We've heard that some companies believe there are more important ways to drive engagement than appreciation. Did you know that the number one driver of engagement is "opportunity and well-being"? But how do you add that? The right question might be.. what creates a sense of "opportunity and well-being"? The answer is appreciation..
Here's an interesting article from Harvard Business dated November 11, 2009 that speaks to engaging hearts through leadership.
On any given Sunday in the NFL, the heart power of the players is at least as important as the brain power of the game plan. On any given workday, the same can be said for businesses. But companies lack confidence when it comes to creating heart power in employees. They're not sure how to do it well. So they concentrate brain power on the game plan of translating top-line dollars into bottom-line profit.
Creating heart power starts with management's style of running the company — how much of the time executives spend leading and how much time managing. Managing has to do with matters of the brain; leading has to do with matters of the heart.
Leading is about making sure, first of all, that the company is engaged in changing people's lives for the better. When that's the case, employees' awareness that they have a lot to do with the company's work lights their fire from within. That inner flame causes them to bring their imagination and creativity to the enterprise. They feel it's "their" company, and they take ownership of the customers.
Most companies do change people's lives for the better, if only in the sense that they pay a good wage, provide opportunities for creativity and betterment, and help workers save for retirement and put their kids through school — in addition to benefiting the community in myriad ways. Other companies, such as the one I work for, go much further. For example, to provide people with a good education, the founders bought a bankrupt college years ago, got it into shape, and donated it to the state — it's now known as Ball State University. A business that is engaged in improving lives is the kind of company people want to sell for.
Another word about heart and leadership: A lot of big companies tell new employees to bring their brains and their effort to work but leave their emotional baggage at home. In essence, they tell them to cut their hearts out and leave them on the doorstep to be reclaimed when they get home. "We have enough problems of our own; we don't need your personal problems here" is an example of a style where the "managing" function dominates.
Other companies, generally small businesses that excel in the "leading" functions, hire the whole person, heart and soul, mind and brain. When problems occur in the home, a company support group forms to help get the employee through the trauma. That generates dedication and loyalty, which rub off on customers. And because the employee's life is changing for the better, he or she makes sure the company's corporate life changes for the better as well. Companies neglect employee heart power at their peril.
Clif Reichard is a sales consultant for Ball Corporation, which he has served for 36 years in capacities including vice president of sales. He is in his 55th year selling rigid packaging substrates. This post is one in an occasional series.
Here's an interesting article from Harvard Business dated November 11, 2009 that speaks to engaging hearts through leadership.
On any given Sunday in the NFL, the heart power of the players is at least as important as the brain power of the game plan. On any given workday, the same can be said for businesses. But companies lack confidence when it comes to creating heart power in employees. They're not sure how to do it well. So they concentrate brain power on the game plan of translating top-line dollars into bottom-line profit.
Creating heart power starts with management's style of running the company — how much of the time executives spend leading and how much time managing. Managing has to do with matters of the brain; leading has to do with matters of the heart.
Leading is about making sure, first of all, that the company is engaged in changing people's lives for the better. When that's the case, employees' awareness that they have a lot to do with the company's work lights their fire from within. That inner flame causes them to bring their imagination and creativity to the enterprise. They feel it's "their" company, and they take ownership of the customers.
Most companies do change people's lives for the better, if only in the sense that they pay a good wage, provide opportunities for creativity and betterment, and help workers save for retirement and put their kids through school — in addition to benefiting the community in myriad ways. Other companies, such as the one I work for, go much further. For example, to provide people with a good education, the founders bought a bankrupt college years ago, got it into shape, and donated it to the state — it's now known as Ball State University. A business that is engaged in improving lives is the kind of company people want to sell for.
Another word about heart and leadership: A lot of big companies tell new employees to bring their brains and their effort to work but leave their emotional baggage at home. In essence, they tell them to cut their hearts out and leave them on the doorstep to be reclaimed when they get home. "We have enough problems of our own; we don't need your personal problems here" is an example of a style where the "managing" function dominates.
Other companies, generally small businesses that excel in the "leading" functions, hire the whole person, heart and soul, mind and brain. When problems occur in the home, a company support group forms to help get the employee through the trauma. That generates dedication and loyalty, which rub off on customers. And because the employee's life is changing for the better, he or she makes sure the company's corporate life changes for the better as well. Companies neglect employee heart power at their peril.
Clif Reichard is a sales consultant for Ball Corporation, which he has served for 36 years in capacities including vice president of sales. He is in his 55th year selling rigid packaging substrates. This post is one in an occasional series.
