Boosting Moral

There's no denying that occasional, unexpected rewards from management can really lift a group's spirits. Thoughtful gestures such as a surprise lunch together, tickets for an event that can be shared later with a spouse or a snazzy new espresso machine for the office speak louder than words for saying, "We appreciate you."

When budgets were especially tight this past year, smart companies rewarded heavily burdened employees with bonus paid time off. Whether it was a half day, a full day, or a chance to plan for leaving early on Friday afternoon, these companies showed they really cared about taking the "mean" out of lean times.

But boosting morale in a consistent, meaningful way is a day-in, day-out way of life for businesses who want to retain valuable talent. Here are some best practices from the champions:

• Communicate honestly & clearly about where the company is headed and what management is doing to get there. Give employees a choice of ways to submit questions and give feedback to management. Conduct an employee survey to find out what their current perceptions and concerns are. Address their concerns.
• Don't shy away from difficult conversations. Your silence leaves a void for gossip and (probably inaccurate) speculation, while your straightforward honesty builds trust and credibility. Respond to employee questions, even when you have to admit you don't know the answer or have made a mistake that requires a course correction.
• Show employees how their role fits into the big picture. Connect individual, group and departmental goals to company goals. Connect company goals to the mission and potential to positively impact stakeholders and the industry at large. This underscores daily activities by connecting them to the team's shared effort to achieve outcomes and makes work more meaningful in the process.
• Apply fair, consistent and transparent policies in the workplace. Don't selectively allow certain people to, for example, borrow company equipment for personal use, bring dogs or kids to work, or sidestep dress codes unless everyone can. Have a policy for telecommuting and flexible scheduling that is based on a logical evaluation of roles and tasks, not preferential treatment for individuals. If some employees have earned extra privileges through performance, be sure that the reasons (and the way others can earn the same privileges) are clearly understood.
• Be respectful. By all means acknowledge when an employee has made improvement in an area where they've struggled, but be sensitive to their feelings by giving reinforcement in private when appropriate.
• Show appreciation publicly. Make it a point to praise employees for a job well done in front of their peers and customers, but be sincere or don't bother. Everyone else's baloney-indicator works as well as yours does. And there's no need to limit positive feedback to an employee of the month program. Just as it takes (depending on which marketing expert you listen to) 3 - 7 repetitions for a person to absorb a message or recognize a brand name, it takes multiple messages for employees to really believe that you see and value their contributions. Remember that your frequent, honest praise for a job well done establishes a foundation of respect between you. This is the foundation that will give employees the confidence to feel safe discussing areas where they need improvement.
• Deliver development opportunities. Professional development is a vote of confidence in their abilities and an investment in employees' career progression within your company. They recognize both, and the bonus (beyond improved performance here and now) is that the company will have a healthier internal talent pool to draw from as growth opens up new positions.
• Offer a sense of ownership. Invite employees to make suggestions for better ways to get the work done. Really listen. Then give them responsibility for integrating a good idea or process into the job. Adults appreciate being treated with respect for their abilities and judgment. At the same time, over-extended managers need to strengthen the "delegation muscle." For example, use a performance management and development process that actively involves employees in decisions about enhancing their competencies.
• Allow choice & control when you can. Being micro-managed should be the consequence of a pattern of poor decision-making, not a standard operating procedure. Preferred "best practices" should be established because they are clearly connected to results, not based on one person's whims. Look for opportunities to give employees healthy autonomy over their personal work space and processes, as long as they are not in conflict with company values.
• Align business practices with core values. Really make working at your company something to be proud of. "Walk the talk" is just another way to say "Have integrity." It means that the values your company claims on the company web site or in documents are in fact visible in its actions toward employees, customers and vendors.

Managers and their teams thrive in an atmosphere of mutual respect and trust. An assessment of the entire group provides a team motivators and behaviors report that shows at a glance where the group's strengths and potential lie.

Responding, Not Reacting, To Life

Starting a new job got me thinking about how to deal with major life changes.  When you respond to life, that's positive; when you react to life, that's negative. Example: You get sick and go to the doctor. Chances are good that after an examination, they will give you a prescription with instructions to return in several days.

If, when you walk back in the door, the doctor starts shaking her head and says, "It looks like your body is reacting to the medicine; we're going to have to change it," you probably would get a little nervous.

However, if the doctor smiles and says, "You're looking great! Your body is responding to the medication," you would feel relieved. Yes, responding to life is good.

A few years ago, there was much turmoil in the U.S. job market. People were losing their jobs through downsizing, mergers, and takeovers. This created some unusual opportunities for many people. For example, the Wall Street Journal reported that in a five-year period, more than 15 million new businesses were created, well over half of them by women. Very few of the women had any marketable skills, and all of them had great financial need.

Most of the new businesses were "trust" businesses, meaning that the women collected the money before they delivered the goods or services. Many, possibly most, of those new businesses would never have been started had not an unfortunate event occurred in the people's lives. When those events did occur, and needs became obvious, the women chose to respond, and there is little doubt that many of them are better off now than they were before.

The message is clear: If you respond to life instead of react to it, then you've got a much better chance of achieving success.

The Challenge of Change

The history of Henry Ford and the Model T illustrates a fundamental truth about leadership: leaders never outgrow the need to change.

On his way to dominating the automotive market with the Model T, Henry Ford embodied innovation and progress. By pioneering the assembly line, Ford slashed the amount of time needed to manufacture an automobile. He installed large conveyor belts in his factory, allowing workers to stay in one place rather than roaming around the factory floor. He also shortened the workday of his employees from nine hours to eight hours so that his factories could operate around the clock.

The efficiencies Ford introduced allowed cars to be manufactured at a fraction of their previous costs. In under a decade, automobiles went from being luxuries affordable only to the wealthiest Americans, to being standard possessions of the average American family. Ford profited handily from the popularity of the Model T, and Ford Motor Company grew into an empire.

However, the dominance of Ford Motor Company was short-lived. As competitors changed their operations to copy Ford's concepts mass production, Henry Ford made a tremendous leadership blunder. With cars rolling off assembly lines like never before, consumers began to demand a variety of colors. However, Ford stubbornly refused, uttering the famous line, "The customer can have any color he wants so long as it's black."

In Ford's mind, producing multiple colors was foolhardy since black paint dried the fastest and could be used most efficiently. Amazingly, Ford did not comprehend the human preference for variety. Customers flocked en masse to other producers who catered to their color preferences, and Ford Motor Company never regained its grip on the market.

For so long, Henry Ford had focused on moving from inefficiency to efficiency that he refused to move in the opposite direction - from efficiency to inefficiency - even when doing so would have been wise and profitable. Ford's genius in sparking change had catapulted him to the pinnacle of American commerce, but later, his inability to change cost him dearly.

Issues That Make Change A Challenge

Critics
Along the journey of leadership, you'll meet all sorts of people, and I guarantee you'll bump into a few critics. Early in my career, I didn't know how to handle disapproval, and I bent over backward to keep everyone happy. In spite of my best efforts, I failed. Some of my people still didn't like me.

Trying to appease everybody invites trouble. Appeasers end up being average because they always gravitate to the middle of the road. They're afraid to make waves, and therefore, they avoid changes. My leadership began to take flight when I allowed myself to press people to change - whether they thanked me or cursed me.

People You Have Outgrown
As we climb the levels of leadership, we come to the sad realization that most people aren't committed to personal growth. Friends who once shared our dreams begin to settle for second best. Members of our inner circle quit when the journey gets hard. If we are to change ourselves for the better, then we need to change the company we keep.

Eventually, we must change our relationships by disengaging from the people we've outgrown. Disassociating from colleagues can be especially painful given your history together, the contributions they have made in your life, and your personal feelings toward them. Disengaging is painful because you care about them. It's painful because they may not understand why you've drifted away from them. It's painful all the way around, but remember, unless you are willing to endure these pains, your own growth as a leader will be limited. Leaders only grow to the threshold of their pain.

The Weight of Responsibility
When we're young, leadership has an idealistic appeal. We yearn to be in charge and out front, making the decisions. However, the reality of leadership involves the heavy burden of responsibility. Missteps by a leader can affect people's livelihoods or an organization's sustainability. The fear of getting it wrong can paralyze a leader.

If we, as leaders, want to make significant changes to increase our impact, then we must be willing to shoulder progressively greater loads. Although added responsibility gives us a greater opportunity to exercise leadership, it also magnifies the consequences of our mistakes. To be a change agent, a leader must be willing to take ownership of key projects and pivotal decisions.

Personal Inadequacies
As we grow in our leadership, we advance into uncharted territory - areas beyond our comfort zones. Such occasions give us growing pains by confronting us with our inadequacies. Our wisdom fails to solve a problem, or we stumble into a situation requiring more wisdom than we possess.

Facing our limitations can be daunting. At times, we'd rather stick to familiar roads than blaze a new trail and risk failure. Ultimately, pushing our personal boundaries is the surest way to grow, improve, and expand the scope of our influence.