Times are changing. If you are reading this, you probably sense it.

And business has to change, we need to “Switch and Shift.” To effectively lead, engage and create loyalty we have to connect with employees as… people. Knowing how and where to start, however, can seem daunting for an organization.

In Shawn Murphy’s recent blog post, I mentioned findings from a study conducted by Maritz Motivation Solutions to help companies better understand employees. We found valuable insights on what is meaningful and motivating to employees.

A key finding: Only 45.3% of employees felt they were meaningfully rewarded and recognized for their work performance. The study identified a strong linkage between this satisfaction with reward and recognition, and overall engagement. In fact, employees are five to six times more engaged when satisfied.

So, what leads to satisfaction?

Through a variety of goal, attitude, preferential and engagement questions, we were able to better understand employees – and to identify four personal, primary “value segments”:

• Altruists (17%)
• Drivers (24%)
• Pioneers (26%)
• Stabilizers (33%)

Organizations and leaders must become better equipped to communicate with, motivate, reward and recognize these diverse, valuable employees more effectively.

What is engaging, motivating and rewarding to people is personal.

Understanding values can improve satisfaction through more effective communication, more meaningful reward and recognition. Here’s a snapshot of employee values in the workforce today:

Drivers - People-managers and those self-identified as C-suite or executive are far more likely to be “Drivers”, holding achievement and power as primary values. Drivers tend to be focused on self-enhancement, are motivated by competition and more likely rewarded by receiving high profile projects and status than others.

Drivers are important in an organization in striving toward success. It gets tricky when they lead others with different reward motivators.

Altruists - Altruists hold universalism and benevolence as primary values. They look at life and work differently than many of their co-workers. Altruists are motivated and rewarded by personal time, cultural experiences and opportunities to ‘pay it forward’.   They prefer social, community environments in which to collaborate, contribute and learn. They are engaged by transparent, sincere and preferably face-to-face communications. Altruists are driven to make a difference.

Stabilizers - The largest segment of employees, Stabilizers hold tradition, security and even conformity as primary values. Where a highly competitive Driver is motivated by a challenge, Stabilizers want a sense of safety and security. Where Drivers are competitive, status-seeking missiles, Stabilizers prefer group or team reward and recognition so that relationships aren’t jeopardized. They can act like glue to an organization, fostering relationships and upholding cultural tradition.

Stabilizers are less likely to lead and more comfortable performing predictable jobs and roles, an important aspect of a balanced workforce and organization.

Pioneers – These are the seekers of stimulation and self-direction – their primary values. They enjoy freedom, flexibility, taking risks, variety and choice. They are highly driven and rewarded by learning and getting to try new things.

Pioneers want to contribute and to be included. Pioneers are a necessary part of the tribe for driving innovation and championing change, which every organization needs to thrive.

Ultimately, our values are a primary filter for what we care about, what we attend to, what motivates us – even on the job. Engagement programs often appeal to a key stakeholder or program owner, rather than the broader employee audience. This one-size-fits-all approach doesn’t fit most.

What is engaging, motivating and rewarding to people is personal.

Organizations and leaders must become better equipped to communicate with, motivate, reward and recognize these diverse, valuable employees more effectively.

When asked to assess the primary values of their organization, the largest percentage of employees (51%) viewed their organization as a Driver organization. Employee engagement was slightly higher when the employees’ value segment and that of the company was the same.

However, the most engaged employees worked for either an Altruist or Pioneer company – even if they did not hold the same personal values. More evidence of the shift…people want to work for companies with a higher purpose, that foster collaboration, contribution and innovation.

For more details on the study, value segments and their reward, recognition and communication preferences, please visit www.maritzmotivation.com/Employee-Values-Study.

Art by: Gwendolaine

Have you ever noticed how when someone tells us they’ve been really busy with work, we automatically interpret this as being a bad thing?  Certainly, no one associates having a lot of work to do with sunshine, love, happiness or any other positive experience.

In many ways, this is a natural product of both our schooling and work experiences, where we’re not guided and supported to use our genius, creativity, and talents in order to do the work we should do.  Rather, what is the more common experience is being funnelled through a system that puts us into neat slots like gears in a complex piece of machinery.

What is the more common experience is being funnelled through a system that puts us into neat slots

When it comes to work, we’ve come to accept the concept of ‘no pain, no gain’ as being the proper route to success and prosperity.  That we need to tough it out in the hopes that – someday – we might finally be able to do what we want to do because we’ve ‘paid our dues’.

To make matters worse, even if we are lucky enough to do work we enjoy, that sense of satisfaction tends to be short-lived as we’re rarely given the space to grow and evolve, with the freedom to make mistakes without being blackballed a failure and someone no longer worthy of development or the attention of those in charge.

And so, we inevitably hunker down, hoping that someday our ship will come in as a reward for all the sacrifices we’ve made, and we’ll finally get to live the life we always wanted and do the work that we’ve dreamed about doing all those many years ago.

No doubt this is why so many insurance and retirement planning companies rely on images of retired couples lounging on a boat off some tropical island, or taking up salsa dancing lessons before enjoying a night on the town.

In each instance the message is clear – we can live the life we really want . . . but only after we’ve committed to giving the best part of our lives today to doing work that might not be what we had planned or should be doing.

We can live the life we want only after we give the best parts of our life away working, right?

In this light, it’s not too surprising why we’ve created a negative connotation around the word ‘work’, whether it’s as a verb or a noun.

Of course, there’s a truth that we need to come to terms with if we are to truly succeed and thrive – both professionally and personally – and that is that we’re not making sacrifices.  We’re making choices.  Bad choices.  Safe choices.  Choices that those around us tell us are the ‘smart’ ones to make, but are often not the best ones for us to choose.

I know I’ve made a few of those in my past – choices I made to help pay the bills while waiting for that opportunity that I really wanted to show up.  And that’s where we fall into the trap, because while we may have accepted these choices as temporary, they soon become the work we do and the life we live because we stop looking for that path that we were meant to take; of reconnecting with the work we were meant to do.  We give up on such dreams in favour of pragmatism and familiarity; of sticking to what we know instead of what we need.

To be clear, this isn’t about simply ‘doing what we love’.  It’s about learning to love what we do because it provides us with a sense of fulfilment.  That our work becomes more than simply a means of survival and living, but a way for us to employ our talents, our genius, and our creativity and drive towards something meaningful and purpose-driven.

While the growing levels of anxiety, fear and stress we see in today’s workplaces are partly due to the prevailing uncertainties surrounding the global economy, it is also a manifestation of that disconnect between what we do and why we do it.

And it’s becoming clear as we move further into this century that this approach to our careers and lives is no longer sustainable; that we’ve reached a tipping point where people can no longer be expected to feel happy or fulfilled by working to live.  Instead, we need to shift the paradigm to one where people live to work.

We’ve reached a tipping point where people can no longer be expected to feel happy or fulfilled by working to live

Of course, that doesn’t mean that the sole reason for our lives is our work; that answering the typical question ‘what do you do for a living’ serves to define the sum total of our existence.  Rather, it means that we need to be more mindful in ensuring that the work we do is aligned with our internal compass that guides us to finding our purpose and our ability to contribute meaningfully.

That as much as we’re helping our organization to attain its shared goals, we’re also performing work that helps us to achieve a sense of purpose – that what we contribute matters and is meaningful beyond our sphere of influence.

In the Great Pyramid of Giza, Egyptologists have found carved in the stone blocks the names of some of the work teams that helped to build this monument.  The carvings were never meant to be seen by others.  Instead, they were made simply to demonstrate the workers sense of accomplishment and purpose that they derived from the simple, but back-breaking work of hauling these large stones into place.

Their example serves as a testimony that we don’t need to ‘have it all’ to feel a sense of fulfilment or achievement.  Rather, all that’s required is our willingness to no longer play it safe or waiting until later to commit our creativity, our passions and our dreams to that which not only creates meaning for others, but which also instills a sense of purpose and fulfilment within ourselves.

We want to thank Tanveer for letting us repost this excellent post.  You can read more of Tanveer’s writings on leadership at TanveerNaseer.com.

This post originally appeared on Leaguer Deb Scofield’s blog Innovanomics™

Image credit: redrockerz / 123RF Stock Photo

Whether you work in a startup or are working your way up the corporate ladder, to succeed you’ll have to learn the art of managing up.

During a performance review early in my career, my manager told me I was “good at managing up”… and I had no idea what he was talking about. At the time, I was still in school and eager. And instead of asking what he meant, I said “thank you” and asked what I could do to improve my skills.

I had no idea I’d stumbled on the top skill that would open doors of opportunity.

What Does Managing Up Mean?

Managing up means keeping your boss informed, being proactive, and when you discover a problem, coming to the table with a solution or two. Essentially, part of your job is to make your boss’s job… easier. Sounds straightforward right?

Let me give you a couple of tips on how to do this with some style.

Think of managing up as practice for when you become a manager.

Keeping Your Boss Informed

I hate meetings and find email is the biggest timesuck of my day. So I’m always thinking of ways to make these two chores more efficient. If you don’t have a regularly scheduled one-on-one with your boss, schedule them.

My current boss works remotely, so we have a quick 30 minute team sync-up every other day to handle day-to-day issues. The rest of my questions and status are jotted down in Evernote, then I shoot status of hot projects and questions either mid-day, or end of day if it can wait. For a series of related meetings with different groups, I provide one recap. Status of longer-term projects get saved in another Evernote for a one-on-one.

The goal is to send succinct summaries in as few emails as possible.

One suggestion for how to format your email is to put questions at the top, followed by status of projects and open action items. I rearrange the format depending on the urgency of the items.

Be Proactive

You might be thinking, “I don’t have time to be proactive, I’m swamped!” Consider this an exercise in time planning. Review your calendar for the week to see what you or your boss need to prepare for, and put that on a list. During a conference call when you’re a passive participant or when you want to switch gears from a project that is boring you to tears, knock some items off your list.

This little bit of planning will make you feel more prepared than spending that time checking out Facebook or taking selfies for Instagram.

These proactive efforts will help you to help your boss by enabling you to stay on top of your projects. You’ll make your manager’s job easier as they can spend more time managing their own projects, and less time managing you.

If You Got a Problem, Yo I’ll Solve It

If you’re the worker bee, much of the time you’ll be able to identify a problem before it blows up. When you bring up the issue, challenge yourself to create a solution or a workaround. Even if your solution doesn’t get implemented, it could give someone else the idea to what leads to the solution.

You’ll make your manager’s job easier as they can spend more time managing their own projects, and less time managing you.

If you just bring up problems without thinking of how to solve them, how do you think you’ll grow in your current role? Wouldn’t you rather be known to your manager as a doer or a problem solver?

Think of managing up as practice for when you become a manager.

You can criticize, condemn and complain or imagine, inspire and innovate. Your choice will determine your destiny. – Deepak Chopra

The need to go from NOW to HOW is critical. Leadership starts with our ability to imagine, inspire, innovate and communicate forward.

Hope lies in not simply playing to strengths, but to seizing every challenge, change, stressor and failure as an opportunity to grow, evolve and expand the power of our minds, the strength of our brains and the capacity of our hearts.

Courage lies in our ability develop a whole new mind set, skill set and heart set that optimizes the unbridled passion, purpose and potential of humans to do better, rather than simply living or working faster than ever before.

Strength lies in finding a common language, a common message that touches the heads, hearts and mind of many. A message that transcends social, ethnic, virtual and cross generational lines because it speaks to the purpose that unites us all.

Leadership starts with our ability to imagine, inspire, innovate and communicate forward.

Leaders must be purpose driven because purpose equals profit on a multiplicity of levels. If your employees, your team, your constituents do not feel that the work they do, the contribution they make, is purposeful they will never optimize or maximize their potential.

If they do not feel that they are an integral part of a bigger picture, a larger goal or a greater team, the engagement, loyalty, transparency of communication and collaboration optimization of engagement and potential will not be achieved.

Similarly, if they do not have access to resources that help them learn new ways of thinking doing and communicating that enable their greatest potential in the face of change, challenges, complexity and opportunities they cannot lead forward.

Leaders must embrace their ability to go from NOW to HOW by not simply playing to strengths but also to using change, challenges, stressors, even failures to optimize all 3Q’s: IQ (intelligence-focus-ability to learn and re-learn faster and better); EQ (emotional intelligence; self awareness, self management, relationship management, social management, communication); and SQ (values, purpose, integrity).

3Q Leadership strengths are not for the faint of heart. They are instead for those who want to negotiate dark corners, build new bridges among diverse groups and develop communities of purpose and practice that survive and thrive by using strengths, changes and challenges to communicate and lead forward.

Leaders must be excellent listeners, learners and communicators who build bridges across diverse groups, internal and external constituencies. They must build and empower Communities of Purpose where shared objectives, values, purpose and language empowers, engages and sustains actual, social/digital/virtual communication and collaboration.

They must have the courage to negotiate dark unknown corners with courage, hope, faith, integrity and humanity knowing that the differences that separate us are inconsequential in relation to the common human bond and purpose that unites us.

They must have the communication skills to find the message, the sound bite that opens the ears, heads, hearts and minds of all, irrespective of race, creed, gender or generational age. They must be leaders who learn, re-learn and fail forward faster and better than ever before by developing real and virtual/social communities of purpose.

Leaders must be excellent listeners, learners and communicators who build bridges across diverse groups, internal and external constituencies.

The need to go from NOW to HOW is critical. Leadership starts with our ability to imagine, inspire, innovate and communicate forward. It means embracing our ability to learn, re-learn, imagine, inspire and innovate by championing the mental, emotional agility and consistency of united purpose and integrity that can help us use what is to create what can be in ourselves, our people, our organizations…our world.

In the 1990s, we Boomers were fretting over a previous economic downturn and whether or not the Internet was a passing fad (another golden age of myopia). At that time, management thinker, Charles Handy, told a memorable story as an analogy for change in his book ‘The Age of Unreason’.

A tribe of South American Indians would place a frog in a pan of cold water and then heat it to boiling point (cheap midweek dinner). The frog would adapt its body temperature to the rising heat and be unaware of its fate until too late. However, Handy reported that if you put a frog into a pan of boiling water, it leaps out (or if the frog is a little slow, you get an instant ready meal).

What has this got to do with business today and tomorrow?

The world is facing a massive demographic challenge as the number of Boomers reaching retirement age creates a yawning chasm in the workplace. The New York Times called it a looming ‘Elderquake’ as the over-65s now outnumber the under 5s.

If you took a straw poll of Fortune 500 or FTSE 250 companies to find out the average age of CEOs, I suspect it’s nearer the Boomer end of the range. The predominant leadership and management styles and approaches that many Boomers have clung on to for decades met their apotheosis during the banking crisis. Command and out of control.

Our banks, businesses and political institutions have behaved like Handy’s frog in the pan of cold water: eyes wide shut and oblivious to what was happening around them. The pace, amount of change and complexity in the world means the water is now pretty hot most of the time.

What and who will replace the old emperors? The Millennials and their Generation Z successors will have to step up and seize the mantle of leadership from those reluctant Boomers who refuse to go gently into that dark night.

The younger, new emperors need clothes that fit authentically and inspirationally… and to find their own unique voice in tune with the times.

How will Boomers avoid passing down a legacy of ‘well, it worked for us’? If they have to work longer than previous generations, will they hang around in positions of power and simply refuse to let go?

Looking into my half-full crystal ball, a logical extension of the demographic shift may be a floating resource of freelance experience working longer than current retirement ages, less people in static offices, greater diversity of contribution and a further squeezing of time and space not constrained by 9 to 5.

What and who will replace the old emperors?

Millennial leaders will have fewer people to ‘manage’ in the traditional sense, are likely to lead more remote teams and online collaboration tools will be omnipresent.

Stepping up and letting go are multi-generational challenges. We need radical change in business leadership practice – ethical enterprise with values and behaviors to match. We need a genuine dialogue among the generations to develop new models of leadership and management that both enable healthy transition and reshape capitalism in a way that truly leverages talent from all sectors of society.

The younger, new emperors need clothes that fit authentically and inspirationally… and to find their own unique voice in tune with the times. They must lead with eyes wide open while learning to swim in the steamy, uncharted waters of our new economy – or learn to leap like Handy’s frog.

Millennials, what’s your vision of leadership? Boomers and Generation X, what discussion between the generations is taking place in your business about succession planning for the next generation of leaders? What’s your vision for the future leadership of your enterprise?

I think it’s a safe assumption, unless you’re a narcissistic sociopath, that people want a better society and want to contribute to that goal in some fashion.

There is plenty of frustration and uncertainty to go around in nearly every country. Social tensions permeate every aspect of our world and it is in the best interest of companies to make sure they are proactive about mitigating this as much as possible.

Short of launching some involved CSR campaign to support existing social programs aimed at providing a pleasant remedy to societal maladies, what can an organization do? I mean, they DO have a business to run and can’t be held responsible for everything wrong in the world… can they?

No need to work yourself into a tizzy, I’m not suggesting any of that. There is one simple fact that gives leadership within every organization an opportunity to positively contribute to alleviating some of the social ills that none of us want to continue.

In a word – employees.

Perhaps you’re thinking I’ve suckered you into doing more with engagement. You’re only half right. It is about engagement, but it’s not about being suckered into it. Society is made up of people and, without sounding trite, your organization is made up of people. What an amazing coincidence!

Think of the last bad day you had at work. Not the day when your internet connection died and you were in the middle of the best email ever written in the history of work.

I mean a day where you spilled coffee on your most expensive clothes, had 3 team members just refuse to do work and it was your head on the block, you ran out of gas on the way back from lunch (just before that big meeting) and became target practice for a wandering 10 pound albatross who had just had lunch – that kind of bad day.

Now let me ask you something. How was your day at home after work that day?

How easily irritated were you after all that? How much did you feel like positively contributing to being a good spouse and parent? How nice did you want to be to the trainee cashier at the supermarket who locked up the cash register and needed a manager to fix it? How forgiving were you to the server at the restaurant who brought your steak overcooked, even though they didn’t actually cook it?

These events all affect society and how we interact in that context.

Society is made up of people and, without sounding trite, your organization is made up of people. What an amazing coincidence!

Now that you have accurately located the emotional ire that festered in you on that horrific day, imagine creating that kind of feeling in a few hundred (dare I say thousand) people in the workplace. Then, send them out into the world after marinating in that tripe for about 8 hours or so.

Is that the society you want to live in? Yeah, me neither.

As organizational leaders, we have an amazing opportunity. We can positively influence the experience people have in doing what we collectively call “life”. We spend over 60% of our waking hours at work. Of course this atmosphere influences how we interact with everything outside of work. Sure there are exceptions, but we can’t abdicate our leadership responsibility and hang it on the behavior of a few exceptions.

As leaders, we can see the human potential in others and liberate that ability to achieve organizational goals – not to mention having a blast doing it – as well as individual professional goals. Fun and responsibility can, and should, coexist and it makes for a great way to improve society; one employee at a time.

Stop confining the effects of your leadership to the functions of the workplace. We don’t live in a vacuum, so we shouldn’t try to lead in one either.

Continue reading our New Leadership series with From Boomer to Gen Y Leaders: New Emperors Need New Clothes

Art by: Mollicles420

“What comes to mind when you hear the phrase ‘Millennial overachiever’?”, I asked my friends.

One friend replied, “You, Jenny. You’re an overachiever.”

According to the loose stereotype, the “Millennial overachiever” is someone who tries always to be a superstar at work, wants to do more in a day than most do in a week, and doesn’t care who they pass in the process.

Ouch.

Since I was 16, my peers made fun of me for being an “overachiever.” I was Co-Editor-in-Chief of my high school newspaper and worked 20-30 hours/week at Starbucks. Then, I attended a top-20 university, where I did more-or-less the same thing.

At 16, I felt totally and completely alienated when someone called me an overachiever. Today, 10 years later, that feeling hasn’t changed.

Merriam Webster defines an overachiever as “one who achieves success over and above the standard or expected level especially at an early age.”

Since 1990 is the median birth year of the Millennial generation, 23 is the average age of today’s Millennial. Let’s profile the true 23-year-old overachiever Millennial:

They have secured employment during one of the most competitive job markets of all time; they command respect from her Gen X co-workers; they participate in activities outside of work; they are on a fast track to career success.

At 16, I felt totally and completely alienated when someone called me an overachiever. Today, 10 years later, that feeling hasn’t changed.

So, when are we going to stop stereotyping overachieving Millennials as peer-stomping, success-hungry outliers?

Like many stereotypes, this one is detrimental for several reasons. Here are four of my own, to build a case for respecting millennial overachievers, rather than shun them:

Millennial overachievers already fully grasp the work/life balance that most of the working world wishes to attain.

Most Millennial overachievers put in more than just the 9-to-5 work schedule, know how to carve out time at the end of the day for his/her passions and absolutely know how to “work hard, play hard.”

I consider this type of person someone I can learn something from, don’t you?

Millennial overachievers genuinely want to do a great job.

They have a vested interest in positively impacting your company. Some may argue these extra-hard workers are merely resume-padding individuals. More likely, however, they want to put their best feet forward while they help you grow your business. They recognize that doing a great job at your company is a win/win situation.

Wouldn’t you prefer employees with this work ethic, over someone who is indifferent to the success of the company.

Deep down, Millennial overachievers just want to make a difference.

At the end of each day, every Millennial overachiever has the words “make a difference” written somewhere on their bucket list. They are not satisfied with just settling for the status quo. They want more.

I am inspired by these people who recognize they are small fish in a big pond, but who want to make the pond a little bit better. This may seem a bit “Kumbaya”, but some of the greatest leaders share this mentality.

Millennial overachievers are mature beyond their years.

As I mentioned, the average millennial is 23 years old and has been through one of the worst economic valleys in recent history. A Millennial overachiever has a job (or several), participates in extracurriculars and probably has several social circles.

At the end of each day, every Millennial overachiever has the words “make a difference” written somewhere on their bucket list.

Chances are that when you meet a Millennial overachiever, you’ll be shocked to find they aren’t a few years older.

In challenging ourselves to stop slapping “scarlet letters”on Millennial overachievers, let’s encourage that win/win situation they strive for.

Do you have an example of a Millennial overachiever that inspires you? Please share it in the comments below.

Continue reading our New Leadership series with Organizational Leadership and a Better Society

Art by: Jdarkly

Dear Enterprise Leader,

I’ve got some terrible news for you. Your best talent isn’t good enough to compete. Better talent is at work right across town, in an over-crowded garage at the house of some tiny firm’s founder.

Unlike your mammoth offices, this garage is full of energy, excitement, and – here’s the worst part for you – it’s full of absolute brilliance, the type of brilliance your own company was attracting just a few years ago, at the depth of the recession.

Buddy, you’re screwed. Chances are, it’s all over but the crying.

Your company is big, has a whole lot of customers, and an absolutely astonishing amount of cash. That’s all great, without question.

So what on earth am I carrying on about?

They’ve been so vanilafied that they have no flavor

In today’s business environment, each of those benefits I listed is actually a liability, that’s what.

You’re big – cumbersome. While new, little companies can turn on a dime, your bureaucratic processes allow you to change course about as quickly and gracefully as a fully loaded cargo ship on a water-ski slalom.

Worse, by the time all of your committees and layers of management put new ideas through their paces, they’ve been so vanilafied that they have no flavor: they’re safe, when today’s hyper-competitive world demands bold.

You have a lot of customers: good news, right? Not when all of your customers hate you. And let’s be honest, the only reason you haven’t adopted Net Promoter Score is that you don’t want your stockholders to learn what you already know: that it’s damned hard to find a promoter among your maltreated and ornery customers.

You’ve got contracts? Contracts expire, and as they do, the customers you tricked or bullied into signing will be only too happy to talk to that little garage firm across town.

You’re cash rich: yea!!! Right? Not when your employees resent you for it as they do. They know full well what reserves you have on tap, and what lavish bonuses you dole out to your C-level cronies every year.

Meanwhile, their own wages have stagnated for far too long; they’ve endured layoffs of their friends and had to absorb two, three, or more people’s workloads. As with your customers, you don’t ask your employees about their engagement for a very good reason: you already know, and you don’t want your board to get wind of it.

Time was when you could read those bullets and laugh smugly, while ordering another round of layoffs and another new jet. But with the recession behind most of us, and with the costs associated with starting a company at unprecedentedly low levels, new companies are popping up all over the place. These startups have energy and excitement, as startups often do.

Order another round of layoffs and another new jet

They also have one more feature that maybe wasn’t so important back when you were cutting your teeth in business a generation ago: they have much of the best talent available, anywhere.

The economy of the Twenty-Teens is motored by talent rather than by geography or capital or scale or defensive patents or anything else that used to matter last time you checked.

Talent is such a vital component of business that the following sentence should be tattooed backwards on every leader’s forehead, for them to read in the mirror several times each day:

He who wins the war for talent wins it all.

Are you winning the war for talent? Are you even fighting in that war? Or are you playing by last century’s playbook? – And I do mean playing, while those inspired, engaged, ingenious folks in the garage across town aren’t playing around at all: they’re fighting, and they’re winning.

It’s an important question, because if you don’t figure out how to attract and keep fewer bureaucrats while adding and retaining more talented staff, you truly are screwed.

Continue reading our New Leadership series with Time to Embrace the Millennial Overachiever

Photo by Pites

As someone who is not motivated by a pay-check, I struggled when I first entered the work world.

Well, not at first. First, I interned for a start-up and I thrived in that environment. It was a lean, busy, fast-paced environment where all the work being performed by each individual was absolutely necessary.

Then I spent some time in large public and private organizations where many of my tasks appeared to be irrelevant. I wrote reports no one ever read, and worked on processes that never really had a purpose. I started to think there was something wrong with me. I had a decent paying job with excellent benefits, and I hated every minute of it.

While I was questioning my status as a cog in the bureaucracy, one of my managers told me that I needed to develop intrinsic motivation to work hard and do a good job regardless of what happens with the result of that work. Loosely translated, this means “you need to be ok with busy-work where the only payoff is a pat on the back from your boss.”

One of my managers told me that I needed to develop intrinsic motivation to work hard and do a good job regardless of what happens

Companies who believe this should probably have Ritalin and Prozac covered in their medical plan.

I recently interviewed a candidate for an administrative position. She told me she believed the Receptionist is the most important person in the company, because she is the first person anyone interacts with. I could tell from that one statement that she loved what she did and she took it seriously.

I need to feel that way about my job. And I’m not alone.

When people talk to you about how Gen Y needs to be lead differently, the mindset that interviewee displayed is what they’re talking about. We’re not interested in busy-work. We really do need to see how what we do impacts the overall organization. If your employees question the process, you should be able to explain its importance.

If you can’t, perhaps you should also be questioning it.

You don’t have mindless drones just doing what they’re told

This occupational curiosity is not a character flaw. It’s an evolution of the workforce. You don’t have mindless drones just doing what they’re told. You have hyper-engaged employees who really want to help contribute to your bottom line. Look at what you ask your employees to do and then ask yourself:

• Is it productive?
• Is it necessary?
• Why are we doing it?

Answer these questions and communicate them to your staff. Perhaps take this one step further and get down in the trenches and lead by example. It’s hard not to be motivated to perform when the President of your company is performing the exact same tasks you do. Imagine you’re an entry-level employee working on a project and the CEO walks into your office and sincerely offers to help make cold calls or send out email invitations. Then try to feel like you’re insignificant.

Perhaps take this one step further and get down in the trenches and lead by example

There are many “leaders” who oppose this notion that they must take responsibility to help their staff understand the importance of their jobs. There’s still what I consider an old school of thought, where because you receive a pay-check you should just shut up, and do a good job at what you’re told to do.

To those “leaders” I say, as we come out of the recession, and the workforce continues to evolve, you may find it difficult to find someone who wants to accept your pay-check.

Continue reading our New Leadership series with Dear Enterprise Leaders: You’re Screwed. Here’s Why

Image credit: designaart / 123RF Stock Photo

]]> <div style="clear:both;padding-top:0.2em;"><a title="Like on Facebook" href="http://feeds.feedblitz.com/_/28/41413524/switchandshift"><img height="20" src="http://assets.feedblitz.com/i/fblike20.png" style="border:0;margin:0;padding:0;"></a>&#160;<a title="Share on Google+" href="http://feeds.feedblitz.com/_/30/41413524/switchandshift"><img height="20" src="http://assets.feedblitz.com/i/googleplus20.png" style="border:0;margin:0;padding:0;"></a>&#160;<a title="Pin it!" href="http://feeds.feedblitz.com/_/29/41413524/switchandshift,http%3a%2f%2fswitchandshift.com%2fwp-content%2fuploads%2f2013%2f05%2fapart-from-the-crowd_700x380.jpg"><img height="20" src="http://assets.feedblitz.com/i/pinterest20.png" style="border:0;margin:0;padding:0;"></a>&#160;<a title="Tweet This" href="http://feeds.feedblitz.com/_/24/41413524/switchandshift"><img height="20" src="http://assets.feedblitz.com/i/twitter20.png" style="border:0;margin:0;padding:0;"></a>&#160;<a title="Subscribe by email" href="http://feeds.feedblitz.com/_/19/41413524/switchandshift"><img height="20" src="http://assets.feedblitz.com/i/email20.png" style="border:0;margin:0;padding:0;"></a>&#160;<a title="Subscribe by RSS" href="http://feeds.feedblitz.com/_/20/41413524/switchandshift"><img height="20" src="http://assets.feedblitz.com/i/rss20.png" style="border:0;margin:0;padding:0;"></a>&#160;<a title="View Comments" href="http://switchandshift.com/leading-gen-y-the-importance-of-importance#comments"><img height="20" style="border:0;margin:0;padding:0;" src="http://assets.feedblitz.com/i/comments20.png"></a>&#160;<a title="Follow Comments via RSS" href="http://switchandshift.com/leading-gen-y-the-importance-of-importance/feed"><img height="20" style="border:0;margin:0;padding:0;" src="http://assets.feedblitz.com/i/commentsrss20.png"></a>&nbsp; <div style="clear:left;"><a href="http://switchandshift.com/leading-gen-y-the-importance-of-importance#comments"><h3>Comments</h3></a><ul><li><a href="http://switchandshift.com/leading-gen-y-the-importance-of-importance#comment-10546">Great article, Scott!</a> <i>by Ness Lipa</i><li><a href="http://switchandshift.com/leading-gen-y-the-importance-of-importance#comment-10544">Thanks Ted. I don't think everyone needs to think they are the ...</a> <i>by Scott Keenan</i><li><a href="http://switchandshift.com/leading-gen-y-the-importance-of-importance#comment-10539">By: Why Leading the Herd Diminishes Effectiveness &#124; Switch and Shift</a> <i>by Why Leading the Herd Diminishes Effectiveness | Switch and Shift</i><li><a href="http://switchandshift.com/leading-gen-y-the-importance-of-importance#comment-10529">Scott, this post is so right-on-the-money! I winced when I read ...</a> <i>by Ted Coine</i></ul></div>&#160;</div> http://switchandshift.com/leading-gen-y-the-importance-of-importance/feed 3 http://switchandshift.com/why-leading-the-herd-diminishes-effectiveness?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=why-leading-the-herd-diminishes-effectiveness http://feeds.feedblitz.com/~/41413526/0/switchandshift~Why-Leading-the-Herd-Diminishes-Effectiveness http://switchandshift.com/why-leading-the-herd-diminishes-effectiveness#comments Mon, 13 May 2013 12:00:26 +0000 Rebel Brown http://switchandshift.com/?p=5291 <div style="clear:both;padding-top:0.2em;"><a title="Like on Facebook" href="http://feeds.feedblitz.com/_/28/41413526/switchandshift"><img height="20" src="http://assets.feedblitz.com/i/fblike20.png" style="border:0;margin:0;padding:0;"></a>&#160;<a title="Share on Google+" href="http://feeds.feedblitz.com/_/30/41413526/switchandshift"><img height="20" src="http://assets.feedblitz.com/i/googleplus20.png" style="border:0;margin:0;padding:0;"></a>&#160;<a title="Pin it!" href="http://feeds.feedblitz.com/_/29/41413526/switchandshift,http%3a%2f%2fswitchandshift.com%2fwp-content%2fuploads%2f2013%2f05%2fcrowd_700x300.jpg"><img height="20" src="http://assets.feedblitz.com/i/pinterest20.png" style="border:0;margin:0;padding:0;"></a>&#160;<a title="Tweet This" href="http://feeds.feedblitz.com/_/24/41413526/switchandshift"><img height="20" src="http://assets.feedblitz.com/i/twitter20.png" style="border:0;margin:0;padding:0;"></a>&#160;<a title="Subscribe by email" href="http://feeds.feedblitz.com/_/19/41413526/switchandshift"><img height="20" src="http://assets.feedblitz.com/i/email20.png" style="border:0;margin:0;padding:0;"></a>&#160;<a title="Subscribe by RSS" href="http://feeds.feedblitz.com/_/20/41413526/switchandshift"><img height="20" src="http://assets.feedblitz.com/i/rss20.png" style="border:0;margin:0;padding:0;"></a>&#160;<a title="View Comments" href="http://switchandshift.com/why-leading-the-herd-diminishes-effectiveness#comments"><img height="20" style="border:0;margin:0;padding:0;" src="http://assets.feedblitz.com/i/comments20.png"></a>&#160;<a title="Follow Comments via RSS" href="http://switchandshift.com/why-leading-the-herd-diminishes-effectiveness/feed"><img height="20" style="border:0;margin:0;padding:0;" src="http://assets.feedblitz.com/i/commentsrss20.png"></a>&nbsp; <div style="clear:left;"><a href="http://switchandshift.com/why-leading-the-herd-diminishes-effectiveness#comments"><h3>Comments</h3></a><ul><li><a href="http://switchandshift.com/why-leading-the-herd-diminishes-effectiveness#comment-10541">HI Ben Thanks much for stopping by and sharing your voice! We ...</a> <i>by Rebel Brown</i><li><a href="http://switchandshift.com/why-leading-the-herd-diminishes-effectiveness#comment-10525">Rebel, You certainly have the right first name to voice this ...</a> <i>by Ben Simonton</i><li><a href="http://switchandshift.com/why-leading-the-herd-diminishes-effectiveness#comment-10524">By: Why Leading the Herd Diminishes Effectiveness &#124; People Discovery</a> <i>by Why Leading the Herd Diminishes Effectiveness | People Discovery</i></ul></div>&#160;</div>

As a leader you’ve likely noticed how people tend to fall in with the opinions of the herd. Or many herds?

That’s not always good to see.

It happens because our unconscious mind rewards us with a pleasure response every time we side with the herd. Our mind also sends an error message, or a threat warning, whenever we begin to stray from the group. No wonder we seem to instinctively conform to group opinion! That surely explains a lot, doesn’t it?

 Our unconscious mind rewards us with a pleasure response every time we side with the herd

This programming in our mind’s software comes from the caveman days; back when safety was only found within the clan. The more humans there were in the clan, the more powerful the clan could be against the mammoths, tigers, and worse. Let’s face it, an individual had little chance of survival on their own back in the day.

Today, that same herd instinct gets in the way of our success.

Leadership Shift: Away from the Herd

We can and will get far more innovative and powerful results when we lead our teams away from the herd to think for themselves.

First, we need to be aware of the power of the herd instinct within your team, noticing the behaviors that are driven by the group. When we encounter these behaviors or beliefs that are counter-productive to our business, we can act to shift them toward more productive approaches. How?

Be aware of the power of the herd instinct within your team

• We can become models to show our teams that it’s good to step away from the herd and demonstrate individuality in thinking and actions. We can play the Devil’s Advocate to the herd opinion; shift our own behavior away from the herd and into new and innovative thinking and actions.

The message: It’s good to step away from conformity and think as an individual.

• We can visibly reward the members of our team who step away from the herd. Whenever someone shares a new idea, a novel approach or a brainstorm, reward that individuality. It doesn’t mean the idea has to be great. You’re simply rewarding the behavior of thinking or acting in an innovative way.

The message: It’s safe to think and do for yourself.

• We can also create subgroups of the herd – small teams – tasking them to develop new approaches or ideas that deviate from the status quo of the herd. Smaller teams still have the opportunity to “herd up.” So, we also need to be sure we toss in new ideas and goals to each of these teams to continuously “shake them up.”

The message: The status quo isn’t the goal, nor is it safe.

The Bottom Line

Sometimes the herd instinct works well: when we want to create a cohesive team it can be a powerful, supportive tool. At other times the herd instinct just plain inhibits innovation and progress.

The key is to balance the herd instinct and its potential survival mind instincts with the innovation and new approaches we need to be successful.

Continue reading our New Leadership series with Leading Gen Y: The Importance of Importance

Image credit: izakowski / 123RF Stock Photo

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