Published February 21, 2008
Part 3 of 4 in my Leadership Lessons Series:
At 18, I was promoted to a new Assistant Manager role at Hersheypark in the games division. Although I was young, I knew what I wanted and how to get it done. It wasn't always an easy road, but I learned to respect my staff and get them motivated. Barkers are expected to entice people all day to play games for extraordinary prizes...you know, stuffed animals.I'd schedule an early Saturday morning meeting for my team. Saturday was known as D-day because this was the busiest day of the week. Four of the eleven barkers I supervised worked incredibly hard and the rest were just showing up for a paycheck. It was a summer job and most didn't care.
Those four became my backbone for collection and banking. At 18, I was in charge of collecting over one hundred thousand dollars in revenue per month. I needed people who were reliable, worked fast, and had earned the two-hour break to get out of a booth and work with me one-on-one. After we finished, I treated them to ice cream sodas before they hopped back into a booth for the rest of the night. Unfortunately, I couldn't use them all at once, but I rotated them as frequently as possible.
During one beautiful Saturday morning, during our meeting, the leader of the disgruntled blurted out,
"You play favorites." They all chimed up in unison.
"Yeah, you play favorites." Chatter ensued.
I shot back immediately..."You're right, I do."
They were stunned. They expected me to deny it, or placate them, or worse yet, pretend to feel bad and win them over by trying harder to make them happy. Instead, I went on, "And I will continue to hand pick these four until one of you steps up to the plate and shows me you want it bad enough. I reward those who go the extra mile. You do that and I will give you the shirt off my back. If you don't, I couldn't care less."
The results of that little speech were astronomical. Within two weeks, I had seven employees with new attitudes. It was like the Stepford Wives. They worked harder, complained less and competed amongst each other. The increased revenue showed. Of course, I backed up what I said - extra effort was rewarded with cash bonus awards and, what they all craved, getting handpicked for collection. Within two more weeks, everyone was pushing the envelope to see who would get in my good graces. What I learned was invaluable. In my own naïve and untrained way, I learned that respect came from the consistent application of my management style. Fair, approachable and firm, seemed to work for me.
One little speech turned a lack luster staff into a dynamo. In today's work environment, people are far more dynamic than our parents, they have to be, each generation has learned double the information of the previous one. Speed, multitasking and global connectivity are the norm.
Here is what have I learned in 30 years of managing people:
1) Respect Your Team.
People work harder for those who respect their contributions and in today's technology-driven landscape you want the best people working for you. A general is only as good as his army. So, respect the accomplishments of even your part-time workforce. Rewarding everybody equally is a form of socialism. Creating an environment of healthy competition and reward pushes your office to another level of productivity and creativity. It will also help you maintain your cutting-edge status.Merit-Based Work, Results Only Work Environments work best in my book.
2) Be Firm, Fair and Consistent.
I have tried all kinds of styles over the years and, yes, I've tried Mr. Nice Guy in order to compensate for a business partner who was a bulldog to our staff. What begins to happen is the staff will go to the "parent" they think will give them the better answer. It doesn't work. Try getting someone to stay late and work on something. Which manager do you think they'll stay for - the one they like, or the one they respect?3) Reward Winners.
I was working with one of the top pharmaceutical companies in America last year. Their executive vice president of sales stepped forward and placed a challenge before them: The top 9 sales reps will be flown to Costa Rica for an all expense paid vacation for the winner and their spouse. All they had to do was blow the doors off their previous sales records. The crowd went crazy. Big gains require big steps, and she planted the flag for them to follow.Most of you do not have the budget to fly people to Costa Rica, but try some sort of 'effort gets rewarded' program.
Establishing healthy competition within your organization is paramount to success. But most importantly, the rewards must be worth it. Get creative, make it fun, and most of all, give big.
I hope that helps those of you looking to motivate your best people and win them over. Work on gaining respect, it pays off quite nicely.
And by the way, once you are respected, you'll be liked.
Thanks for reading,
Brad
Brad Szollose
The Art & Science of Leadership
Creative Director • Designer • Author • Workshop Facilitator • Keynote Speaker
Former Dot Com Executive and Baby Boomer Brad Szollose, is an award winning leadership strategist, author and professional speaker who shows people managers and entrepreneurs how to win big in the Information Age.
For more info, go to http://bradszollose.com
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/expert/Brad_Szollose/36351
May I suggest the following:
Originally published as an e-book that became a controversial media phenomenon, No More Mr. Nice Guy! landed its author, a certified marriage and family therapist, on The O'Reilly Factor and the Rush Limbaugh radio show. Dr. Robert Glover has dubbed the "Nice Guy Syndrome" trying too hard to please others while neglecting one's own needs, thus causing unhappiness and resentfulness. It's no wonder that unfulfilled Nice Guys lash out in frustration at their loved ones, claims Dr. Glover. He explains how they can stop seeking approval and start getting what they want in life, by presenting the information and tools to help them ensure their needs are met, to express their emotions, to have a satisfying sex life, to embrace their masculinity and form meaningful relationships with other men, and to live up to their creative potential.
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