LEADERSHOCK, RULE 6: FOCUS ON YOUR PEOPLE FIRST

The devoutly held belief that customers come first turns out to be one of the most surprising LeaderShock traps. Rule 6 replaces conventional wisdom with this basic premise: Focus on your people before anything else. When you take care of them, they take care of the customers. And when you don’t, they disengage and you’re left with even more pressure on your shoulders. Imagine what would happen if the conductor of a symphony orchestra, in an earnest desire to please the paying public, turned around and conducted the concerto while facing the audience leaving the hard-working musicians to fend for themselves.

This doesn’t suggest that you’re constantly interacting with your people. It doesn’t even mean that you devote most of your time to them. It means that over time the people who work for you become your big-picture priority. They have the highest place of honor reserved on your radar screen.

But how do you make your people a priority when there are so many other things that demand immediate attention? Most leaders fancy the notion of giving more attention to their people but can’t put it into practice. “I’m too buried in other emergencies!” they tell me. My response is always the same, “If you want to get out of LeaderShock, you don’t have time not to do this.” Complex theories abound that instruct leaders how to manage their people. And, since no two people and no two organizations are alike, choosing the right course is complicated. But in the tumultuous realm of LeaderShock simplicity is the name of the game. After sifting through countless leadership ideologies-of-the-month and distilling my own observations, I’ve come to understand something universal and timeless. Great people management boils down to discovering the answers to three potently affirming questions for each employee:

• What do you need?

• What motivates you?

• How can I show you I care?

Understand the unique answers to these questions, then respond to what you learn, and your people will know they come first!

QUESTION NO. 1: WHAT DO YOU NEED?

I believe your job, at its most elemental level, is to figure out what your employees need and then to give it to them. If you’re not sure, ask! Even if you think you’re sure, ask.

Molly, a supervisor at a petrochemical company, is blessed with a talent for getting to the heart of the matter. “The two questions I’m constantly asking my employees are composed of four little words, ‘What do you need?’ and ‘How can I help?’” she says. “I make a deal with my people. I’ll keep asking them what they need as long as they’re prepared to hear ‘No’ when I honestly can’t deliver. I can at least help brainstorm solutions or act as a sounding board to bounce ideas off or provide support.

I don’t solve my employees’ problems, but they know I’m in their corner. Helping my staff is one of the great joys of my job.” Be like Molly and become the department sleuth. Block out an hour on your calendar just like you would for a scheduled meeting. Spend the time with your people asking straightforward and unsophisticated questions, “How’s it going?” “What are you seeing out in the marketplace?” “What are customers saying?” “Are you getting the support you need?” By spending the hour listening to the voice of your people you’ll gain far more valuable information than you would by attending any meeting.

Molly sees herself as an obstacle exterminator. In addition to her direct line of questioning, she relies on creative methods for uncovering employee roadblocks. The first of these is what she calls the Happiness Meter. It requires polling each employee with the question, “On a scale of 1 to 10, if 1 means miserable and 10 means ecstatic, how do you rate yourself right now at work?” Regardless of the answer, she presses for specifics as to what it would take to move a 6 to a 7, or even a 9 to a 10. Molly’s enthusiastic “How can I make you happier today?” is one of the standard queries to her thirty employees. “What do you need?” is your opening, but you need to dig deeper. If employees are your greatest asset, then you’d better understand not only their needs but also what drives them.

QUESTION NO. 2: WHAT MOTIVATES YOU?

Leaders who excel at managing people know that the answer to what motivates human beings cannot be found in a generic laundry list of techniques.

Beware of titles like “Twenty Tips for Motivating Employees.” People aren’t generic. There are huge variations among us: I’ve noticed that many people are motivated by public acknowledgment of their contributions, but at least some feel embarrassed by the attention. Even though most of us feel inspired and invigorated by being part of a harmonious team environment, some prefer to work alone. Although most people are charged up by lots of time and attention from the leader, some don’t like to be singled out. And even though salary and bonus are important, for some, money has little bearing on their level of motivation.

One statement, however, embodies the motivations of every person I’ve ever coached, trained, or managed. It is this: Human beings want to feel worthwhile, valued, and respected. These are universal desires. Convert this understanding into a primary Intention: I intend to figure out what makes each person feel important.

You individualize your interactions according to what makes each person feel good about himself or herself. When you figure out what people most value about themselves, your job is to find ways to value that trait in them, too. Herein lies the key to generating extraordinary motivation. Kathryn, the owner of a West Coast design firm, makes it her goal to bring out the light in everyone, so she motivates her staff with an eye to igniting the spark within. Just as a detective looks for clues to solve a crime, Kathryn looks for clues to unravel the secret of each individual’s unique motivator. “I know that Ali wants to feel competent.” She relates. “His eyes light up whenever I say, ‘Ali, I need your brain on this project.’ or ‘That sure was a smart thing to do!’” Kathryn also knows that Sophie, her staff assistant, feels important when she’s given visibility. That’s why Kathryn looks for every opportunity for Sophie to interface with other managers and why Kathryn has Sophie prepare and deliver the status report at monthly department meetings.

QUESTION NO. 3: HOW CAN I SHOW YOU

I CARE?

In places that range from the dazzling Metronome Ballroom in San Francisco to the headquarters of G.E. Capital in Fairfield, Connecticut, I’ve asked thriving leaders, “How do you show employees you care?” By far the most frequent answer is: Show them appreciation. And in fact, the most exhilarated leaders I know are predisposed to express heartfelt gratitude for something that’s real. Nothing has impact like an immediate and direct statement of appreciation. Some of my favorite examples are shown in the sidebar.

SHOWING YOUR APPRECIATION • Call in an employee just to say thank you; don’t discuss any other issue. • Ask your boss to express appreciation to one of your employees. • Leave a handwritten note to say thank you. In this age of emails and impersonal distribution lists, a handwritten note of appreciation is special.

No employee remembers a bonus from five years ago, but many remember kind words delivered by a leader about a job well done.

I recently attended a luncheon at the home of a client, Deborah, one of the few female members of the executive team of an investment firm. The beneficiary of countless promotions and accolades, Deborah boasts a salary package of well over $500,000 a year. That made it even more surprising when I stumbled across an aged but elegantly framed note card hanging proudly in her den. It read:

Dear Deborah, I’m hearing great things about your efforts. I want you to know how much I value your creativity, attention to detail and hunger for learning. Keep using these strengths and they will serve you well. Thanks for your dedication. Best, Walter Charles, Vice President September 22, 1982

Surely Mr. Charles has long forgotten the minute or two when he scribbled out these words of gratitude. But his appreciation had an inspiring impact. He could not have known that more than twenty years later it would still serve as a treasured memento from a caring leader to a fledgling supervisor and through the years, a reminder to Deborah to do the same for others.

I’d like to share a recent experience to show that Deborah’s story is representative of many. The Breakfast Club is a group of advisers who give feedback on my writing projects. Each of the club’s five members has at least twenty years of leadership experience. At a meeting reviewing early drafts of this chapter all five admitted that they’ve kept every memento of appreciation they received from various bosses through the years. This offers yet another testament to the power of a simple statement of appreciation.

THE GOOD, THE BAD, AND THE UGLY

Alex, the Cleveland office manager of a pharmaceutical company, was grateful for the efforts of his staff. Their annual sales conference, attended by all the big shots from corporate headquarters, had been wildly successful. The morning after the event each employee was given a shiny gold box with a single chocolate truffle inside. The gesture was an effective act of thanks and a rather obvious one at that. What makes Alex so special though, is that he uses appreciation all the time, even when things are falling apart.

For example, not long ago Alex and his people made a major sales pitch. In spite of a week’s worth of arduous preparation their client was unimpressed.

And the harder the team tried, the less enthusiastic the client became. When the disaster was over, Alex called everyone together. “Before we analyze what happened,” he said, “let me tell you how grateful I am for your professionalism and tenacity. I was watching all of you in there. I felt proud of your dedication and valiant attempts to make it work.” Even though Alex’s boss was upset by what happened, Alex‘s appreciation of his people’s performance during the presentation lifted their spirits and diffused his own stress. That’s the personal payoff for appreciation.

And appreciation has an additional payoff.

As leaders, we’re enveloped in a whirlwind of events just passed and new ones impending. It’s easy to fixate on the meeting that didn’t go well yesterday or worry about what might come tomorrow. That fleeting moment between “just passed” and “about to happen” is hard to grasp. By focusing on what there is to appreciate now, even when things aren’t going well, you stand the best chance to be engaged in the moment. And being rooted in the moment is the most productive place for a leader to be.

THE ULTIMATE TESTAMENT TO RULE 6

I looked forward to my interview with Tim, a manager who mystified me. Tim was known for seam lessly achieving great results year after year. I’d met him only briefly at several company retreats, pegging him as a tough, no nonsense kind of guy anything but the stereotypical version of the kindly, warm, appreciative people person. As a result, I couldn’t quite grasp what accounted for the crackling energy of his high-morale team. When we finally got the chance to sit down face to face I asked how he keeps his staff so productive and himself free from the clutches of LeaderShock. I fully expected him to credit his success to a solid business strategy but what he said gave me a new appreciation for the power of Rule 6. His reply: “I pay attention to my staff before anything else.” How? For one thing, he conducts nontraditional manager meetings with his three supervisors every two weeks. “We don’t launch into a review of numbers or clients; we make it a people review. We study each employee’s performance, the successes and struggles both professional and personal and then map out what we need to do to make things better. “I look at it logically.” Tim said. “My employees’ problems are my problems. I have a choice. I can either ignore their needs or help address them.” That’s why Tim can give you a rundown on every one of the forty-two people in his department.

Here’s a bottom-line, results-based leader who knows what priorities his employees are managing, their hobbies, and the names of every one of their kids. And they know about him, too. This nontouchy feely leader’s best business strategy is to have a genuine interest and personal relationship with each of those under his command. Why is it his best strategy? The number one reason people stay in jobs today is the quality of their relationship with their manager. Year after year the data is the same. What pushes people to quit is not their compensation or even the nature of the work but a poor relationship with their boss.

Focusing on your people first is imperative, but focusing on yourself is equally important. And how do you take care of yourself in the era of LeaderShock? The surprising answer lies in Rule 7.

SUMMARY OF RULE SIX LeaderShock Trap No. 6: The Customer Addict To please customers, we give them first priority at the expense of giving time and attention to our employees. Without taking care of our employees first, we’re actually not taking care of the customers. New Intentions • I never take my attention off my people and their problems, both professional and personal. I understand each person has only so much to give, so when I help eliminate people’s problems, they have more to contribute. • I show my people they come first by finding out the answers to three essential questions. • What do you need? • What motivates you? • How can I show you I care? • I translate the answers into concrete objectives for the way I work with them every day.