They simply don’t think clearly and rely on ‘fight or flight’ responses to protect themselves.If relationships with the boss or fellow workers are causing stress, employees will be less productive and less engaged with their work.

In an excellent connection between criticism, stress, and employee engagement, Gary Cohen wrote in his latest L2L post:

“More often, it leads to worse performance, motivation, and engagement.”

However, when stress levels are lower, so too are cortisol levels. When cortisol levels are lower, people tend to stay calm, rational, and think more clearly.

Use the Force of Connection

The feeling of being connected to those around us – of being part of a safe and meaningful team led by a boss with relationship excellence – boosts dopamine, serotonin, and oxytocin levels.

This helps make team members feel more

  • Energized
  • Confident
  • Trusting
  • Engaged
  • Connected

These types of employees are 20% more productive than the average employee is and are healthier and actually live longer!

When relationships flourish and are healthy at work, everybody wins.

People want to give their best effort and become more loyal and productive, turnover drops, customer satisfaction rises, and profits increase! When we feel needed, do fulfilling and meaningful work, and have a great relationship with our boss (teacher, choir leader, coach, etc.), we love our work – and this is true for those we lead, too!

“Take time every day to use the force of connection!”

How do you foster relationship excellence for yourself?  For your direct reports and team? How do you foster employee engagement? What techniques or strategies can you share?

**********

Never miss an issue of Linked 2 Leadership, subscribe today here! 
Learn, Grow & Develop Other Leaders™

——————–
Alan Mikolaj
Alan Mikolaj is Author and Lecturer at A Travel Guide to Leadership Training
He helps clients become happier, more successful, and to become the better leaders
Email | LinkedIn | Facebook | Twitter | Book | Web

Image Sources: glassgiant.com

Related articles

Filed under: Authentic Leadership, Coaching Corner, Leading & Developing Other Leaders, Organizational Health, Professional Development, Servant Leadership, Team Building Leadership | Tagged: , , | 9 Comments »

3 Steps to Influential Leadership: Step 3 – Reactions

Posted on June 21, 2012 by Alan Mikolaj

While there are many ideas and theories about what makes up influential leadership, there are three ingredients that are ‘necessary, but not enough.’ 

They are necessary for influential leadership, but not sufficient.

Of course, there are many more ingredients to cook up influential leadership, but whatever recipe you are using to help improve your leadership skills, these three will definitely add some flavor!

See them all: | Part 1 : Allowance | Part 2: Service | Part 3: Reactions |

Ingredient #3: Reaction

It’s how you make them feel

In my last two blogs, I introduced two ‘necessary, but not sufficient’ ingreditents for influential leadership: the art of allowing and service.  Today, we look at another ingredient essential for influential leadership; “Reactions,” or how you make them feel.

“I’ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.” ~ Maya Angelou ~

I first heard a version of this quote from Danish Ahmed in a YouTube video (at around 3:20 into it) a few years ago and I have used it when doing customer service and leadership development training. 

He says:

“It doesn’t matter what you say to people.  What matters is how they feel when they are with you.” 

I saw the opening quote in one of Wes Hopper’s email blogs and couldn’t help but make the connection to how powerful this is for leaders.

A Tale of Two Bosses

In my work team, there are fifteen supervisors. And here is what I feel when I am around two of them:

Dissonance Boss

  • Every time this one supervisor enters a room, you can almost feel the stress emanating out of her. 
  • Everything is a problem, an emergency, urgent, a crisis, or must be done in a hurry with her. 
  • A lot of the time, I feel stressed just talking with her. 

Resonance Boss

  • When this other supervisor walks in, I’m instantly put at ease. 
  • She is calm, speaks slowly and softy, and radiates confidence, peace, and a caring attitude. 
  • I feel completely different when I talk to her.

Be Wise, Energize!

Remember, everything is energy. 

According to the Institute of HeartMath, the heart’s electrical field is sixty times greater in amplitude than the electrical activity of the brain. The magnetic field of the heart is more than 5,000 times stronger than the brain’s magnetic field! 

The electromagnetic field of the heart can be detected for several feet in all directions around a person.  When you are about 3-4 feet away from someone, that energy can be detected by another person and they can even begin to resonate with your frequency (for better or worse) – something called coherence or synchronization. 

It’s even more likely if you touch them, like placing a hand on their shoulder, holding hands, or a hug.

Your Personal Vibe

How do people feel when they are with you?  What are they going to remember?  As Maya tells us above, they are more than likely going to forget what you’ve said and done.  However, they will remember how you made them feel. 

That’s why it’s so important to spend some time every morning – and even throughout the day – to get and keep your heart and your head in the right place. 

I hope you do so you can go out today and radiate positive influential leadership!

How do you foster positive emotional states in those you lead?  What techniques would you recommend to other leaders to help foster well-being in direct reports, team members, students, etc.?  What other ingredients do you think are “necessary but not sufficient?”

See them all: | Part 1 : Allowance | Part 2: Service | Part 3: Reactions |

**********

Never miss an issue of Linked 2 Leadership, subscribe today here! 
Learn, Grow & Develop Other Leaders™

——————–
Alan Mikolaj
Alan Mikolaj is Author and Lecturer at A Travel Guide to Leadership Training
He helps clients become happier, more successful, and to become the better leaders
Email | LinkedIn | Facebook | Twitter | Book | Web

Image Sources: insightcourses.com

Filed under: Authentic Leadership, Emotionally Intelligent Leadership, Leading & Developing Other Leaders, Servant Leadership, Team Building Leadership | Tagged: , , , | 3 Comments »

3 Steps to Influential Leadership: Step 2 – Service

Posted on June 13, 2012 by Alan Mikolaj

Customer Service

While there are many ideas and theories about what makes up influential leadership, there are three ingredients that are ‘necessary, but not enough.’ 

They are necessary for influential leadership, but not sufficient.

Of course, there are many more ingredients to cook up influential leadership, but whatever recipe you are using to help improve your leadership skills, these three will definitely add some flavor!

See them all: | Part 1 : Allowance | Part 2: Service | Part 3: Reactions |

Ingredient #2:  Service

In my last blog, the first ingredient posited for influential leadership was the art of allowing.  Today, we look at another ingredient essential for influential leadership: Service.

“In a corporation, the higher up in management and leadership you go, the more servient you need to become.” ~ Bill Winney ~

Good Advice

This quote was given to me over good wine and Italian food from a dear, old friend.  He should know.  He’s one of those who started at the bottom and has worked his way up into a very successful career and life.  He is the manager of the QHSSE department of an international petroleum company and owns several small businesses himself.

The idea of servant leadership is not new to L2L readers:

  • One could even argue it’s one of the main reasons we read L2L
  • It reinforces a leadership model we believe in and practice

For example, in one of Lee Ellis’ recent L2L blogs, he wrote this:

“The lesson I learned was that serving and doing all the little things that others might avoid brings respect and ultimately influence.”

On Leadership and Service

But the idea of the leader being a servant seemed to fall out of the paradigm of what it meant to be a great and influential leader until only a few years ago.

In recent earlier times, leadership was only thought to be:

  • Tough
  • “Old-school”
  • Cutthroat
  • Competitive
  • Impersonal
  • Manipulating
  • Power-wielding
  • Command-and-Control

Unfortunately, the type of leader who is accountable only to the bottom-line prevailed for much of history. And, this is still alive and well in many settings to today.

A Travel Guide to Leadership

However, it has proven to be a failed archetype for the new millennium.  It is challenged in my new book, A Travel Guide to Leadership, with the paradigm of the New Millennial Leader – which includes the servant leadership model – the second necessary but not sufficient ingredient on my list today.

James Hunter captures the idea of servant leadership beautifully in his book, The Servant: A Simple Story About the True Essence of Leadership. He Says this:

“Remember, the role of leadership is to serve, that is, to identify and meet legitimate needs.”

This is his definition of love and leadership.

Fulfilling Leadership Roles

Whether you lead in a relationship, at church, in the classroom, or in the business world, meeting legitimate needs empowers those you lead.

You empower them to fulfill their life mission, job, or role.  It is a close relative of allowing.

Service from a leader nurtures gratitude, as well.  When given consistently over time, meeting legitimate needs/service – an essential part of employee engagement – builds trust, reduces turnover, and promotes the well-being of not only the individual, but the organization and its goals and mission, too.

It has proven to be more profitable in the long run than other leadership models – no matter how you measure abundance.

All of these boost your influence… and create more opportunities for you to serve.

Leaders who use the creative energy force of love and service have made a giant step towards a more profound and sublime power on their journey.  Today, commit to being a more servient leader.

How do you meet or help meet the legitimate needs of those you lead?  How do you empower?  How do you nurture gratitude?  Will you share some of the things you do that serve those you lead?  What other ingredients do you think are “necessary but not sufficient?”

See them all: | Part 1 : Allowance | Part 2: Service | Part 3: Reactions |

**********

Never miss an issue of Linked 2 Leadership, subscribe today here! 
Learn, Grow & Develop Other Leaders™

——————–
Alan Mikolaj is Author and Lecturer at A Travel Guide to Leadership Training
He helps clients become happier, more successful, and to become the better leaders
Email | LinkedIn | Facebook | Twitter | Book | Web

Image Sources: dentalreferralmarketing.com

Filed under: Authentic Leadership, Emotionally Intelligent Leadership, Leading & Developing Other Leaders, Practical Steps to Influence, Professional Development, Servant Leadership | Tagged: , , | 2 Comments »

3 Steps to Influential Leadership: Step 1 – Allowance

Posted on May 25, 2012 by Alan Mikolaj

Not Allowed

While there are many ideas and theories about what makes up influential leadership, there are three ingredients that are ‘necessary, but not enough.’ 

They are necessary for influential leadership, but not sufficient. 

Of course, there are many more ingredients to cook up influential leadership, but whatever recipe you are using to help improve your leadership skills, these three will definitely add some flavor! 

See them all: | Part 1 : Allowance | Part 2: Service | Part 3: Reactions |

Ingredient #1:  Allowing

“Whether it is for personal development or in a family or business setting, there requires an acceptance period or a “process of allowing” which helps to bring the fruits to our tables.” ~ Edward G. Drennan

Do you ever find yourself having to “force” something to happen with one of your direct reports, team members, clients, or even in your personal relationships?

As Dr. Phil likes to ask:

“How’s that working for you?”

Allowing is a tool that some of the best leaders have turned into an art.  They use it judiciously – in the right amounts and at the right times.

Recipes for Allowing

Allowing requires faith, trust, a little coaxing from time to time, a dash of intuition, and the willingness to let go – not exactly what you would find in most business school textbooks and curriculum.  It is allowing on the part of the leader that lets creativity flourish, good employees become better, and the best employees to become extraordinary.

When your work team becomes better and extraordinary, you become a better and extraordinary leader.

Although, the art of allowing is popular in Law of Attraction literature, that’s not exactly the art of allowing that I’m talking about.  It’s similar in concept but not as ethereal or necessarily mystical.

Defining Things

Let’s look at the definition of the word allow.

al·low (verb)

  1. to give permission to or for; permit: to allow a student to be absent; No swimming allowed.
  2. to let have; give as one’s share; grant as one’s right: to allow a person $100 for expenses.
  3. to take into consideration, as by adding or subtracting; set apart: to allow an hour for changing trains.
  4. Archaic . to approve; sanction.
  5. to permit something to happen or to exist; admit

(From: Dictionary.com Unabridged)

When a leader gives permission for someone to do something or time for something to happen, it gives a stamp of authority.  It legitimizes it.  Allowing is a form of permission or of granting time to someone to do their job or a task without you micromanaging.  This is a gift of freedom and respect.

As Bryan Wolff pointed out in a recent L2L post, “People don’t follow by accident.  They follow people who they respect.”

Keeping Your Eye on the Ball

With all freedom comes the potential for abuse, so the wary leader allows but doesn’t take their eyes off the ball, either.  Allowing does not mean letting go of accountability.

But without the gift of freedom from the leader, great potential will never be realized.

That’s where your faith and trust come in – and those are nurtured over time.  A judicious understanding of who, what, and when are required when allowing.  You may need to occasionally coax or maybe even coach, but the art of allowing is mostly ‘hands off.’

On Trust and Allowing

My boss is amazing at allowing – but it didn’t happen for me overnight.  After I earned her trust through several projects and I had proved my mettle, she began to use allowing with me.  She has allowed my skills to develop and flourish through tasks and responsibilities beyond my job description.

Once she sets the basic rules of the game, like what’s the expected end product or outcome and when it’s due, she simply allows me to go and do my best.

  • She trusts I’ll come to her or collaborate with others if I need help and she has faith in my abilities
  • She trusts
  • She respectfully watches over
  • She allows

Jason Monaghan affirmed how the greatest leaders establish trust in his latest L2L blog on teams:

“Teams start with trust.  Just like the best coaches, the best business leaders establish authenticity and trust before all else.”

On Allowing and Empowerment

While allowing can be frightening for a leader, it is empowering for the direct report, the student, team member, or partner.  That empowerment builds a sense of gratitude toward the leader that can, over time, lead to admiration and deep respect.

The leader who recognizes the power of allowing recognizes the legitimate needs of others to enact their mission, add their contribution, to give of themselves, to develop, learn, and grow, and to flourish.

Adam Beck writes this:

“Leaders with the ability to coach and mentor have a clear advantage over others.  Here it is all about empowerment and allowing freedom for innovation.  The leader must allow for this to happen and offer guidance, advice, and corrective actions when necessary.”

What techniques are in your art of allowing recipe cabinet?  How do you balance managing outcomes and allowing direct reports to flourish – to shine – on their own?  Do you have any stories of when using allowing turned out great?  How about stories when allowing backfired?  What did you learn from that?  What other ingredients do you think are “necessary but not sufficient?”

See them all: | Part 1 : Allowance | Part 2: Service | Part 3: Reactions |

**********

Never miss an issue of Linked 2 Leadership, subscribe today here! 
Learn, Grow & Develop Other Leaders™

——————–
Alan Mikolaj is Author and Lecturer at A Travel Guide to Leadership Training
He helps clients become happier, more successful, and to become the better leaders
Email | LinkedIn | Facebook | Twitter | Book | Web

Image Sources: fc08.deviantart.net

Filed under: Coaching Corner, Emotionally Intelligent Leadership, Future Leadership Issues, Leading & Developing Other Leaders, Practical Steps to Influence, Professional Development, Servant Leadership | Tagged: , , , , | 5 Comments »

I Am Not Responsible for My Employees’ Happiness!

Posted on October 5, 2011 by Alan Mikolaj

Employee Happiness

A cumulative body of research has clearly established that happy employees equal successful business outcomes.  What role do you play in your employees’ happiness at work?  Are you responsible for your employees’ happiness?

The goal is not to create happiness, but to create the conditions for happiness to occur.” ~ Chip Conley quoting the Prime Minister of Bhutan

Who’s Responsible For Happiness?

I sat across from the desk listening to a well-respected leader in middle management of a major corporation as we talked about my last blog, Labor Day: Loving One’s Job.  “I am not responsible for my employees’ happiness!” she emphatically declared.  She was playing the devil’s advocate for me.

I couldn’t agree more.  No one is “responsible” for someone else’s happiness.  She said that to help test my response because there are lots of leaders, managers, and supervisors who say things like that - but it’s not the truth of the statement that they are trying to convey.

What they are really saying is this:

“Not only am I not responsible for my employees’ happiness; I don’t want to have to do anything about my employees’ happiness so I don’t have something else added to my ‘To-Do List’ (I’m already too busy!) and I don’t need some touchy-feely, immeasurable, subjective, intangible, metric added to how I’m evaluated as a leader!”

Rank does not confer privilege or give power.  It imposes responsibility.” ~Peter Drucker

Running the Numbers

Employee Happiness and Business Outcomes

A 2002 review of the Gallup Studies clearly established that the presence of positive workplace perceptions and positive emotions are in fact associated with four really big tangibles:

  • Higher customer loyalty
  • Higher productivity
  • Lower rates of turnover
  • Higher profits

The review was nothing to thumb your nose at.  It included nearly 8,000 business units, almost 200,000 respondents, and culminated over 30-years of research.  The bottom line is that happy employees equal successful business outcomes.  That should catch the attention of the strongest skeptic!

…it seems joy, interest, and love (or caring) come closest to describing employees’ emotions in high-performing business units.”  -study authors

What’s the Leader’s Role?

As leaders, we do have a responsibility to foster positive emotions in ourselves and our employees; not just because it feels good, but because it leads to our individual success, the success of our employees, our work groups, and ultimately, our business.  As Peter Drucker, the inventor of the term Management by Objectives (MBOs), famously said this;

“Rank does not confer privilege or give power.  It imposes responsibility.”

Of course leaders are not responsible for creating someone else’s happiness – no one is – but leaders are responsible for creating the conditions for happiness to occur.

Today’s families, churches, educational institutes, businesses, and political structures will fail unless we do.  The most effective leaders of the new millennium make the connection between the seemingly intangible love of one’s job and happiness of those they lead with the tangible metrics of productivity and financial profit – we must make both tangible.

Maslow’s Maxim: “”When the only tool you have is a hammer, every problem begins to resemble a nail.” ~ Abraham Maslow

A New Metric

Chip Conley, Founder and Executive Chairman of Joie de Vivre Hospitality (America’s second largest boutique hotel company), challenged leaders in a February 2010 TED Talks, especially leaders of business and politics, to incorporate a new metric into their strategic plans:  a measure of what makes life worthwhile.

When the only measurement tools leaders have are measures of productivity, net margin, political polls, campaign contributions, and profit, then that’s pretty much all they see.  They lose sight of what really matters to people.

Chip says, “As leaders what we need to learn is that we can actually influence the quality of that unit of production by actually creating the conditions for our employees to live their calling.”  Connecting to and living one’s mission, vision, guiding principles – or calling – is inherently fulfilling and joyful.

These are tangible and measurable.

New Research

Modern positive psychology and research-based organizations, like the Gallup Organization, have answered Chip’s call.  For example, Gallup has a simple and focused survey consisting of 12 items that correlate to the most successful business units:

  • Employees know what is expected.
  • They have the basic materials and equipment to do their jobs.
  • Employees have opportunities to do what they do best.
  • They have received recognition and praise for doing good work in the last seven days.
  • A supervisor or someone else at work cares about the employee as a person.
  • Someone at work encourages their development.
  • The employee knows that their opinions seem to count.
  • Employees have a connection between the mission and purpose of the company that makes their work seem important.
  • Their work team is committed to quality work.
  • Employees have a best friend at work.
  • In the past six months, someone has talked to the employee about their progress.
  • In the past year, the employee has had opportunities to learn and grow.

Employee Expectations 

When employees know what is expected and have the basic tools to do their work, feel recognized, cared for, respected, fulfilled, and have opportunities for growth, then they are more likely to enjoy what they do and stick around.

Engaged, happy employees apply themselves more effectively, increasing productivity.

They serve customers better, increasing customer satisfaction and loyalty.  When both employees and customers are happy and loyal, employee turnover goes down, and productivity goes up.  Profits increase.

Since happy employees equal successful business outcomes, what role do you play as their leader?  How do you create the conditions for happiness to occur in your team/organization?  What metrics do you use to evaluate ‘what makes life and work worthwhile’ in those you lead?  How do you make the ‘intangible,’ tangible?

**********

Never miss an issue of Linked 2 Leadership, subscribe today. 
Learn, Grow & Develop Other Leaders™

——————–
Alan Mikolaj is Author and Lecturer at A Travel Guide to Leadership Training
He helps clients become happier, more successful, and to become the better leaders
Email | LinkedIn | Facebook | Twitter | Book | Web

Image Sources: media.photobucket.com

Related articles
Enhanced by Zemanta

Filed under: Leading & Developing Other Leaders, Organizational Health, Practical Steps to Influence, Servant Leadership, Team Building Leadership | 11 Comments »

Labor Day: Loving One’s Job

Posted on August 31, 2011 by Alan Mikolaj

I Love Job

Most of the research and applications on theories of love center around romantic love.  New research shows that when we are passionate about our work, experience a sense of intimacy with the people at work, and are committed to our organization or work group, we love our job.  And that has huge dividends for leaders.

Do you love your job?  How about your employees? 

Choose a job you love, and you will never have to work a day in your life.” ~Confucius

We have all heard the famous quote by Confucius.  But what if there’s more to it than that – simply choosing a job you  love?  Researcher E. Kevin Kelloway, PhD and colleagues report some ground-breaking connections in research between Sternberg’s triangular theory of love and the love of one’s job and happiness.

What they offer could affect the way you look at employee satisfaction, employee engagement, love of the job, and how you lead your team.

On Love and Happiness

Love and work… work and love, that’s all there is.”  ~Sigmund Freud

Our jobs are a central part of our lives and directly influence our happiness and well-being.  Sigmund Freud’s view was  lieben und arbeiten — to love and to work — what a “normal” person should be able to perform well in order to be happy.

Positive psychologists and happiness researchers agree with the basic tent; only adding  the element of ‘health’ to form the well-accepted tripartite understanding of happiness and well-being:  health, love, and work.

In The Optimum Level of Well-Being, eminent happiness researcher, Ed Deiner, PhD, and colleagues report on the work domain that “work dissatisfaction predicted job turnover.”

In a powerful meta-analysis of 225 papers on various outcomes in the domains of work, love, and health,  Sonja Lyubomirsky, PhD of the University of California and colleagues found that, in all three domains, happy people tended to do better on average than unhappy people did in almost every way measured.

When those you lead love their jobs and are happy, it not only helps you with turnover (and other positive outcomes), they will, on average, simply do better in all areas of their lives.  When you help people love their jobs, you help them become happier – and when you help them become happier, you help them become more successful in life.

So, how can we better conceptualize such an enigmatic concept as ’loving one’s job’?

A Triangular Theory of Love

There are three components to love that can be expressed in the form of a triangle:  intimacy, passion, and decision/commitment. ”

Just about anyone who has taken an Introduction to Psychology course has probably heard about Robert Sternberg and his triangular theory of love.  It posits that there are three components to love that can be expressed in the form of a triangle:  intimacy, passion, and decision/commitment.

Any relationship can be described by the depth or intensity of each of the components or three vertices of the triangle.  For example, nonlove or casual day-to-day encounters are low in all three components.  There isn’t much intimacy, passion, or commitment with the sales clerk ringing up the groceries or the barrister at Starbucks.

In 2010, the prolific Canadian researcher, professor, and Canada Research Chair in Occupational Health Psychology at Saint Mary’s University, E. Kevin Kelloway, PhD and colleagues, offered some ground-breaking connections between Sternberg’s triangular theory of love and the love of one’s job and happiness.

DNA of Loving Your Job

Passion for Work

Passion for work is the first vertex.  High passion for work is thought of as the excitement, enthusiasm, and personal rewards and fulfillment from the actual job performed.  It goes beyond job satisfaction – simply being content or satisfied with one’s job.  When passionate about our work, we find our work important.

There is meaning to it and we’re excited and enthusiastic about it.  Therefore, there is an element of longing or desire to do it.  Performing our job feels good.

Healthy Work Relationships

The second vertex of loving one’s job, intimacy, is defined by healthy, high-quality relationships at work.  A powerful aspect of intimacy is that it promotes a desire to enhance someone else’s welfare and well-being.  When that is mutually shared, positive feelings of trust, partnership, and teamwork grow and are reinforced.

As the leader, you set the tone and quality of relationships.

You are looked to for the group rules – what will and won’t be tolerated.

Affective Commitment

Affective commitment is an emotional attachment to, identification with, and involvement in the organization.  You want to be there as opposed to having to be there.  Affectively committed employees have a sense of belonging to the organization – they feel like they are part of the team and make a difference.

Because of this, they are willing to apply themselves toward organizational goals making them valued employees.

You can look at affective committment as employee engagement on steroids.

Dividends of Loving Your Work

But not only is loving your work not frivolous, it actually pays huge dividends in your life.  And many of them aren’t even work-related.” ~Curt Rosengren

When Curt Rosengren wrote  Why Loving Your Work Matters for U.S.News & World Report, he hit the nail on the head.  However, the research teased out some very specific dividends to loving your work:

  • Reduced turnover
  • Increased group cohesion
  • Positive workplace behaviors
  • Better attendance
  • Greater  job performance
  • Boosted productivity
  • Higher well-being/happiness

How do you foster passion for the job with your direct reports?  How do you foster and nurture relationships?  What do you do to increase organizational/affective committment?  If you love (or hate) your job, how do the three vertices of the triangular theory of loving one’s job ring with you?  What examples can you share that demonstrate the triangular theory of loving one’s job?

**********

Never miss an issue of Linked 2 Leadership, subscribe today. 
Learn, Grow & Develop Other Leaders™

——————–
Alan Mikolaj is Author and Lecturer at A Travel Guide to Leadership Training
He helps clients become happier, more successful, and to become the better leaders
Email | LinkedIn | Facebook | Twitter | Book | Web

Image Sources: tommyland

Filed under: Leading & Developing Other Leaders, Organizational Health, Professional Development, Servant Leadership, Team Building Leadership | 6 Comments »

Follow

Get every new post delivered to your Inbox.

Join 38,454 other followers

%d bloggers like this: