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by Mark Heymann, ISHC - UniFocus Chairman & CEO
In fact, have you ever noticed that new employees come to their
first day on the job ready to be engaged? They are enthusiastic and
eager to contribute. They want to learn all they can to fit in and do their
part. But over time, if they have to push through too much organizational mud,
they lose their enthusiasm or give up.
What you're talking about is the special gift good leaders seem to possess. It's difficult to quantify exactly what they
do, but their results suggest that they have unlocked the secret to your engagement question. Here are some
thoughts and observations that may help:
If I asked you what causes you to become wholly invested in something, you'd probably say it has to touch you
personally. You have to care about it. And you don't care about things you don't understand, or in which you don't
have a vested interest.
So, the first step in creating engagement is to discover not only employees' strengths but also their interests. You
need to ask them: "What work did you really enjoy in the last six months?" "What was motivating about that work?"
"What strengths do you enjoy using the most?" "What else would you like to learn?"
In the book "Now, DiscoverYour Strengths", authors Marcus Buckingham & Donald O. Clifton, Ph.D., point out that
when you know your employees' natural motivations and
strengths, you can interlock them into the cogs of the work
wheel. For instance, if one of your employees is a natural
people person, why not find ways to get her out from
behind her desk to work directly with the customers? Most
jobs are pliable enough to shape around the skills and
motivations of the person in them. If the person is not a fit
for the job, the merciful thing to do is help him or her to find
one that does.
Interlocking the team is the next step in engagement. This
is more complex because you are dealing with so many
different personalities and interests. However, if the team
knows what the common goal is, and each of them has
some self-interest in working toward that goal, the wheel
will begin to turn.
This won't happen unless the leader pulls the team
together and creates a sense of team unity. It rarely
happens with only one-on-one communication between
members. Specifically, it means the leader has to make the
goal clear and each person needs to understand how it fits
with his or her own job. It's not enough to have a quarterly
meeting to discuss sales numbers or profit margin. "How does that affect me?" and "How can I affect it?" are
the key questions.
One way to make sure the information is creating engagement is to have a personal dialogue about it. How?
Break the large group up into small huddles and ask each group to generate a question or a comment about
how it affects them or what they could do about it. You will not get the wheel to move until these cogs slip into
place.
People don't become engaged about things they can't influence. That is why I'm amazed that so many
management teams spend all their time in meetings with each other, instead of in meetings problem-solving
with their employees. Then they wonder why management is the only group that seems to care.
Skillful leaders understand the power of involving people in solving problems. When individuals and groups
realize that they truly have influence and authority to make a plan and execute it to reach the goal,
engagement is possible.
Staff meetings of an engaging leader include questions such as, "What do you think we could do about this
problem?" "Why do you think this problem exists?" "What am I doing that is contributing to this problem?"
Success breeds more enthusiasm for engagement. When I work with a team that has broken down, and
they begin to work together to solve a problem, their first joint decision ignites a spark. As they are
empowered to make more decisions that lead to positive outcomes, a flame of success starts to burn. When
the leader gets enthusiastic and recognizes that success, the flame can set the team on fire. Once the team
feels the thrill of full engagement, the leader no longer has to push -- just jump on board and help steer.
Joan Lloyd & Associates specialize in leadership
development, organizational change and teambuilding.
This includes executive coaching, 360-degree feedback
processes, customized keynote presentations &
leadership training, conflict
resolution and retreat
facilitation. Reach her at
(800) 348-1944,
or visit Joan's website,
info@joanlloyd.com
www.JoanLloyd.com
Reprinted from FocusEd, Spring 2004 edition.
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