Is Democracy The Word Of The Day?

In our last blog, I shared an article on “healthy” debate that Dave and I wrote and posted on the ECI website a couple of years ago. This idea of encouraging open and honest debate within your organization is obviously not new. Many leadership experts will tell you how important it is to creativity, follow-through, ongoing innovation, and, ultimately, your organization’s bottom-line.

In fact, one of my favorite leadership authors, Patrick Lencioni, describes healthy conflict as a key component of gaining buy-in, commitment, and accountability in his book, “The Five Disfunctions of a Team”. Lencioni explains that, without trust in the organization and each other, employees will avoid sharing and discussing ideas for fear of creating conflict. Instead, they create an environment of artificial harmony; where everyone appears to agree with the decisions and actions, but most walk away without feeling heard and without truly committing to the plan.

Last week I read about a local Colorado company, Namasté Solar, which has been named a finalist in Inc. Magazine’s “2011 Top Small Company Workplaces”. It seems that Namasté Solar truly takes the idea of open debate – allowing everyone to be heard and gaining buy-in at all levels – to heart.

The company was founded in 2004 by CEO Blake Jones, Wes Kennedy, and Ray Tuomey. The company was founded on the principals of democracy. As Inc. Magazine shares, “Namasté Solar would be flat, employee owned, transparent, and democratically managed."

The company encourages open debate on any issue or decision that needs to be made, including a recent business/life changing decision regarding a potential buy-out. Because of the company’s business model of “one person, one vote”, employees leave meetings feeling heard, well-informed, and empowered. Even if the vote does not go in their “favor”, employees are willing to buy-in and commit to the decisions made because they know that their concerns and ideas have been considered.

Now, you might be thinking that this kind of democratic business model sounds intriguing but entirely too cumbersome to use in business, especially a very large business. And you may be right. But Namasté Solar has found a way to scale their democratic culture with the growth of their company. Decision-making that started out as consensus from all employees when the company was small, evolved to operating by consent as the company grew. And, now, Namasté Solar has created committees, which any employee can join, to vote on simple day-to-day decisions. Larger decisions that affect all employees are made at bi-monthly company-wide meetings.

This type of democratic business model and culture might not be appropriate for every organization. But Namasté Solar has certainly shown that it can be successful in the right environment, if implemented correctly and diligently. And, their nomination as a finalist in Inc. Magazine’s “2011 Top Small Company Workplaces” illustrates that employees get engaged when they can be involved in the decision making process. With a little healthy debate, they feel heard and informed and can feel good about buying-in to the organization’s plan.

Take a look around your organization. Where do you involve your employees in decision making? Can you do more? Do you encourage a little healthy debate to both engaged your employees and foster creativity? Have you created an environment where your employees are well-informed, engaged in the process, and committed to your plans?

At ECI Learning Systems LLC we are dedicated to improving productivity and profitability by creating engaged organizations. Our unique combination of training and personalized coaching, combined with our expertise in assessments allow us to create a development plan tailored for your success.

Until next time….

Laurie Valaer

ECI Learning Systems, LLC
http://www.ECILearning.com

It’s Open To Debate

We had another engaging and informative discussion with Richard Batenburg (CEO of Batmann Analytics) on “The Leader’s Edge” last week. One of the topics that came up was the idea that, when you have a high level of trust in an organization, people will feel comfortable expressing their opinion, even when that opinion and the ensuing discussion could lead to conflict. We also talked about the fact that, while conflict can be uncomfortable for many people, “healthy” conflict breeds creativity and innovation and is important to an organization’s success.

This discussion reminded me of an article that Dave and I wrote a couple of years ago and I thought it was appropriate to share it again here:

You might want to sit down for this one. It could be a little painful.

Think back to your last staff meeting. (We warned you this could be painful.) Either the staff meeting that you sat in with your boss or the one you held with your own team.

What was the highlight of that meeting? 

1.      The donuts or other foodstuffs

2.      A recap of the NFL playoffs

3.      The big news about celebrity breakups

4.      Rumors about layoffs or cost cutting measures

5.      The rousing discussion surrounding a decision that needed to be made

 

We’ll bet it’s one of the first 4, because if your meetings are typical of most staff meetings, number 5 never happened. In fact, number 5 rarely happens at any level of an organization inside or outside of staff meetings.

For the last several years businesses across the globe have struggled with a number of factors including slowing economies, the high cost of labor, the realignment of the internet and the presence on the World Wide Web. Moving down a few levels in the organization, managers and leaders have struggled with productivity and process issues, turnover of key employees, morale problems; the list goes on.

With all of these issues to face, why do so few organizations engage in loud, long, healthy debate on issues that are critical to the success of the business? Managers and leaders sit in meetings and report the status of their projects, trying to call as little attention to themselves as possible. Or, they sit at the head of the table like the high priest and make pronouncements about the direction of the business like they have all of the answers at their fingertips.

At some point in time, businesses seemed to decide that harmony is the key to success. People were encouraged to be “team players” and to “get along” with others around them in a well-intentioned, but wrong-headed attempt to streamline the decision process.

Instead of actively debating issues that come up, we all try to find “common ground” and “compromise” in an attempt to please everyone around us.

What happens when we cut off discussion and debate to promote harmony?

For one thing, we drive the real decision-making process underground. How many times have you sat in a meeting and listened as everyone seemed to agree on a plan of action, only to find out later that no one took the actions that they agreed to. In reality, they didn’t believe in the agreement and therefore felt no compulsion to keep their commitments. Often, a lack of debate also represents a lack of buy-in from those present. Rather than fight the issue publicly, those not in agreement express their discontent through a passive aggressive process that causes the idea to never be implemented.

An active, lively debate on a topic allows for multiple opinions to be aired and for ideas to be developed and improved upon. As a leader you should encourage your team’s input and thoughts. Concerns should be expressed; solutions bandied about; and honest debate should be required.

All of this is not to imply that we are encouraging members of the team to sit around and argue without cause. But team members should feel open to express whatever real issues, thoughts, and concerns they have. And that active debate, the role of honest conflict in the workplace, separates good teams from great teams.

Take a look at your own organization. Do you encourage open and honest debate? Do your employees trust you enough to express their opinion? Do they feel comfortable enough with each other and the organization to get into a little active debate in the name of creativity, innovation, and success?


Until next time….

Laurie Valaer
ECI Learning Systems, LLC
http://www.ECILearning.com

Knowledge Is Power - Part 2

Last week I wrote about the concept that “Knowledge is power” and how most people believe that knowledge is power only when it is hoarded. The reality is that knowledge only has power when it is shared with all of those that need it. Shared knowledge creates power simply because leaders get results through people and without the knowledge they can’t create the results.

But sharing knowledge has another component that is often overlooked in the business world. You see, sharing knowledge not only allows your team to perform more capably but it also demonstrates clearly how willing your are to be open with them, sharing your knowledge, sharing the strategies, and sharing the goals of the organization. By doing this, you are building trust with those that work for you. And trust is one of the key components required for employee engagement.

It is no secret that engaged employees work harder and smarter than non-engaged employees. The mere fact that they care about their organization and their manager provides the motivation to create something bigger and better than those employees who don’t care about their organization or, worse, want to see it fail. By sharing knowledge and building trust within your organization you not only get the benefit of better, more informed decisions, but you also create a team of people that care about what they are doing and the results that they get.

How much information do you have to share?

You want to share as much information as you can without jeopardizing your fiduciary responsibilities to the company. As the leader in an organization there is certain information that is provided to you in confidence. Information that is not available to the public at large or to most of the employee base. When you are entrusted with confidential information you have a responsibility both morally and legally to keep that information private. Breaking that confidence could actually compromise trust in the organization, rather than building it. When in doubt, you must use your own judgment on what can and cannot be shared.

By sharing as much information as you can with your employees you empower them in their jobs and open the doors for improved performance and creativity within the organization. The message here is to share as much information as you can with your team. Sharing your knowledge will not only allow them to make more informed decisions but will also create a loyal and engaged team that will serve you, the organization and your customers to the fullest.


I hope that you enjoyed this article. At ECI Learning Systems LLC we are dedicated to improving productivity and profitability by creating engaged organizations. Our unique combination of training and personalized coaching, combined with our expertise in assessments allow us to create a development plan tailored for your success.


Until next time….

Dave Meyer
ECI Learning Systems, LLC
http://www.ECILearning.com

Knowledge Is Power

Many managers and leaders often fall under the impression that one of the most effective ways to enhance their worth and their career is by hoarding knowledge. “Knowledge is power” they believe and, therefore, the best way to accumulate power is by becoming indispensable, by knowing things that others don’t know and by sharing that information very judiciously.

Sadly, at the lower levels of the organization where the manager is also the technical expert this strategy seems to work. Since the manager knows things that others in the department do not, they control the solutions to sticky problems and are rewarded for solving issues that their team did not.

Of course, this is not a long term solution for success. The higher one moves in the organization the less you are a technical expert. Hoarding knowledge is no longer a source of power, but now saps your power and limits your ability to find solutions and demonstrate your value to the organization.

None the less it is true. Knowledge is power. But, as you move up the organization, the power comes not from hoarding that knowledge but from sharing it as broadly as possible. In fact, the more you share information the more powerful you become in an organization.

Experienced managers understand that their success is not tied to how well they perform individually but to how well their team performs. No longer are they praised for their personal and technical knowledge. Instead, team results take the spotlight and they find themselves being measured for the performance of their organization. And, the best way to ensure that their organization performs up to expectations is to ensure that they have all of the knowledge and information that they need to be successful.

This can be an enormous paradigm shift for someone who has always viewed themselves as the technical expert and has been consistently rewarded for their ability to solve problems. It requires an entirely different mindset to acknowledge that others who are closer to the details may be better able to determine complex solutions. But, acknowledging that you are no longer the technical experts is one of the keys to moving yourself up the value chain in the organization. Instead of your value coming from your detailed knowledge, your value and your power now emanate from the performance of your team.

Managers who grasp this concept not only begin to share their knowledge more readily and reward those around them who share knowledge, but are also the managers who move up the ladder to higher levels of responsibility. Understanding that the power of knowledge is expanded, rather than weakened, through sharing is what separates those managers who top out their career quickly from those who continue to grow and move up in the organization.

Sharing knowledge has another benefit that is not commonly recognized. The sharing of knowledge in your organization actually creates a new level of employee engagement. But, I will write more about that next week.


I hope that you enjoyed this article. At ECI Learning Systems LLC we are dedicated to improving productivity and profitability by creating engaged organizations. Our unique combination of training and personalized coaching, combined with our expertise in assessments allow us to create a development plan tailored for your success.


Until next week,

Dave Meyer
ECI Learning Systems, LLC
http://www.ECILearning.com

True or False: Most Employees want to do a good job every day.

Do you agree or disagree with this statement?

We'd love to hear your thoughts.....

The Top 5 Myths of Leadership

There are whole libraries full of books on leadership, as well as countless magazine articles and an increasing number of blog articles. Many of these mediums contain exactly the same message or messages, but in some rather unique ways. Some try and identify THE most important aspect of leadership, while others talk about the various components of leadership and how all are critically important. With all that has been written about leadership you would assume that most leaders, especially new leaders, would quickly come to grasp the fundamentals required to lead their teams. None the less, myths about leadership not only exist, but appear to be growing. Perhaps this is because companies have laid off experienced managers and replaced them with younger, less experienced managers in a misguided attempt to save money. Or perhaps it is a lack of good role models in leadership that fosters the myths. But in any event, myths and misconceptions about leadership abound.

Below are 5 myths about leadership that I experience most often as a coach. These top 5 do not come from a scientific survey with thousands of responses, but from my personal experience. See if these myths match up with the things that you experience most often.

1. Management is the same as leadership

Too many people (myself included) have a tendency to interchange the terms management and leadership. The result is that we are unable to distinguish between one’s ability to manage a process and their ability to lead people. Managing a process requires the intelligence and logic to understand the process, identify the shortcomings, and hopefully resolve them. The results are easily identifiable and measurable. Leading people, on the other hand, requires an ability to identify and communicate fuzzy concepts like vision and values, a willingness to live in the gray area of human values, and an understanding of the illogical nature of human beings.

These concepts could not be more different, yet the confusion remains.

2. Leadership cannot be learned 

We often hear about someone’s natural leadership abilities and how someone has been a leader their entire life. Likewise, we associate certain personality traits with leadership and believe that the lack of these traits means a lack of leadership abilities. The reality is that some people ARE natural leaders. The skills required to influence people come quite naturally to them. But the key here is that leadership is not a talent, it’s a skill. And, like any skill, it can be learned. It may not be easy for some people to learn and implement the skills of leadership, but it is not impossible. With the right guidance and assistance, any person can become a leader.

3. Leadership means controlling and manipulating others

Leadership is about influencing others and having them want to do the things you need them to do. Leaders have the ability to appeal to their followers and create a desire to achieve the common goals. It is about creating an environment of motivation and passion for the followers. Leaders create a feeling of openness and belonging. On the other hand, some people believe that leading is about making someone do what they don’t want to do. They use threats and intimidation to get things done. They believe that using their “power” is leading. But forcing someone to do something against their will is not leadership or motivation, it’s coercion. And coercion is not leadership.

4. The leader is always the smartest person in the room

There is no question that leaders tend to be intelligent people. And certainly there are times when the leader IS the smartest person in the room. But, a real leader understands their own limitations and focuses on the goals and vision of the organization. They realize that they don’t have all of the answers. And, in doing so, they routinely surround themselves with the smartest people they can find, listen to them, and meld those ideas in with their own. The only way that the leaders are the smartest people in the room is in the realization that they are NOT the smartest people in the room.

5. Titles create leaders

This may be the most common myth of leadership. And, this myth is common at all levels of the organization. But whether the title is “Team Leader” or “Sr. Vice President”, leadership cannot be bestowed through a title. The reason is quite simple. For someone to be a leader, they must have followers. And, while a Sr. Vice President might have staff below them, there is no guarantee that the staff is actually following the leader. If you want to identify the leader in any organization, simply check and see who the team turns to and who they listen to. That is your leader, regardless of their title.

There you have my “Top 5 Myths of Leadership”. I would certainly be interested in hearing your thoughts about the myths that you most commonly see.

I hope that you enjoyed this article. At ECI Learning Systems LLC we are dedicated to improving productivity and profitability by creating engaged organizations. Our unique combination of training and personalized coaching, combined with our expertise in assessments allows us to create a development plan tailored for your success.

Until next time.....

Dave Meyer

ECI Learning Systems, LLC

http://www.ecilearning.com

Where Does Engagement Come From?

Employee engagement can be a funny thing. Like motivation, you can’t cause someone else to get engaged in their job, but you can create an atmosphere that encourages and fosters engagement. Without buy-in from above, engagement rarely happens. But true employee engagement in a “make it or break it” form comes from the employee themselves and from their immediate managers.

Numerous studies on employee engagement reveal what the employees want and expect from both their managers and from the job itself. And, while employees have grown more and more cynical about their jobs over the last 20 years, they really don’t want to be that way. Like a person who has had their heart broken in love too many times, they’ve become cautious and tainted, reserving judgment about their feelings until they are sure they won’t be hurt again. Convince them that your desire for engagement is real and lasting and they will buy in. But first, you have to know what they want and be willing to demonstrate that you believe in it also.

What do employees want from their managers?

1. A relationship that goes beyond meeting the goals and objectives. Show the employees that you care about them.
2. Knowledge about the organization and where it’s headed. Let the employees know how their work supports the big picture.
3. Human skills. Most studies show that human and relationship skills are more important than technical skills.
4. Assistance in developing their career plans and help in meeting those objectives.

Managers who take this approach with their employees are creating an environment that is conducive to employee engagement. When employees recognize this they become more open to the idea of getting engaged in their work. But there are additional factors that employees want from their job as well.

What do employees want from their jobs?

1. The ability to utilize their own talents and skills on the job. And don’t forget, just because someone does something well does not mean they enjoy it.
2. The opportunity to be involved and give input. Nothing is as frustrating to your employees as having their ideas not heard, or heard but not truly appreciated.
3. The opportunity to learn and grow, both personally and professionally.
4. Clear expectations about what they are supposed to do and when they are supposed to do it. This goes beyond the concept of departmental goals and objectives and relates to both day to day clarity and knowing how the work fits the long term goals of the organization.

As you can see, these lists are neither long nor complicated. Creating an engaging environment is not difficult but really requires some rather basic people skills that should be part of any new manager’s repertoire. Unfortunately, since most new managers receive little or no training, these basic skills are often lacking.

Ask yourself if your employees are engaged or have they all checked out? If they’ve checked out, find out why. Which of these basic elements is missing from your organization? Creating an engaged organization does not require massive amounts of time and/or money. All you really have to do is show your employees that you care.


At ECI Learning Systems LLC, we are dedicated to helping companies get the greatest return from their most valuable asset: their employees. We work with you to align 3 key organizational factors:
• Your Company Culture
• The Leadership Styles of your key managers
• The Expectations of your Employees

When these 3 factors are aligned, you create an energy in your company that improves productivity, reduces absenteeism, increases creativity, and positively impacts your bottom line. Contact ECI Learning Systems LLC today to get your free Workplace Evaluation.


Until next time.....

Dave Meyer
ECI Learning Systems, LLC
http://www.ecilearning.com

What is two-way communication?

“Outstanding Leaders Appeal to the Hearts of their Followers, not their Minds.” ~ Source Unknown

Ask any organization about their internal communications and they will point to their intranet website, used to communicate key initiatives to their employees. They’ll talk about the quarterly CEO updates, where the top executives go “live” and stream their inspirational leadership across the company. And they’ll point to their ongoing newsletter from HR executives that brings all of the employees up to date on the latest and greatest “Human Resource” initiatives.

What is missing from these communication methods is obvious. These are one-way communication vehicles, not two-way. And, even if that quarterly CEO update includes a phone line for employees to call in on or a message function to pose questions electronically, you are still only engaging a small percentage of your employees. True two-way communication is not possible through push mediums alone.

More importantly, the key component of any real two-way communication is the clear indication that both parties are listening to each other. In all of the methods discussed above, the message is “communicated” out, but there is nothing to indicate that any message is welcomed back or that the “communicator” has any intention of truly listening.

The problem is obvious from both sides of the equation. From the executive side, how can you possibly listen to 500 - 50,000 employees with a variety of diverse ideas and thoughts? After all, even the best intentioned employees are likely to have some ideas that are so totally impractical it can be difficult not to laugh out loud. From the employee side, regardless of how you might be encouraged to communicate, do you really believe the CEO is going to listen to you?

The answer to this challenge is not nearly as difficult as it might at first seem because the employees don’t need to talk with the CEO one on one to be heard. Nor do the top executives need to react to every message sent their way. In fact, many companies have “solved” this problem through some type of formal survey process. They commission an Organizational Survey to get input from across the company. When the survey is complete, they review the results to understand the organizational concerns. They may even take action on some of those major concerns … maybe… But if they do, those actions are sometimes not obvious to the employees. As far as the employees are concerned they’ve been asked for their input, and they’ve been ignored.

Is it any wonder that most employees don’t take Organizational Surveys seriously?

Organizational Surveys can serve as a vehicle for two-way communication, but only if the employees KNOW that their responses are being taken seriously. In simple terms that means:

1. Publish the results of the survey. And not just the good parts; but the bad parts and the not-so-bad parts as well. In other words, management must be willing to “open their kimono” and share everything with the employees.
2. Actions resulting from the survey must be visible across the organization and tied directly back to the survey itself. In other words, don’t just announce a “reorganization”. Instead, be honest and announce that it is being done in response to the survey.
3. It can’t be a “one and done” arrangement. Provide regular progress reports on what is being done based on the survey and don’t let it slip away into history.
4. Measure again. At regular intervals, possibly every 2 years, repeat the survey to look for improvement or areas of decline. And, again, be honest as to why the survey is being done and be willing to share the results again as well.

This is just a start on what you need to do, but I think you get the idea. Actions that are visible and can be traced directly back to employee feedback is one of the key ways that employees feel heard. And feeling heard is a key requirement for employee engagement.

So, is that it? If I do the things mentioned in the last several blogs will I have an engaged organization?

Unfortunately, there’s still more to it. By doing the things listed you have opened the door for engagement, but as of yet, no one has walked through that door. A big part of employee engagement comes from lower levels of the organization and even from the employees themselves.

We’ll discuss some of those ideas next week.


At ECI Learning Systems LLC, we are dedicated to helping companies get the greatest return from their most valuable asset: their employees. We work with you to align 3 key organizational factors:
• Your Company Culture
• The Leadership Styles of your key managers
• The Expectations of your Employees

When these 3 factors are aligned, you create an energy in your company that improves productivity, reduces absenteeism, increases creativity, and positively impacts your bottom line. Contact ECI Learning Systems LLC today to get your free Workplace Evaluation.


Until next time.....

Dave Meyer
ECI Learning Systems, LLC
http://www.ecilearning.com

To Get Engagement…Be Engaged

When an organization makes a conscious effort to become an “engaged organization” the question always comes down to “how” this can be done. In small organizations it is relatively easy to sit down with your employees and talk about what you want to do and why you want to do it. Then, by demonstrating the behavior you want and expect from your team, you begin to change the culture.

In larger organizations the concept is similar but the time frame is longer because you have so many more people to reach, plus you need to “sell” this concept at the various levels of the organization. And let’s be honest, there will be instances of managers in the organization who will not buy into the concept regardless of what is said or implemented. That means planned turnover; hiring and training of new personnel. None of this makes the job easy, but it is also not impossible.

For larger organizations, a strategy needs to be developed and implemented at various levels of the organization. This strategy is based around a very simple concept:

If we want our customers and employees to be engaged with us, we first need to engage them.

There are a variety of ways to engage your employees in your business. And, once you engage the employees, the customers will follow right along.

Most of the methods of engaging employees are not really new, although the mechanism itself may be new. Ideas like:

• Suggestion Box
• Open Door Meetings
• Skip Level Meetings
• Kickoff Sessions
• Company blogs or newsletters
• Staff Meetings
• Etc.

Like I said, most of these are not new and can be implemented the old fashion way, or through new social media/internet connections. What turns these from run of the mill employee communication mechanisms into employee engagement tools is simply a matter of how they are used and viewed by the employees. When these tools are viewed as an active and constructive method of interacting with the leadership then they have a purpose and further the process of engaging the employees. But when they are viewed as one-way mechanisms that don't encourage participation and discussion, they will not engage your employees.

How do you change the way these old fashioned communication tools are viewed?

By remembering that communication is actually a two-way connection. In other words, use these tools to actively interact with your employees, encourage them to respond, and act on their comments. This is the part of communication that so many executives miss and it really is the key to engaging your employees. Engage them in a two-way dialog as opposed to just top down communications.

I’ll cover this in more detail next week.


At ECI Learning Systems LLC, we are dedicated to helping companies get the greatest return from their most valuable asset: their employees. We work with you to align 3 key organizational factors:
• Your Company Culture
• The Leadership Styles of your key managers
• The Expectations of your Employees

When these 3 factors are aligned, you create an energy in your company that improves productivity, reduces absenteeism, increases creativity, and positively impacts your bottom line. Contact ECI Learning Systems LLC today to get your free Workplace Evaluation.


Until next time.....

Dave Meyer
ECI Learning Systems, LLC
http://www.ecilearning.com

Open the doors for Employee Engagement

The concept behind employee engagement is a simple one. If you engage your employees in your business, the employees will be happy and engage the customers. And, when the customers are happy and engaged, your profitability increases. Customers who are truly engaged with your business understand that they are special and will be treated well. They know that, when things go wrong, your company and your employees will do everything in their power to make it right. They believe deeply that you will do what is best and not try to take advantage of them in any way.

In short, your engaged customers trust you. And nothing is more valuable in business than your customers.

To paraphrase Herb Kelleher, "Happy employees make for happy customers. Happy customers make for happy shareholders."

I was speaking with a friend recently who was a top salesperson for a Denver area furniture chain and he related to me a problem with one of their customers. The customer was unhappy about a mark on the furniture she had purchased and was causing quite a commotion. My friend was called in to help resolve the issue.

He listened to her complaint, agreed that she had a reason to be concerned, and worked out a solution that satisfied her. All was good again, until the owner of the chain happened to walk by. The customer recognized the owner and decided to tell him about her experience. She started to relate her experience to the owner and within 30 seconds he responded, “So what? You’re not happy? Give her the money back and get her out of my store.”

That owner not only lost a customer that day, but he also lost one of his top salespeople as my friend quit as well. Only my friend didn’t leave his job that very day, he actually worked there for nearly 3 more years. He just quit trying. That was the lesson he took away from the owner.

There are a lot of ways for you to engage your employees in your business so that they will buy into the vision and go above and beyond for both the company and the customers. And the first way to engage your employees is to model the behavior that you expect from them. When the entire executive team, not just the CEO, walks the talk about the value of the customer and demonstrates this regularly through their words and actions, the employees will do the same.

Of course as I noted above, the opposite is clearly true as well. When the executive team models poor behavior and attitudes, the employees see and imitate that behavior as well. And this is true whether or not you know all of your employees individually or if you have 50,000 employees. Employees take their lead from the clues left by the executive team. And, if you don’t think your employees notice those clues, watch your behaviors in addition to hearing your words, and see and talk about the disparities between your words and actions, then you are very much mistaken.

Model engagement and inclusion with your employees and customers and you will find that your employees engage and include your customers, and your customers engage and support your business.

We’ll talk more about other methods of encouraging engagement in our next blog.


At ECI Learning Systems LLC, we are dedicated to helping companies get the greatest return from their most valuable asset: their employees. We work with you to align 3 key organizational factors:
• Your Company Culture
• The Leadership Styles of your key managers
• The Expectations of your Employees

When these 3 factors are aligned, you create an energy in your company that improves productivity, reduces absenteeism, increases creativity, and positively impacts your bottom line. Contact ECI Learning Systems LLC today to get your free Workplace Evaluation.


Until next time.....

Dave Meyer
ECI Learning Systems, LLC
http://www.ecilearning.com

How Do You Encourage Engagement?

I was talking with a friend recently and we were discussing my favorite topic – employee engagement. My friend runs a small business, the kind where he still knows all of his employee’s names, the names of their spouses, and most of their kids. But his business is growing and he knows that it won’t be long until that is no longer possible. And, he is rightfully concerned about how his business will change when he no longer has that level of intimacy with his employees. Until now he has done an excellent job of communicating his vision to his team members and then using his personal relationships with them to reinforce his thoughts and get their ideas and buy-in. Since many of his employees deal with their customers every day, he wants to make sure that they are fully engaged with the business because that means they will try and fully engage the clients as well.

His question was a simple one. How do I continue to fully engage my team when I no longer have the luxury of knowing them all so personally? Can you really have an engaged team without the personal connection?

For many, the concept of employee engagement works well with small, intimate organizations where the team members almost feel like part of the family. Camaraderie plays an integral role in keeping everyone involved and engaged in the organization. But, just like a family can sometimes lose touch when it gets too big, they believe that having more employees automatically leads to less engagement.

And, to some extent, this is probably true. After all, it’s easier to get 5 people to buy in to and dedicate themselves to a vision than it is to get 500. And what happens when that 500 turns into 5000, or 50,000? Is it even possible to have an engaged organization of 50,000 people?

Absolutely.

Employee engagement is not about knowing the names and spouses of each employee. Nor is it about company picnics, bowling teams, or night’s out at the ballgame. Employee engagement is about making every employee believe in the common vision. It’s about knowing that, in some way, they can impact the vision and that their ideas, suggestions, and concerns really matter. Employee engagement is about caring what people think and encouraging them to be a part of something bigger than themselves. Of course, you don’t want to ignore the personal side of the equation, but just because you know your employees’ names and who their spouses are does not mean that they are engaged or care about the business or its customers. Engagement only happens when they know that they can make a difference.

The question becomes, how do I encourage my 500th employee to be as engaged as my 5th employee is? How can I obtain their buy in to the vision and promote their buy in?

What has to happen for them to know that their thoughts, ideas, and suggestions do matter and that we want them to impact the business?

We will be discussing this concept more in the next few weeks.


At ECI Learning Systems LLC, we are dedicated to helping companies get the greatest return from their most valuable asset: their employees. We work with you to align 3 key organizational factors:
• Your Company Culture
• The Leadership Styles of your key managers
• The Expectations of your Employees

When these 3 factors are aligned, you create an energy in your company that improves productivity, reduces absenteeism, increases creativity, and positively impacts your bottom line. Contact ECI Learning Systems LLC today to get your free Workplace Evaluation.


Until next time.....

Dave Meyer
ECI Learning Systems, LLC
http://www.ecilearning.com

Implementing an Engaged Culture

Culture changes in an organization are never easy or quick. A company culture is the personality of the company, and just like with a human personality, deciding to change it is one thing but actually changing a personality is something entirely different. For example, every year we make New Year’s resolutions about things we are going to change. But the reality is that most resolutions quickly fall away because, while the desire to change might be strong, changing ingrained habits is a long and painful process.

Experts in the process of change will tell you that the probability of successful change can be enhanced with the proper level of support. For example, if your desire to change involves losing weight, you are encouraged to sign up for a program, start an exercise program with a friend, and even tell your spouse, family, and friends about your desire to lose weight. If they know about your weight loss goals, they can help you stay away from food that is bad for you and even help you steer clear of situations where bad food may be prevalent. This is especially true if your desire to lose weight will have a direct impact on the food that they might end up eating.

Having support for change is a critical factor in moving yourself in a new direction and is often the difference between success and failure.

The same is true when deciding to change the culture of your organization. Once you have decided that you want to make a specific change, the next thing you need to do is begin to line up support for that change. And, just like you might sign up for a well-proven diet program, your culture change should also be supported by experts – experts who understand the complexities and pitfalls of a culture change and can provide you with valuable guidance. Trying to change your culture without the assistance of an expert is like trying to do brain surgery … on yourself.

And, much like you want to inform your friends and family about your change in eating habits so that you can gain their support and let them know about the possible impact on them, you will also want to inform your employees of the desire to change the culture. After all, changing the culture of the organization will have a very direct impact on them and you will need their support and involvement to ensure your success.

For many leaders, the question of communicating desired changes to the employees represents a significant challenge. Too often, leaders fail to appreciate the level of understanding that the employees have about the current culture, or they believe they can implement culture changes through simple process or reward adjustments. Unfortunately, when employees don’t understand the culture shift being pursued, they will try and meld any new process or reward changes into the existing culture. Obviously, this can have a significant negative impact on any desired culture changes when processes intended for one culture end up being implemented in another.

For culture to truly change it must be planned from above but implemented at the lowest levels of the organization. By making the employees your partner in your cultural shift you can more readily communicate not only the “how” of the shift but also the “why”. And, if the transition is to a more employee centric culture, your employees will be delighted to assist you.


At ECI Learning Systems LLC, we are dedicated to helping companies get the greatest return from their most valuable asset: their employees. We work with you to align 3 key organizational factors:
• Your Company Culture
• The Leadership Styles of your key managers
• The Expectations of your Employees

When these 3 factors are aligned, you create an energy in your company that improves productivity, reduces absenteeism, increases creativity, and positively impacts your bottom line. Contact ECI Learning Systems LLC today to get your free Workplace Evaluation.


Until next time.....

Dave Meyer
ECI Learning Systems, LLC
http://www.ecilearning.com

Are There Skeptics in Your Organization?

In our last few blogs, we’ve been talking about the concept of employee engagement. And, in last week’s post we talked about the first steps in moving your team from where they are today to being a more highly engaged team. Asking the people who deal with the problem every day how to solve that problem is a great way to begin to engage your team. Full engagement does not happen overnight or through a single exercise. But, if you engaged your team to solve the problem, you likely saw an inkling of the power that an engaged workforce brings to the organization. They say that two heads are better than one. Imagine if everyone in your organization brought their best thoughts to solving your problems. Can you imagine the power of that organization?

As I noted above, full engagement does not happen overnight. But, if you engaged your team in the problem solving exercise we discussed last week, you took the first step to engage your team. I would expect that your first attempt at employee engagement met with limited success. You probably engaged a few employees and got some excellent feedback, but you also noticed that most of your employees did not engage. Instead, they watched and observed but didn’t fully participate.

This is a natural reaction to this kind of a shift in thinking from management and demonstrates a lack of trust. They heard the words, but they weren’t sure what was going to happen next. They believed that the best thing for them to do, the safest thing for them to do, and the easiest thing for them to do, was to do nothing. By doing nothing they limit their exposure and don’t set themselves up for a major psychological letdown. In fact, I would guess that, based on the size of your organization, you found some people who were not only skeptical, but actually mocked the idea and those who participated. These people have been well trained that being disengaged and not caring is the easiest way to stay employed and out of the line of fire.

Fully engaging your team means changing the mindset and culture of the organization to one that encourages creativity, rewards risk taking, and promotes open communication. For many organizations, this represents a major cultural shift in the way that people think. That goes for changing the minds of the skeptics as well as those who fully participated. And that is why it is so important that you implemented the solution your team came up with, regardless of what you really thought of it. Failing to implement the team’s solution leaves the skeptics free to say, “I knew this was not real. Management doesn’t really care what we know or think. This is just the latest management fad of the month.” Implementing the solution from your team does not eliminate the skeptics but, rather, it begins to crack the façade that they have built up. Permanently knocking down that wall will take time and effort. And, it may even cost you a few employees along the way. But it will be worth it in the long run.

The biggest “cost” of implementing a culture that encourages employee engagement is the mental and emotional stress that it might cause you personally. We are talking about moving from a culture where you were the center of attention – the person with all the answers – to an employee-centric culture where the emphasis is on the strengths of the employees.

We’ll talk more about implementing that culture in our next issue.

At ECI Learning Systems LLC, we are dedicated to helping companies get the greatest return from their most valuable asset: their employees. We work with you to align 3 key organizational factors:

• Your Company Culture

• The Leadership Styles of your key managers

• The Expectations of your Employees

When these 3 factors are aligned, you create an energy in your company that improves productivity, reduces absenteeism, increases creativity, and positively impacts your bottom line. Contact ECI Learning Systems LLC today to get your free Workplace Evaluation.

Until next time.....

Dave Meyer

ECI Learning Systems, LLC

http://www.ecilearning.com

Create Engagement Through Involvement

In our last few blogs, we’ve been talking about the concept of employee engagement and how valuable it can be to your organization. If you think back to your early years on the job, you were likely highly engaged, at least when you started out. You were eager to jump into the work, anxious to impress your new boss, and wanted to fit in with the other employees. The question becomes, how long did that eagerness last? How long was it before you realized that your eagerness was not truly appreciated by your boss or by your coworkers? How long until you placed more value on blending in than on being the best?

From my personal experience I believe that for most people disengagement, the art of not caring about your job or your company, is a learned behavior. When we first start working we really want to care, but we learn from our boss and our peers that this trait, this eagerness, is not truly appreciated in the workplace. Over time, we begin to accept this as the truth and incorporate it into our daily behaviors.

The same is true for your employees. They likely learned fairly early in their careers that the best way to get along was to go along.

Here’s the good news.

Since disengagement is a learned behavior it can be unlearned as well. The trick is in how you “teach” your employees that it is ok to be engaged.

The process of integrating engagement into your organization requires a significant amount of work for you and your leadership team. And, it starts with honesty about what you are trying to accomplish and why. You will need to build trust with your team and give them a reason to believe in you and what you are saying. To engage your team, you need to be fully committed to the concept of employee engagement. You need to be willing to encourage and accept their ideas and suggestions, be open in your communication about what is and what is not working, and, most importantly, you need to convince them that this idea is not the “leadership fad of the month” but a concept that is here for the long term.

Here is my suggestion for getting the engagement ball rolling in your organization. Start by identifying the biggest challenge that you are facing. Then, call a meeting of key people who are involved in this challenge and who should most want to see it solved. Once that team is assembled, explain the problem to them and ask them how they would solve this problem.

Isn’t that easy?

Here comes the hard part.

As the group begins to provide comments or give feedback, you need to encourage them to tell you more. You want them to believe that it is ok to be open and that their thoughts are welcome. That means putting aside your natural tendency to critique their ideas and, instead, encouraging them to expound on them. Focus on what IS possible from their suggestions and not the pitfalls. Encourage them to build upon each other’s ideas so that they build a solution together.

And then you have to implement their solution.

I told you it wouldn’t be easy.

We’ll talk more about how to build your engaged organization in future issues.

At ECI Learning Systems LLC, we are dedicated to helping companies get the greatest return from their most valuable asset: their employees. We work with you to align 3 key organizational factors:

•Your Company Culture
•The Leadership Styles of your key managers
•The Expectations of your Employees

When these 3 factors are aligned, you create an energy in your company that improves productivity, reduces absenteeism, increases creativity, and positively impacts your bottom line. Contact ECI Learning Systems LLC today to get your free Workplace Evaluation.


Until next time.....

Dave Meyer
ECI Learning Systems, LLC
http://www.ecilearning.com

There Is a Better Way to Manage Your Employees

In the last few blogs, I’ve been talking about employee engagement and how valuable engaged employees can be to your organization. Study after study demonstrates how engaged employees work both harder and smarter. They provide better customer service and enhance customer satisfaction. They add directly to the bottom line through increased productivity and the reduced costs of employee turnover. Yet, these same studies show that less than one-third of US employees are fully engaged and nearly 20% are actively disengaged. The remainder are marginally engaged, but could be more fully engaged…if only someone would engage them.

For decades the belief has been that the best way to get production from your team was through the “carrot and stick” approach. People were offered a carrot to produce and if that didn’t work, we hit them with a stick. Motivation was seen as offering rewards for performance or threatening people with the loss of their jobs. Often, successful executives specialized in rants and tirades; the louder and more colorful, the better. Intimidation of employees was common and thought to be a way to gain respect. And, of course, these methods of motivation will often produce short term results.

But we are in business for the long term.

Studies of motivation, employee engagement, and emotional intelligence have proven that there are better ways to lead your team. People are inherently good and creative and are willing to work hard for what they believe in. When properly encouraged, they are anxious to demonstrate what they are capable of doing and will also work well with others.

At this point you might be thinking to yourself, “What has this guy been smoking? I’ve been leading people for years and they simply aren’t motivated. In fact, they seem to do as little as possible, usually just enough to avoid getting fired. I can’t trust them and I certainly can’t expect this team to work together unless I literally force teamwork on them.”

Unfortunately, this thought process is way too common in our world today. And it’s not that you are wrong for thinking this. It’s just that your team has developed the traits of disengagement over a long period of time; possibly before they even came to work for you. Changing their attitude and getting your team engaged is no easy task. It requires a lot of dedication and hard work on your part to change not only your perceptions of what they are capable of, but also their perceptions of what you are trying to accomplish.

Is it worth the effort?

The statistics alone make it worth while to invest in yourself and your team to try and raise their level of engagement. Even more importantly is the fact that it is just easier and more fun to lead a team of engaged employees than it is to lead a team of disengaged employees. When your team is engaged they work harder without you having to push them. They are more creative without all of the ideas having to come from you. They treat your customers better, meaning that you get more repeat business. And, you have more time to spend doing the things you want to do versus the things you believe you have to do.

We’ll talk a little bit about this transition and how to create an engaged team in upcoming segments.

At ECI Learning Systems LLC, we are dedicated to helping companies get the greatest return from their most valuable asset: their employees. We work with you to align 3 key organizational factors:

•Your Company Culture
•The Leadership Styles of your key managers
•The Expectations of your Employees

When these 3 factors are aligned, you create an energy in your company that improves productivity, reduces absenteeism, increases creativity, and positively impacts your bottom line. Contact ECI Learning Systems LLC today to get your free Workplace Evaluation.


Until next time.....

Dave Meyer
ECI Learning Systems, LLC
http://www.ecilearning.com

Is There a Better Way?

In last week’s blog, I spoke a little about the concept of Employee Engagement and about the benefits to an organization when the employees are engaged. Report after report demonstrates improved productivity and profitability for engaged organizations as engaged employees care more about their work, their customer, and their company than non-engaged employees do. The case for Employee Engagement is really quite logical and simple. If the employees care about what they are doing, then they will work harder than if they don’t care. Employees that care will take better care of customers than those that don’t care. And, employees that like their jobs and like their companies will stay with them longer, making them more valuable to the companies. Not to mention the significant savings that result from lower employee turnover and higher levels of institutional knowledge.

As I look back at my own career, I’ve had a number of interesting jobs in different organizations. In my first job I discovered that errors of any type were not tolerated. The smallest mistake was often highlighted and punishment, while not always swift, was certainly sure. That job taught me not to make mistakes. Of course, it also taught me not to take chances. And the best way to not take any chances was never to change anything that you did. Hence, each day became a repeat of the day before it. With my fertile mind I always had a lot of ideas on how we could do things differently and better. This job taught me to suppress those ideas lest they lead to change and the possibility of error. Boredom and disengagement go hand in hand, and I was both. I did what I had to do, but not a lick more. And it’s safe to say that all of my coworkers believed the same as I did. Collectively, we were prime examples of what it means to be disengaged.

Bored, tired, doing as little as humanly possible.

But I could not suppress my creativity and yearn for excitement for long, and soon I found myself with a new employer. The atmosphere at my second job was decidedly different. I was only on the job for a few days when I learned my new boss’s favorite mantra: “Is there a better way?”

That phrase was like music to my ears. It excited every creative bone in my body and made me want to think of new ways to accomplish the job. I was part of a group of about 30 – 40 people and each day we would look at our work and ask, “Is there a better way?” At this time I was working in retail accounting for a shoe company. We had 300 plus stores scattered across the country and every day they had to report to us their sales numbers, key inventory information, hours used, and a variety of other information from their remote locations. Tracking it all was a challenge to say the least.

“Is there a better way?”

The energy in that organization was palpable. Mind you, we didn’t change things every day, but we were alert for signs of how to do things better. We knew that we were being paid to think and not just crank out numbers.

I was in my office one day when one of my employees came in to visit me.

“I was thinking about how we capture and report the sales by department,” she said. “I visited our store in Chapel Hill last night and watched them work for about an hour. It gave me an idea, so I spoke to both the department manager and store manager about it.” With that, she handed me a 5 page report that she had typed at home outlining a new process for our stores. She was clearly enthused about her idea and had worked at home the night before to complete this proposal.

It was brilliant. It was groundbreaking. It was the kind of idea that was going to save us hundreds of thousands of dollars.

“There is” she said, “a better way.”

Yes, there is. When you have an employee who is that engaged.

What I failed to mention here about this wonderful, enthusiastic, and engaged employee was her rank in the organization. She was an Inventory Control Clerk. She made .10 per hour above minimum wage.

You see, when it comes to managing your employees, there is a better way.

But, I’ll have more about that in next week’s blog.


At ECI Learning Systems LLC, we are dedicated to helping companies get the greatest return from their most valuable asset: their employees. We work with you to align 3 key organizational factors:
•Your Company Culture
•The Leadership Styles of your key managers
•The Expectations of your Employees

When these 3 factors are aligned, you create an energy in your company that improves productivity, reduces absenteeism, increases creativity, and positively impacts your bottom line. Contact ECI Learning Systems LLC today to get your free Workplace Evaluation.


Until next time.....

Dave Meyer
ECI Learning Systems, LLC
http://www.ecilearning.com/

What is Employee Engagement?

With the recent publication of our Amazon Best Seller, “The Engaged Manager: Make your team a success, and they’ll make you a success”, we’ve had a lot of questions about the importance of employee engagement and the role that an engaged manager plays in the organization.

For those of you who may not be familiar with the concept of Employee Engagement, the simple definition is, “the level of personal and professional commitment an individual has to the values and mission of the organization.” In other words, as an employee, how much do I believe in what we are doing and how far am I willing to go to ensure our success. An engaged employee believes in and is excited by the mission and values of the organization. And their commitment to the mission and values of the organization manifests itself on a daily basis through improved productivity, decreased absenteeism, and improved customer service and satisfaction.

There has been a significant amount of statistical analysis on employee engagement over the last 10 years. One recent study done by Hewitt Associates found that high-engagement firms had a total shareholder return that was 19% higher than average. Likewise, a company with low-engagement actually had a total shareholder return that was 44% below average.

Watson Wyatt reported that organizations with a high level of employee engagement out performed low engagement organizations by numbers ranging from 47% to 200%. These are just 2 examples gleaned from recent reports on employee engagement. New material is being released on a monthly basis by a variety of firms involved in statistical analysis that further enhance and refine these numbers. Clearly there is a statistical correlation between highly engaged employees and improved productivity.

But, there is also a correlation between employee engagement and customer satisfaction. And my guess is that you have experienced that situation first hand and don’t need any data analysis to prove it to you.

What am I talking about?

We’ve all had the experience in a store, an office, or over the phone where we have encountered an employee who was disengaged from the job and company. They were clearly bored with what they were doing, it was clear that our question or phone call had deeply disturbed their ongoing process of doing nothing, and they really didn’t know or care how they might be of service to us as a customer. Whether their management wants to acknowledge it or not, this person is highly disengaged from their job but is also our primary contact into their organization. What we think about this company is directly impacted by our contact by this employee, yet here they are bored to tears, doing anything but working, and fundamentally chasing customers away.

And the question becomes, why are they working there? Why hasn’t the management replaced them with someone more competent and enthusiastic? And what would it take for me to want to do business with this company again?

We will talk more about these topics in upcoming entries.


At ECI Learning Systems LLC, we are dedicated to helping companies get the greatest return from their most valuable asset: their employees. We work with you to align 3 key organizational factors:
•Your Company Culture
•The Leadership Styles of your key managers
•The Expectations of your Employees

When these 3 factors are aligned, you create an energy in your company that improves productivity, reduces absenteeism, increases creativity, and positively impacts your bottom line. Contact ECI Learning Systems LLC today to get your free Workplace Evaluation.


Until next time.....

Dave Meyer
ECI Learning Systems, LLC
http://www.ecilearning.com/

Winning Is An Attitude

For the past couple of weeks, I’ve been writing about the concept of Winners and Losers, my belief that there is not a single winner in business or in life, and that taking the view that there can be a single winner is one that will certainly limit your own desire to compete and succeed.

Winners and losers in life and in business are not always determined by the scoreboard. Or, maybe I should say that winners and losers are not always defined by the visible scoreboard. Instead, winners are defined by their attitudes and willingness to do what it takes to ensure their success and the success of those around them.

This moves the idea of being a winner away from the “1/0, there can be only one winner, if you are not THE winner then you are a loser” concept, to one where YOU get to decide whether you will be a winner or a loser.

It’s safe to say that we’ve all met “winners” in our lives. These are the people who find ways to overcome adversity, who look at the rocks in their path as stepping stones, not stumbling blocks, and when given lemons, they make lemonade. In fact, these people not only make lemonade, but they make the best lemonade in the world, have a knack for marketing that lemonade, and turn their lemonade stands into multi-million dollar businesses.

But, I would suggest that we’ve all me our share of losers as well. These people tend to be victims with too many things that are “out of their control.” They constantly blame others for their problems. They refuse to take responsibility for their actions. And they can’t enjoy even a momentary victory because they are convinced that something bad is about to happen to them. And it usually does.

Here are some of my thoughts on “winners” vs. “losers.”


              Winners:                  
Look for solutions.
Encourage those around them.
Lend a helping hand.
Create a plan for success.
Look at the glass as half full.
Believe nothing is impossible.
Find a way to keep going.
Don’t believe in excuses.

                     Losers:                      
Look for problems.
Don’t think about others.
Look for a handout.
Fail to plan.
Are pretty sure the glass is cracked.
Quit when something is “too hard”.
Look for a way to quit.
Always have an excuse handy.



What about you? How do you define winners? Or losers, for that matter? How do you identify winners from losers? I’d love to hear your thoughts on this topic as well.


At ECI Learning Systems LLC, we are dedicated to helping companies get the greatest return from their most valuable asset: their employees. We work with you to align 3 key organizational factors:
• Your Company Culture
• The Leadership Styles of your key managers
• The Expectations of your Employees

When these 3 factors are aligned, you create an energy in your company that improves productivity, reduces absenteeism, increases creativity, and positively impacts your bottom line. Contact ECI Learning Systems LLC today to get your free Workplace Evaluation.


Until next time.....

Dave Meyer
ECI Learning Systems, LLC
http://www.ecilearning.com/

What Defines A Winner?

In my last posting, I wrote about the concept of winners and losers and the idea that some people believe there can be only one winner. To me, having only one winner negates so many good things that happen in life and in business.

I looked up the word “winner” on Dictionary.com and found this definition:

“a person or thing that wins; victor.”

Looking further down the page I came across this definition:

“a person or thing that seems sure to win or succeed”

The difference in wording is subtle but, I believe, very important. The first definition implies a single winner, while the second implies that a winner is a winner because they “succeed.”

I continued reviewing definitions and came across this definition of winner:

“an excellent person or thing. : This one is a real winner.”

Now, that’s more like it. This definition seems to leave some wiggle room for there being more than one winner without demeaning the importance of competition or excellence. Being a winner is about being “excellent” or even “excelling” and is not limited to only the “last man standing.” I would say that my favorite basketball team which ended up with 30 wins and only 3 losses is a group of winners. They were focused on excellence and achieved it.

It’s pretty clear as you read through these definitions that there is some consistency in terms of excellence but some inconsistency in whether or not there can be only one winner.

Years ago I came across a “demotivational” poster that stated:

“Since there can only be one winner, there’s an excellent chance that you are a loser.”

How’s that for a message. Inspirational, isn’t it. Makes you want to give up before you ever get started.

I believe that the concept of winners and losers is an important one for all of us in both our personal and professional lives. And focusing on the idea of a single winner is a great way to make sure that you’re never bothered by the pressure of being that winner. To me, being a winner is more about attitude than it is about competition. And, since we control our attitudes, we also control whether or not we want to be, and WILL be, winners or losers.

I’ll have more about this next week.


At ECI Learning Systems LLC, we are dedicated to helping companies get the greatest return from their most valuable asset: their employees. We work with you to align 3 key organizational factors:
• Your Company Culture
• The Leadership Styles of your key managers
• The Expectations of your Employees

When these 3 factors are aligned, you create an energy in your company that improves productivity, reduces absenteeism, increases creativity, and positively impacts your bottom line. Contact ECI Learning Systems LLC today to get your free Workplace Evaluation.


Until next time.....

Dave Meyer
ECI Learning Systems, LLC
http://www.ecilearning.com/

Is there really just one winner?

“March Madness” is the name given to the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament, as 68 of the finest college basketball teams compete in a single elimination tournament to determine the National Champion. A lot of people who are sports fans but don’t follow college basketball do follow this tournament because every year there are fantastic finishes, Cinderella teams, and monumental upsets.

And, at the end, only one team remains standing - THE WINNER!

My team didn’t win the championship this year. They were eliminated in what is referred to as the “Sweet 16”, one of the final 16 teams in the tournament. It was a close game, but when their final shot didn’t fall, they were done and sent home. Needless to say, they were unhappy, even despondent over the loss. They had visions of a National Championship as did their fans. I, too, was upset that they didn’t win, but I knew I’d get over it. There are certainly bigger tragedies in life than not having your favorite team win it all.

But, I was surprised when I read some of the local newspaper accounts of the game, the team, and the season. Or more correctly, I was surprised by the fan reaction to the loss. After all, this team won more than 30 games this season, losing only 3. By nearly anyone’s description, they had a great season. Yet, after they were eliminated from the tournament, I read comments from the fans that said they were losers and that they were over-rated; comments that generally disparaged a fine team and a fine season. I found reading the comments to be disheartening, discouraging, and small-minded. Instead of celebrating a great season, fans were upset that their team was not that last team standing.

Not – THE WINNER.

I’ve always wondered about the way some people perceive winning and losing. They view it as a simple 1/0 game. They believe that either you are THE WINNER, or you are a LOSER. There is no middle ground in their minds.

And I’m not just talking about the NCAA tournament here, or sports in general for that matter. I’m talking about a view of life and business that has fostered this simplistic view of winner and losers.

Too often, we fail to value contributions from our peers and employees because they weren’t “the best”. We hold contests to compete for who can sell the most product, install the most widgets, or respond to the most customer complaints. We compete to be number 1 without any thought to what that means to our products, our employees, or our customers.

Is there really only one winner in life or in business?

Let me be clear here. I’m not advocating the silliness that says if you participate, you are a winner. I don’t think we all deserve trophies and bouquets of flowers, just for showing up. But I do think that there is more than one winner in many competitions and that understanding the difference, the real difference, between winners and losers is a big part of your responsibility as a leader.

I’ll be writing more about winners and losers next week. Identifying and cultivating winners in your organization is part of your ongoing success.

At ECI Learning Systems LLC, we are dedicated to helping companies get the greatest return from their most valuable asset: their employees. We work with you to align 3 key organizational factors:
• Your Company Culture
• The Leadership Styles of your key managers
• The Expectations of your Employees

When these 3 factors are aligned, you create an energy in your company that improves productivity, reduces absenteeism, increases creativity, and positively impacts your bottom line. Contact ECI Learning Systems LLC today to get your free Workplace Evaluation.


Until next time.....

Dave Meyer
ECI Learning Systems, LLC
http://www.ecilearnin.com/