I think that needs to change. Leaders need to use the “F” word more. Much more.

I used to be afraid of the “F” word until I learned better. Now I find myself using the “F” word whenever I get the chance. Here are four reasons why it’s important for leaders to use the “F” word – feelings – in the workplace (you didn’t really think I was talking about that “F” word, did you?!):

1. It recognizes reality – People don’t check their feelings and emotions at the office door. Every one of your employees is a walking, talking, bundle of thoughts and emotions that affect the way they “show up” at work. Even though every manager in the world wishes that people kept their personal lives at home and didn’t bring their issues to work, that’s just not realistic. Everybody, including you and me, have issues in our lives that affect our work performance. Maybe it’s a sick child, an ailing parent, marital problems, financial pressures, <insert challenge here>, you name it – we all have ups and downs in life. Effective leaders have learned to be emotionally intelligent and understand the need to manage the whole person, not just the faceless/mindless “worker” that shows up to do a job.

2. It builds trust – There is no more important leadership competency than building high-trust relationships. There is very little chance for success in the leader/follower relationship without a solid foundation of trust. One of the core elements of a trustworthy relationship is “connectedness.” People trust you when they know you care about them as individuals and not just workers being paid to do a job. Acknowledging emotions, maintaining open communication, and recognizing/rewarding people for their accomplishments are key behaviors in building trust. You can’t build trust without using the “F” word.

3. It fosters engagement – Research has shown there are 12 primary factors in creating passionate employees at work. By “passionate” I mean engaged employees that are willing to be good corporate citizens, perform at high levels, and devote their discretionary energy to accomplishing their goals and those of the organization. Two of those 12 factors are relationship-focused: connectedness with leader and connectedness with colleagues. Like the theme song from the old TV sitcom “Cheers” says, “You want to go where everybody knows your name.” People need rewarding interpersonal relationships with their coworkers to be fully engaged on the job. Employees also want and need a supportive and personal relationship with their boss. Of course this varies by personality types and other factors, but everyone wants to have a positive and productive relationship with their leader. You have to talk about feelings if you want to have engaged employees.

4. It helps manage stress – People need an appropriate emotional outlet at work to share their concerns and frustrations. There needs to be a “safe zone” where people can voice their feelings without fear of recrimination, and in order for this to be possible, there has to be a high level of trust. Admittedly this can be scary. If there aren’t proper boundaries in place, venting can quickly turn into gossiping, whining, complaining, and general negativity. That’s why I think it’s important for leaders to take charge on this issue and create a culture where their people feel safe in coming to them to share these concerns. People are going to vent about their frustrations whether the leader chooses to be involved or not. Why not be purposeful about creating a system, process, or structure to positively channel these feelings? (Oops, there I go…using the “F” word again.)

The world at work has changed dramatically over the last 25 years. The “F” word used to be off-limits. Everyone understood that a person showed up for work, punched the clock, did their job, punched out, and went home. There was no namby-pamby talk about feelings, engagement, well-being, or happiness at work. You want to be fulfilled? Get a hobby outside of work. That will fulfill you.

Nowadays there is much less separation between a person’s personal life and work life. Technology has blurred the boundaries between those areas and it’s created new dynamics in the workplace to which leaders have to adapt. Whether you like it or not, leaders have to know how to deal with feelings in the workplace. Get used to it, you’re going to have start using the “F” word more. Much more.

Randy Conley is the Trust Practice Leader at The Ken Blanchard Companies and his LeaderChat posts appear the last Thursday of every month. For more insights on trust and leadership, visit Randy at his Leading with Trust blog or follow him on Twitter @RandyConley.

Granted, out of 7 billion people in the world, the odds of you being the absolute best at a particular something or other is pretty remote. But the point of the question is more general. What is it that you do really well? Probably better than most people you know? Knowing the answer to that question can help unlock levels of job satisfaction and engagement that you didn’t know existed.

Here are three steps you can take to understand the unique value you bring to your work and how you can stand out from the crowd.

1. Identify your strengths. Sounds pretty basic, huh? Well, it is pretty basic, but believe it or not, many people don’t have a good understanding of their strengths, weaknesses, or personality traits that help or hinder their success. Assessments such as the DISC, MBTI, Strengths Finder, or Marcus Buckingham’s newest StandOut survey can give you insight into what motivates you or how your personality preferences shape the way you perceive work experiences and “show up” to other people.

2. Understand the type of work or circumstances that best leverage your strengths and personality traits. One of my first “real” jobs was working for a popular Southern California fast food chain. I lasted one shift. The reason? My supervisor drilled into me the importance of following all the rules to the letter and corrected me whenever I deviated from them, yet he would go into the back of the kitchen and smoke a cigarette whenever he wanted (clearly in violation of the rules). I knew that I would never be happy working for a boss who didn’t display integrity in his actions. For me to be at my best, I need to be surrounded by people who have honorable values and strive to live up to those values.

One way to identify situations where you’ll thrive is to make a list of all the times where you’ve felt “in the flow” – those instances where you’ve been so absorbed in your work that you’ve lost track of time. What are the commonalities among those experiences? It might take a little digging and analysis, but you can probably find some themes running through those experiences. Perhaps it’s the type of people you worked with. Or maybe there was an element of problem-solving involved. Maybe it was the opportunity for you to use certain skills, like writing, teaching, or public speaking. Whatever the theme may be, it’s a clue to what really engages you and prepares you to take step #3 below.

3. Intentionally seek your “sweet spot.” Your “sweet spot” is that place where you find fulfillment in your work. You have two basic choices when it comes to identifying your sweet spot. The first is to leave it up to chance. You can hope that you stumble upon the type of job that is a good match for your personality and skills. Not a good option. The second choice is to actively look for situations that are a good match for what you bring to the table. Take what you’ve learned in steps 1 and 2 and apply it to your current situation. If you’re in a job that’s a complete mismatch for your personality and strengths, begin to put a plan together for how you can transition to something more in alignment with your natural gifts. If you’re in a job you like, but need a little more pizzazz in your work, map out new projects, tasks, or areas of responsibility that could benefit from the application of your strengths.

Discovering your strengths and learning how to use them in combination with your personality traits is an evolutionary journey. It doesn’t happen overnight and sometimes there is a lot of trial and error involved. However, taking a purposeful and introspective look into yourself and following these three steps can put you on the path toward finding a higher level of fulfillment and success in your work.

Randy Conley is the Trust Practice Leader at The Ken Blanchard Companies and his LeaderChat posts appear the last Thursday of every month. For more insights on trust and leadership, visit Randy at his Leading with Trust blog or follow him on Twitter @RandyConley.

Rediscover your passion

Just about everyone has had a motivating work experience sometime in their lives.  (If you haven’t, give me a call and we’ll talk.)  For many of us though, that experience may have occurred long ago in the past.  Your first task to jump start your work environment is to rediscover that passion. When was the last time you truly loved a job? Make sure it’s a real example.

The reason I’m asking for a specific example is because I want to find a time when you actually experienced the environment you’d like to recreate.  Your past behavior is the best predictor of your future behavior.  If you want to know what would create an engaging environment now, identify a time when you were engaged in the past.

Now, here’s the second part.  What was it about that job that made it so great?  Be a good detective.  Don’t overlook any clue.  (Here are a couple of possibilities I’ve heard from others if you’re having trouble identifying your personal motivators off of the top of your head.)

1. My boss cared about me as a person
2. My colleagues cared about me.
3. The work was very meaningful
4. It was a fun, collaborative environment.
5. I had a lot of freedom and authority in how I did my work.
6. The work was varied and interesting.
7. I had a clear sense of what I was trying to do.
8. I was growing and learning a lot.
9. I felt involved and in the know.

Develop a plan

Now that you’ve got some data, it’s time to take some action.  What can you do to build those components into your current job?  Two cautions; don’t look outside yourself and don’t focus on what you don’t have.  You are looking to re-engage yourself—not discover what is wrong with your present environment or what others should do.

Instead, think of ways that you can build more connectedness, growth, meaning, and involvement into your present job.

Work the plan

Your last step is to take some action this week.  What can you do to reconnect with your boss or colleagues?  How can you rediscover the meaning in your work?  What steps can you take to provide some growth and variety in your work environment?

Happiness is a discipline

Taking action is one of the great antidotes for worry—and taking action in a positive direction is especially beneficial.  (Don’t you feel a little boost already—just thinking about it?)

Shake the rust off of your positive attitude.  Send yourself in the direction you want to go.

The three men are all doing the same work, but each with a different perception of its relative worth. Which man do you suppose is coming to work happier and more engaged?

The first man sees his work as a job, the second man sees his work as a task, but it’s the third man who sees his work as a worthy calling, because he is clear about the bigger picture and how his work connects and adds value.

And it is that man who, according to Blanchard employee work passion research, has more positive intentions about

• performing at an above-average level
• being a good organizational citizen
• using more discretionary effort on behalf of the organization
• remaining with the organization
• endorsing the organization and its leadership to others

In a new monthly column for Fast Company, Scott and Ken Blanchard look at the power of meaningful work and alignment. For leaders looking to rekindle a “cathedral” point of view in their people they suggest:

• First, remember why you got into business in the first place. Without an occasional reminder, sometimes it really can seem like the only reason the organization exists is to make money for shareholders.
• Second, connect the dots between an individual’s work and the organization’s overall goals. Make sure that individual tasks and roles are aligned to current initiatives by regularly reviewing what people are working on and how it is contributing to overall performance.

Helping people see and understand the meaningfulness of their work is one of the most powerful things you can do to create strong and powerfully motivated employees. To learn more about creating a sense of meaningful work in your organization, check out Scott and Ken’s new column at Fast Company here.  To learn more about Blanchard’s research into employee work passion, follow this link to Employee Passion: The New Rules of Engagement or From Engagement to Employee Work Passion: A Deeper Understanding of the Employee Work Passion Framework

Each year, the Super Bowl gives sports fans everywhere a chance to experience the process that employees go through when they are identifying whether a particular company is a good place to work or not.  That’s because most people, unless they happen to live in one of the two competing team’s home cities, have a decision to make.  Who to root for? 

Because most of the people who are watching the game are not necessarily fans of either team before the broadcast, people have to evaluate the environment, compare it against their beliefs and past experiences, and then make an emotional decision that wraps it all up.  For example:

• Big Ben and I both graduated from Miami of Ohio
• Because Mrs. Shumate, my second grade teacher liked the Packers
• Because Pittsburgh’s minor league baseball team plays here in Bradenton
• Because my daughter lives in Pittsburgh
• Because Packers are in same division as my team

And so everyone has to decide which team they’re going to root for. It’s the same process when an employee looks at a new work environment and decides whether it is a good place to work or not.  For example, at work, people look at a variety of different factors in deciding whether a particular company is a good fit for them including:

• Pay and benefits
• Growth opportunities
• Culture

It will typically be a combination factors, some logical and some emotional, but always individual and personalized because each individual looks at their work environment differently and makes a decision based on their own experiences.  What is motivating for one employee is not the same for another.

So what’s a manager to do? 

1. First, recognize that everyone is different.
2. Have conversations with your people.
3. Ask them what motivates them and what creates a personally engaging work environment.

You’ll find out that the answers are as diverse as the reasons people have for choosing which team to root for.

To learn more about the process that people go through in determining whether a particular work environment is engaging or not, check out the white paper, From Engagement to Work Passion.  It will show you eight of the factors that people typically look at and the process they use in deciding.

“Our study shows that emotion suppression takes a toll on people,” said Dr. Daniel Beal, assistant professor of psychology at Rice University and co-author of the study.

“It takes energy to suppress emotions, so it’s not surprising that workers who must remain neutral are often more rundown or show greater levels of burnout. The more energy you spend controlling your emotions, the less energy you have to devote to the task at hand.”

The research also found that customers who interacted with a neutrally expressive employee were in less-positive moods and, in turn, gave lower ratings of service quality and held less-positive attitudes toward that employee’s organization.

Are You Trying to Be Neutral?

What’s the culture like in your organization and what is your role in influencing it in a positive or negative direction.  Sometimes employees want to stand outside of the fray, not getting involved. Their attitude is that they are neutral—neither acting in a positive or negative manner. But what type of signal does “being neutral” really send to fellow employees? 

This research shows that being neutral is actually perceived as being negative. Take a more proactive approach to influencing the culture in your organization. Every person who joins a company, department, or team changes the personality mix. Don’t buy into the myth of neutral. Instead, actively promote a positive mood! 

To read the entire article, Neutral Disposition at Work May Take Toll, check it out here at PsychCentral.

For many leaders, the first inclination is to think about what can be done on a corporate-wide basis. But this would be a step in the wrong direction. According to research from The Ken Blanchard Companies, employee engagement is a personal affair and people see their environment differently—even when they are experiencing the same thing.

Here’s an example:  All employees want a collaborative work environment to some degree.  But the degree of contact that satisfies that need varies widely from person to person.  For some employees, meeting on a quarterly basis feels like the right amount of interaction.  For others, anything less than daily interaction can feel isolating. 

How can you find out the right amount of collaboration your employees need to help feel connected?  Ask them.  Encourage your managers and supervisors to include a question about collaboration, or growth, or any other problem area that has come up on your survey in their next one-on-one conversation.  Adding an employee engagement question or two into the discussion is a great way for managers to discover the diversity of experience among their direct reports and also begin to open the door for strategies that can help to improve each employee’s work environment going forward.

PS: To learn more about the Blanchard approach to improving employee engagement in your organization, check out the white papers Employee Passion: The New Rules of Engagement and From Engagement to Employee Work Passion. They can help to shed some additional light on the individual appraisal process all employees go through and also show you some of the areas to focus on.

“There is more engagement level variation within companies, than between companies.”

This fact has largely been forgotten as leaders, consultants, and practitioners have focused more on measuring against industry benchmarks than on practical ways to create an engaging, high-performing work environment.

What Gallup found that bears repeating is that within any organization there are tremendous differences in the way people are experiencing their work environment.  Some units in any organization will rank as best-in-class examples of high engagement, while other units within the same organization will rank among the lowest. 

While identifying an engagement score at an organizational level is a good place to start, it is important to go beyond that initial number and look at what is happening within the organization at a department and individual level.  That is where the richness and opportunity for change will be found.  A systemic approach has a lot of merit for large organizational issues, but do not let that blind you to everything that can be accomplished at a department and individual level.

Systemically—senior leaders should focus on the areas that must be addressed organization-wide.  These will usually be issues related to fairness (such as compensation and benefits) or growth (job opportunities and career advancement).  What can be done at an organizational level to make sure that the company is treating employees fairly in both of these key areas?

Department level—unit leaders and managers should look at how they are implementing organizational objectives within their separate units.  What type of sub-culture is being created?  Also what can be done at a local level to connect employees to meaningful work, creating a collaborative work environment, or providing feedback and recognition? 

Individual level—individual employees should look at their current work environment and ask, “To what degree am I engaged at work?”  “What would create a more engaging work environment for me?” (For eight key components check out Employee Passion: The New Rules of Engagement.)

Everyone within an organization has a role in creating a high-performing, passionate work environment.  Senior leaders, mid-level managers, and front line supervisors shouldn’t get caught in the trap of averages.  Instead, think at a more local level when it comes to engagement. People are all experiencing the organization uniquely.  Find out what that individual experience is and how you can help.  And for senior leaders, check out Marcus Buckingham’s original piece on this concept from Fast Company —and be sure to check the date of publication.  I think you’ll see that we might have overlooked something important.

But do high employee engagement levels translate into better bottom line performance?  Not necessarily.  There is one additional component that has to be in place in order to drive bottom line impact.

Gallup was among the first organizations to discover this when they took a deeper dive into their engagement research.  One of the surprising discoveries they made early on was that work groups with the highest employee engagement scores didn’t always outperform those with average engagement scores.  In taking a closer look, they discovered that in addition to high levels of employee engagement, organizations also needed to create a high level of customer engagement.  It was only when work groups scored high in both of these areas—meeting the needs of both employees and customers—that companies saw the big jump in performance they were looking for. Be sure to read How Employee and Customer Engagement Interact to learn more about this important finding.

What This Means for Leaders

When beginning an employee engagement initiative, remember that the reason for taking care of employees is so they can, in turn, take care of customers. When employee engagement becomes the end and the means, the result might be a happier organization, but not one that necessarily creates the higher levels of customer devotion that drives bottom line profits.

For best results, leaders need to maintain a dual focus on meeting the needs of employees and customers.  It’s a two-step approach that will generate the results organizations are looking for.

PS: Interested in learning more about the relationship between leadership practices, employee work passion, and customer devotion?  Be sure to check out the Blanchard white paper, The Leadership-Profit Chain, which takes a more in-depth look at how strategic and operational leadership behaviors impact bottom-line results.

Take, for example, the idea of Connectedness with Colleagues, one of twelve factors identified in the research as contributing to a motivating work environment.  For some team members, sharing updates on a monthly basis meets their needs for feeling informed and in the loop.  For others, meeting anything less than once a day leaves them feeling isolated.  If a group has a team norm of meeting once a week—a pretty standard practice—how do people from each camp feel about the team’s performance in staying connected?  Chances are that members of the first group feel that that the team is excellent at connectedness because it communicates four times more than they personally feel is necessary, while members from the second group rate the team low on this aspect because it only meets once a week, which is less than what they are expecting.

So how does a leader deal with all of the different expectations that people have in the workplace?  The answer is to see colleagues and direct reports as distinct, individual people with different needs and expectations.  Here are three tips for getting started:

1. Recognize that people have different needs, desires, and expectations.  There is a tendency to believe that everyone perceives the environment the same and has the same needs and desires.  The reality is that each of us sees things differently based on our beliefs and past experiences. 
2. Explore these differences.  Build some time into your next one-on-one discussion to discover the degree to which your people are personally experiencing growth, autonomy, connectedness, and collaboration in the organization.  For team members, include an agenda item to discuss these elements of an engaging workplace at an upcoming meeting.
3. Look for early wins.  While some factors will be best addressed at an organizational level, there are still many factors that can be addressed locally inside of a department or team.  Identify what those factors are and how they can be addressed.

Employee engagement is a hot topic these days and there are a lot of ways to approach it.  For leaders looking at improving overall engagement in their organizations, it’s important to keep in mind that the process is also intensely personal.  To learn more about the Blanchard research on this topic, be sure to check out Employee Work Passion: A New Look at Engagement in this month’s Chief Learning Officer magazine.

Sometimes organizations operate as though they’ve forgotten the human element of business, and that people have strong feelings about the way they are treated that translates into subsequent behavior. Zigarmi and Blanchard remind us that leaders need to see employees as more than just assets to be maximized.

5 Recommended Leadership Behaviors

For leaders looking to treat people right and provide employees with the direction and support they need to succeed, here are five ways the authors recommend getting started:

1. Provide strong strategic leadership that includes setting an overall vision for the organization, coordinating the efforts of employees toward that purpose, and keeping them prepared to adapt to changing conditions as necessary.
2. Identify and focus the organization on key strategic imperatives that have purpose for the customer or meaning for the greater community. People want to be a part of something bigger than themselves.
3. Send consistent messages based on a clear vision and the type of culture the organization wants to create. Behaviorally define the values that guide the way employees interact with customers and each other.
4. Identify employee needs and strive to meet them. Day-to-day leadership is the linchpin that drives the ways that employees engage with clients.
5. Don’t make profit your only goal. Profit is a byproduct of serving the customer, which can only be achieved by serving the employee. Don’t fall into a trap of thinking that an organization can’t focus on both people and results. Organizations can focus on both at the same time and should.

If leaders create the right environment and engage in the right behaviors, employees will give their best to the organization. This leads to a greater sense of excitement and passion at work that leads to better customer service and retention.

You can access the full text of The Leadership-Profit Chain article here.  Also be sure to check out the Key Factors Influencing Employee Passion which identifies 12 components of an engaging work environment.

Most leaders believe that focusing on people versus focusing on performance is an either/or decision.  The belief is that you can’t have both.  Still for some reason, Southwest and WD-40 have been able to pull it off.  They have been able to create a caring culture and industry leading results year after year.  How are they able to strike this perfect balance?  It all begins in an important two foot space within each organization—the distance between managers and their direct reports.  By holding their managers accountable for creating an environment that features equal amounts of trust, respect, and accountability, they are able to drive results and create an environment where people feel proud and cared for. 

Would you like to build some of that same spirit into your organization?  Here are three tips for getting started.

Take the time to connect.  Find out a little bit more about your direct reports.  Share a little bit more about yourself.  Create a people-based connection.

Demonstrate trust.  Trust is an important component in any relationship.  Cultivate trust by being transparent in your thinking.  Demonstrate trust by doing what you say you’ll do.  Show that you are consistent and can be relied upon.

Have high expectations.  Expect a lot from your people and encourage them to expect a lot from you in return.  Once you’ve set up a foundation of trust and respect you have the ability to ask for more from your employees and to hold them accountable for delivering on it.

Too many organizations today act as if the human element is unimportant.  Leaders and managers don’t take the time to build connections or demonstrate trust.  But this short-cut comes back to haunt them when it’s time to set goals and hold people accountable for achieving them.  Without a relationship in place, it’s hard to ask people to give their best—and even more difficult to have a conversation when performance comes up short.  Don’t let this happen in your organization.  Follow the example set by great companies like Southwest Airlines and WD-40.  Practice trust and respect-based relationships that get results and creates a winning, people-based spirit.

The article focused on a concept that Ben Zander, the highly regarded conductor of the Boston Philharmonic Orchestra shared with our company a couple of years ago. Ben had spoken at our annual Week of Excellence all-company meeting and encouraged all of us to replace “downward spiral thinking” with “possibility thinking” instead.  Ben also cautioned us not to fall into the trap of thinking that leadership is just for those people at the top of the organization.  For an organization to truly move forward together, everyone has to be involved and feel that they play a role. 

To illustrate his point, Ben told the story of an accomplished cellist in his own orchestra who was disappointed when she found herself ranked as the 11th cellist among the twelve seats available.  It was the kind of position where it would be easy to get lost and feel insignificant.  Zander knew it was important not to let that happen and so he made a special effort to reach out to this woman. At Ben’s urging, she eventually volunteered an idea of how to play a certain section of a symphony the orchestra was scheduled to perform. 

“From then on,” he continued, “this cellist who sat in the 11th seat played like a completely different person.”  Instead of just being technically correct, her playing took on an added dimension that she hadn’t displayed before.  When Ben asked her about this, she explained that ever since that night when she first saw the possibility that she could influence the orchestra from her modest position in the 11th chair, she felt like she had been leading the orchestra every night since then. 

Would that type of attitude be helpful in your organization?  Is your company encouraging people to seek out and lead from their position in the company?  If not, you’re missing a great opportunity for innovation, alignment, and passion.  No matter where we sit in the organization, we all have an opportunity to contribute.

In his book, Punished By Rewards: The Trouble with Gold Stars, Incentive Plans, A’s, Praise, and Other Bribes author Alfie Kohn points out that when reward and recognition is conditionally based, it can actually undermine performance by: 

• Setting up a competitive atmosphere where some people win while other people lose 
• Discouraging risk taking when employees fall back on what has worked in the past instead of trying new things which may or may not work 
• Eroding natural interest by replacing intrinsic motivators with extrinsic ones

Perhaps most importantly, improper use of rewards and incentives can sometimes get in the way of good management.  This happens when managers rely to heavily on the use of rewards and incentives instead of drilling down on the reasons why employees may not be performing up to level. 

For organizations looking to improve the creativity, innovation, risk-taking and intrinsic motivation of their employees, Kohn recommends that leaders focus on three areas: 

1. Rethink financial incentives.  Instead of putting so much emphasis on pay-for-performance, pay people a little more than industry norms and then do everything in your power to help them put money out of their minds. 
2. Reevaluate evaluation. Make performance evaluation an ongoing process instead of a once-per-year event.  Make sure that it is a two-way conversation that is separate from conversations about compensation. 
3. Create the conditions for authentic motivation.  Kohn recommends focusing on collaboration—helping employees work together, content—design meaningful jobs and help people find the value in their work, and choice—wherever possible, give people the opportunity to determine how the task will be accomplished.

Kohn is a provocative thinker in this area. For leaders looking for the complete picture on the use of rewards and recognition in their organizations, he offers a great alternative viewpoint on the use of incentives.  I highly recommend him to you and invite your thoughts and comments here.

This finding is based on survey data gathered from 520 business organizations in 17 countries designed to test if a CEO’s primary focus on profit maximization resulted in employees developing negative feelings toward the organization. The result? Employees in these companies tend to perceive the CEO as autocratic and focused on the short term, and they report being somewhat less willing to sacrifice for the company. Corporate performance is poorer as a result. 

But when the CEO makes it a priority to balance the concerns of customers, employees, and the community while also taking environmental impact into account, employees perceive him or her as visionary and participatory. And they report being more willing to exert extra effort, and corporate results improve. 

These results aren’t surprising. When the definition of leadership focuses only on profit what tends to fall by the wayside is the condition of the human organization. Leaders wrongly believe that they can’t focus on both at the same time. 

Nothing could be further from the truth.  As this research points out, organizations perform best when they balance financial goals with respect, care, and fairness for the well-being of everyone involved. 

The Four Keys to Better Leadership 

In looking at all of the great organizations that The Ken Blanchard Companies has worked with over the years, we have found one thing that sets these organizations apart from average organizations. The defining characteristic is leaders who maintain an equal focus on both results and people. In these organizations, leaders measure their success with people (customers and employees) as much as they measure their financial performance. 

In these organizations, leaders do four things well. 

1. They set their sights on the right target and vision. Great organizations focus on three bottom lines instead of just one. In addition to financial success, leaders at great organizations know that measuring their success with people–both customers and employees–is just as important as measuring the success of their financial bottom line. In these organizations, developing loyal customers and engaged employees are considered equal to good financial performance. Leaders at these companies know that in order to succeed they must create a motivating environment for employees, which results in better customer service, which leads to higher profits. 
2. They treat their customers right. To keep your customers today, you can’t be content just to satisfy them. Instead, you have to create raving fans–customers who are so excited about the way you treat them that they want to tell everyone about you. Companies that create raving fans routinely do the unexpected on behalf of their customers, and then enjoy the growth generated by customers bragging about them to prospective clients. 
3. They treat their people right. Without committed and empowered employees, you can never provide good service. You can’t treat your people poorly and expect them to treat your customers well. Treating your people right begins with good performance planning that gets things going in the right direction by letting direct reports know what they will be held accountable for–goals–and what good behavior looks like–performance standards. It continues with managers who provide the right amount of direction and support that each individual employee needs in order to achieve those goals and performance standards. 
4. They turn the organizational chart upside down. The most effective leaders realize that leadership is not about them and that they are only as good as the people they lead. These leaders seek to be serving leaders instead of self-serving leaders. In this model, once a vision has been set, leaders move themselves to the bottom of the hierarchy, acting as a cheerleader, supporter, and encourager to the people who report to them. 

The way to maximize your results as a leader is to have high expectations for both results and relationships. If leaders take care of the people who take care of their customers, profits and financial strength will follow. The result is an organization where people and profits both grow and thrive.

The 2009/2010 U.S. Strategic Rewards Survey by Watson Wyatt and WorldatWork found that “employee-engagement levels for all workers at the surveyed companies dropped 9 percent since last year — but the number was nearly 25 percent for top performers.”

In addition, “more than one-third (36 percent) of top performers said their employers’ situation had worsened during the past 12 months and the percentage who would recommend others accept jobs at their companies had declined by nearly 20 percent.”

Although HR leaders may be limited in what they can do financially, the article recommends getting creative in looking at other ways to help high performers feel valued.  While money is important, and high performers need to feel that they are being treated fairly in this area, there are other factors to consider including reward, recognition, and growth opportunities.

Ryan Johnson, vice president of research at Scottsdale, Ariz.-based WorldatWork, says that “one of the easiest things to do in an environment like this is to sit down with someone and have a discussion about their career development and where they’re headed in the organization.”

Johnson also suggests that, “simply letting high performers know that their performance is recognized and that they’re important to the company can be motivating.”

For more ideas on how you can let your high performers know that you care about them during tough economic times, be sure to check out the entire article.  For more information on other factors that lead to increased levels of engagement, also take a look at Employee Passion: The New Rules of Engagement on The Ken Blanchard Companies website.  Both of these resources can help you identify ways to build (or rebuild) engagement levels in your organization.

Silverthorne also reports that 27% of middle managers find their current roles less meaningful and exciting than before the economic crisis, according to a recent McKinsey poll.  The main reasons according to Silverthorne? 

• Job Insecurity. Middle managers don’t have the job security they need to perform at a high level.
• Kill the Messenger. When there are layoffs to be done, middle managers more than any other supervisor class are the ones who deliver the message to those being let go.
• Career Interrupted. Middle managers now have fewer opportunities at work to be promoted.
• Pay Squeeze. At home, middle managers are under mounting financial pressure as their employers scale back on pay raises.

These situations can take an emotional toll on your managers.  Job security, maintaining a connection with people, and growth opportunities are important needs that all employees have.  (To see other needs, check out Eight Employee Needs You Must Address to Create Passion at Work).

How are your managers holding up?  This might be a good time to check in with them.

The problem, according to Ridge, is that most performance systems are used for the wrong reasons. They are either arbitrary, only done out of habit, or they are used to document evidence to fire someone. 

Instead, Ridge thinks that performance reviews should be used to develop people. It’s a philosophy he calls “Don’t mark my paper—help me get an “A” and it‘s a key concept in a new book he has coauthored together with Ken Blanchard called Helping People Win at Work. 

Helping People Win at Work is the first in a new series of books written by real-life CEOs describing how they have put the concept of “leading at a higher level” into practice in their organizations. 

For Garry Ridge that means having managers at WD-40 working together with their direct reports on Planning, Execution, Review and Learning. 

• Planning is all about setting goals and establishing the report card for the employee’s “final exam.”  It’s making sure that every employee knows exactly what he or she is being asked to do.
• Execution is where the manager has to keep up his or her end of the partnership relationship on a day-to-day basis, helping and coaching the employee to get an “A.”
• Review and Learning is a quarterly evaluation designed to answer the questions, “What did we set out to do? What actually happened? What should we do differently?”

 You can find out more about the concepts of Helping People Win at Work (including free access to the first chapter) by visiting the Blanchard website . You can also learn more by checking out an online interview with Dan Schawbel where Ken Blanchard discusses the book.

We found out something really interesting to keep in mind as organization’s look at ways to create a more motivating environment for their employees.  It’s not necessarily what’s happening in the work environment that you need to focus on.  It’s how individual employees perceive it.

Let me give you an example.  Recognition is one of the eight factors that we have identified as a component of a motivating work environment.  (It’s also ranked notoriously low in the surveys we’ve conducted.)  How would you go about meeting the recognition needs of the people in your organization? 

You might decide the answer was to create some sort of company-wide recognition process culminating in an employee of the month award. You implement the program, but are later disappointed when you find out that the Recognition scores on the latest employee satisfaction survey haven’t budged at all. 

The problem? Recognition means different things to different people.  For some people, recognition means choice assignments, extra compensation, or maybe a small perk like movie tickets.  For others it just means some heartfelt thanks from an immediate supervisor for a job well done.

The same holds true for all of the eight factors, which in addition to Recognition include Meaningful Work, Autonomy, Collaboration, Connectedness to Colleagues and Leaders, Fairness, and Career Growth. 

As you think about ways to create a motivating work environment, don’t forget that the best approach is an individual approach. Make sure that any new policies, procedures, and strategies are the things that people really want. 

Their response?  Focus on your people first. 

52% said addressing employee motivation needs should be the first order of business, followed by customer needs (14%), and then financials (12%). 

How does this stack up with your priorities during these trying economic times? It’s important to have a strong strategic focus on financials when money is tight, but make sure that you are also paying attention to employee needs.  After all, you need their best ideas and their best work now, more than ever.

Great organizations know that focusing on people—both customers and employees—is just as important as measuring the success of the bottom line.

Are you taking care of the people who take care of your customers?

That’s part of what I found out after finishing an interview with Chris Edmonds, a senior consulting partner here at The Ken Blanchard Companies. My interview with Chris will be featured in next week’s issue of Ignite!, our monthly e-newsletter and Chris will also be our featured presenter for an April 14 webinar on Revitalizing the Downsized Organization.   Both of these resources are free and you can find out more by clicking on the links above.  If you haven’t had a chance to hear Chris speak, here are a few of the ideas that Chris will be sharing: 

• Most leaders are more comfortable managing metrics like productivity but may not be as comfortable having the type of wide-open conversations about issues that you have to have if you are going to build the passion and commitment you need to move forward in trying times.  And because leaders don’t take the time to stop and get everyone involved, you can end up making a stupid short term decision that may look really good right now, but a month from now, or six months from now, continues to have really negative impact on your business.
• You want your people to be passionate and engaged in the work that they are doing. And you are only going to get the discretionary energy of your people is when they are feeling trusted and respected as a valued partner and stakeholder in the way that the business operates.   
• It’s the secret behind organizations like Southwest Airlines where even when times are tough they don’t have folks leaving, demonstrating, or picketing.  Instead, they’ve got folks constantly meeting together about how they can help the organization get through this economy.  It is a great example of how overall employee commitment and demonstrated discretionary energy is driven by clear communication of what is happening, open involvement in trying to influence the decisions that are being made, and what can happen when people are consistently cared for as a vital asset.

That’s what we found out in our new white paper From Engagement to Work Passion which takes a further look at the concept of employee passion.  This is a continuation of our research which identified eight basic components that all employees need in order to feel valued, focused, and productive at work.

Overall Sample—Aggregate Results

(1,212 responses, six-point scale with 6 representing “present to the fullest extent”)

1. Meaningful Work                               4.75
2. Autonomy                                         4.50
3. Collaboration                                     4.06
4. Connectedness to Colleagues            4.04
5. Connectedness to Leader                   3.91
6. Fairness                                            3.81
7. Recognition                                       3.74
8. Career Growth                                   3.63

According to the data, Meaningful Work and Autonomy are most present in today’s work environments while Recognition and Career Growth are least present.

You can access the complete report at Blanchard Perspectives and White Papers

A couple of us are doing presentations (including yours truly.)  I’ll be talking about engageable moments and specifically what rank and file employees can do to help maintain commitment and productivity during a down economic cycle.

My focus will be on what each of us can do individually to keep ourselves and others upbeat, focused, and positive.  That’s because all plans, no matter how well thought out, eventually work down to an individual level—to you and me.  And to a large extent, how you and I respond—and act on the initiatives that have been proposed will determine our company’s overall success.

Here’s the three points I’ll be making.  See what you think and how this matches up with your own experience.

Get clear on what you need to do

Today, it is easy to feel overwhelmed by bad economic news, become distracted, and lose focus. There are so many things that each of us want to do, what we need to do, and that the organization wants us to do. You need to sort through these competing priorities to create one list that you can focus on.

Ask for help

Don’t try to go it alone.  You don’t have to, no one expects you to, and it’s not going to generate the best results.  All of us are being asked to stretch ourselves, either in terms of doing more with less, or generating new and innovative ideas to help increase sales. Do you have the information, tools, equipment and resources to get the job done? You need to be able to ask for help.

Cheer each other on

Especially in tough times, we have to make sure that we take the time to pat each other on the back.  And don’t wait for big results before you praise.  Remember to recognize the small stuff too.

It all depends on how you look at it.

Findings from the 2008/2009 WorkUSA Survey Report recommend that employers capitalize on “engageable moments” to increase engagement and productivity.

An engageable moment is a critical juncture for maintaining and building engagement. It might occur during such programs as new employee orientation, feedback during a one-on-one or when the organization goes through particularly challenging economic times.

Let me give you an example.

I had the opportunity to work together with some long time employees in our company on a wonderful project to try and capture the heart and soul of our company.  We asked everyone in the company to contribute a story that best defined our corporate culture.  All of the stories would be compiled into a book that will be distributed at our 30-year anniversary celebration later this week. Over 200 people, out of the 300 who work here, contributed stories.  Do you know what people pointed to time and again as our defining moment?  Our response to 9/11. 

Why?  It was during that difficult time that we best pulled together to achieve a common goal. We have that opportunity again.

You have a choice.  We all have a choice.  How will we enter the day?  How will we respond to the world going on around us?  Will we remain hopeful, optimistic, confident, and resilient when things look tough?

What about you?  What are the strategies that you have in place for yourself to remain strong, confident, and hopeful going forward? 

It is not the events of the day that define us; it is how we react to them.

The most fascinating thing that I found in watching Kitchen Nightmares is all of the different human resource issues that are being addressed.  It’s almost like a series of Harvard business school case studies presented in a fun, entertaining format.  For example, in the first episode Ramsay works with a family-owned Italian restaurant.  The question?  How do you tell the manager of the restaurant, who also happens to be the son’s owner, that he is the biggest problem holding back the business?

In another episode Ramsay works with a downtown Manhattan restaurant that is absolutely filthy.  The problem here?  Apathetic employees and incompetent managers.  Ramsay’s solution?  Fire the general manager and instead turn to the floor manager to run the restaurant while he simultaneously brings in a new chef.

In all of the episodes you have the opportunity to watch a wide variety of real life human resource problems solved on a practical basis.  I was struck by the complicated nature of the problems that each of these businesses faced and how it ultimately fell back to a people problem in all cases.  Certainly, in some of the episodes the issue also turns out to be poor promotion, a too-complicated menu, or an unfocused business plan, but in the end you can always trace the problem back to an individual. An egotistical owner, an incompetent manager, or apathetic employees who just don’t care anymore.  The result?  A poor experience for the customer, and of course, poor results at the cash register.

The series gives you a chance to see the subtle people issues that managers have to deal with on a daily basis and how, if neglected, ultimately cause the business to suffer. 

If you have ever wondered whether good people management matters, tune in. You’ll see real life examples of the difference that good leadership makes. Look for it under popular TV shows at www.hulu.com.