Consider this data from the Gallup organization. They surveyed around percent of employees who are (1) engaged, (2) not engaged, and (3) actively disengaged. Check the trend since the year 2000:

2000 – 26%/56%/18%

2008 – 29%/51%/20%

2010 – 28%/53%/19%

2011 – 29%/52%/19%

You got it. There is no trend, unless you consider flatlining to be a trend. The economy doesn’t seem to affect the level of engagement of the mass of employees. But we do know what does.

To quote Gallup’s James Harter, “What remains constant is the need to be connected, to a manager, a co-worker and/or a purpose, and also the need to be recognized.”

Yup, you’ve heard it before but it bears repeated repeating. Your engaged employees are those who feel some degree of emotional connection to the work of the enterprise and the outcomes it has for people somewhere on this globe. Furthermore, not only do they need to believe that the work of the organization matters but also they need to see how the job they do is a part of this. In other words that their personal job matters. In other words, that they themselves matter.

So the question for managers is how can we help our employees see a direct line of sight between (1) what they do day in and day out and (2) the ultimate difference made in the lives of others. Work this question. Talk it over in your management meetings and build it into your strategic planning discussions. It is not always obvious.

If your people can’t make out clearly that line of sight, they will remain, at best, marginally engaged and will continue to do “enough” work to retain their employment status and compensation…through booms and busts.

© 2012, Ian Cook. All rights reserved.

Every job has someone relying on the incumbent of the position to do their job well so that the other person can either:

1. benefit or
2. do their own job well.

Your client/customer is either internal or external.You serve (or produce for) the external client or someone who delivers to the external client. This is true whether you operate in the private, public or non profit sector.

This is a powerful concept to help your employees find meaning in their job. Ask them who their customers are. Ask them to whom doing their job well matters. Ask them how doing a good job will matter to these individuals, in other words, what value they add. Invite them to realize this value they add, not necessarily to the huge company company that employs them but rather to real people who depend upon their good performance.

This approach applies particularly to employees who work in the lower levels of the organization, those who work in the back office or on the assembly line or in the warehouse. They need a line of sight between what they do every day–no matter how repetitive and boring it might be–and the impact it has.

Like all of us, when they go home at the end of a work day they need to know that what they did today mattered…to someone.

© 2012, Ian Cook. All rights reserved.

“What if I were to invite him now to draft what he would like his final review to say, the one that will cover his last year of service?”

What an intriguing idea! I mean, we’ve all probably been asked, in some career or life planning exercise, to write out our desired obituary. This is what jumped into my mind when he asked his question.

Now that I’ve shared the idea with you, I’m going to tuck it in the back of my mind to use or suggest in the future.

This final performance review exercise really challenges the employee to make that clear choice about how he wants his ultimate work year to be. He can choose to go out on a high, to enhance the legacy he leaves behind, and give himself something to look back on with pride at his retirement party and in the years beyond.

And, if he elects not to take up my client’s challenge, he will not be able to avoid an awareness that he is making a different choice…to coast, doing the minimal acceptable, into his retirement.

© 2012, Ian Cook. All rights reserved.

Yeah, we’re so busy that we have to work all those extra hours–come in early, or work through lunch, or stay late, or pull a Saturday and/or a Sunday…or all of the above.

Now, I’m not averse to high performing people working long hours. Often the reality is that there is no way you can get everything you need to do done. Too many mandatory meetings. Too frequent interruptions and fires to put out. Just too many tasks to accomplish, even without the interruptions.

I wonder, however, how many managers and employees work long hours because, truth be told, they actually like to? How many get a dopamine shot in their brain when they think of how dedicated and loyal they are, how important their work is (that they have to work extra), how they are a bit of a martyr. Martyrdom can feel really good, ironically.

I recall, when I was the OD manager at Honeywell Canada, working into most every early evening. I felt guilty leaving at 5:00. I felt important staying later, just like those important execs were doing.

If, in fact, we get a subconscious positive rush from exercising our deeply ingrained habits of working long hours, then we have no incentive to become more efficient during 9 to 5. We won’t look to tips and techniques to manage our time and priorities. We won’t build in blocks of time to do serious thinking work. We won’t think twice before calling or attending a meeting.

So, if you manage an employee who exhibits chronic extra hours tendencies, engage him/her in a conversation about how much of that time is necessary and how much is simply due to habit. And if you are that employee, have that same conversation with yourself.

© 2012, Ian Cook. All rights reserved.

“He isn’t an angry person. He means well. It’s just that he’s often sharp with people. And sometimes they take it the wrong way. He’s really a good worker. I’ve told him that people can be intimidated by him, so he knows he sometimes comes across this way.”

But does he really know this? He may acknowledge it in his head but does he recognize it when he is being curt, or better yet, just before he is about to be curt?

All of us, in one way or another, go around on auto-pilot. Certain behaviors we have been doing so long and the neural pathways for them in our brains are carved so deep that we don’t see it. Even if we are looking for it, it’s hard to see in ourselves. So, how do you begin to get an employee who is on auto-pilot to change a behavior that is no longer serving him (or the team) well?

Answer: you help him develop real time awareness by…

• giving him feedback that he behaves this way and how it is damaging his effectiveness
• pointing it out in real time when he does it in your presence (First, get his OK to point it out. In other words to be a mirror for him.)
• watching him in interaction with others and, afterward, letting him know what you observed
• debriefing with him about the reaction of others when he does it with them (What did he notice in them? How does he feel about getting that response? What could he have done differently?)

© 2012, Ian Cook. All rights reserved.

If you look at the circle itself, you will see Reactive structure of mind represented by the lower half of the circle and Creative structure by the upper half.

When leaders operate from the Reactive mind-set they are, of course, able to achieve at least some level of results through their people. The problem is that, as research shows, at some point they hit a ceiling. The behavior that comes with Reactive habits of thought is unable to generate higher performance.

When a manager develops a more Creative set of beliefs and assumptions (mental “operating system”), a hole is blasted in that ceiling and he/she is capable of leading people to significantly greater accomplishments.

In the following video Bob Anderson, Founder of The Leadership Circle and somewhat of a mentor for me, explains the how these dynamics operate in the heads of managers. The 18 minutes of viewing time you invest here will be well worth it.

© 2012, Ian Cook. All rights reserved.

How you choose to deliver feedback on an employee’s performance will have a huge impact on how he/she responds to your message…acceptance, in the spirit of learning, denial, as a victim, or angry counter attack.

How you present to employees a change mandated by you or by upper management will guide whether they come around willingly, begrudgingly, or not at all.

© 2012, Ian Cook. All rights reserved.

We can be:

1. an expert resource who provides information or steps in and solves the problem,
2. more like a doctor who prescribes a solution for the client to follow,
3. or a process consultant who works to get the client to come up with a solution.

The first two approaches are similar and I find they all too frequently represent the default response of managers when asked for help from their employees. Often it is for advice around a technical problem relating to work (e.g. how to go about solving a large machine’s breakdown). More often than not the more experienced boss has a good answer. The problem is that responses #1 & 2 build dependency on the boss and leave the employee feeling “one down,” lower in status to the manager. This mostly happens at a subconscious level. The lectured employee doesn’t consciously think, “Oh what a show off. I feel stupid having him give me the answer.”

When I am coaching a client, I have to be continuously mindful of the temptation to switch too soon from a process consultant role to just telling my client what to do. And when I push my advice or solution, unless my client is truly stuck, I receive back a shot of resentment and resistance from him (her).

My unwelcome advice makes her feel a tad inferior. Not surprisingly, she doesn’t like that feeling. Not a good mindset for your employee to be in if your goal is to help her learn and grow in knowledge, skill, and self-reliance.

© 2012, Ian Cook. All rights reserved.

If you are serious about growing your leadership potential, these are all excellent ideas.

A mentor is like a scalpel, someone with whom you can address specific questions and problems you face.

What George calls a “leadership development group” provides you with an ongoing team of colleagues who will challenge you to risk and grow and hold your feet to the fire, all the while supporting you on your journey. (Note: Check out my Sept. 7/11 post, “Accelerate Your Growth with a Mastermind Group.”)

Civic and charitable organizations are always looking for people to volunteer for leadership roles on their board or on key initiatives. This is a great way to test your mettle at a higher level of responsibility than you may have in your current job. The learning you gain is totally transferrable to your career. Many municipalities and counties have community leadership organizations. For example, I have been active for years in Leadership Fairfax, Inc.

Travel, of course, forces you to deal with diversity and–if you opt to get around on your own, rather than through a charter tour company–function outside your comfort zone.

You don’t have to wait for your next promotion to grow your talents. How about making 2012 a year of continuous personal leadership development going on in the background.

© 2012, Ian Cook. All rights reserved.

People come up with all kinds of descriptors and behaviors of both bosses. But one thing emerges about the best boss ever (BBE). He or she is someone you want to work for…and keep working for.

Furthermore, a BBE is almost always someone that others in the organization would like to work for too. When an internal posting for a position in this manager’s department opens up, many people apply. They know that he/she will inspire them, give them opportunities to do their best work, encourage them, challenge them, and develop them. And that BBE doesn’t take himself/herself too seriously; there’s a refreshing humility present here.

BBE’s are “talent magnets.” I really like that term. I love the visual image of their drawing excellence to them and then of the synergy that results when all that talent starts working together.

But these “best bosses ever” don’t just aggregate talented employees. They nurture and grow the capacity and potential of their people. And, more than is the case with average managers, their people move on and up in the organization to new and greater contributions to the enterprise’s success. In other words, with the most talented employees, a form of reverse polarity at some point takes place.

Alas, methinks I stretch the magnet metaphor a bit too far.

© 2012, Ian Cook. All rights reserved.