Forbes
January 30, 2013
82 Percent Of People Don’t Trust The Boss To Tell The Truth
By Ty Kiisel, Contributor
Edelman’s Trust Barometer for 2013 was recently released with results from 31,000 respondents in 26 markets around the world. The 13th annual survey is the largest survey to date and the largest survey of its kind. Some of the most fascinating data I discovered this year was that only 18 percent of those surveyed trust business leaders to tell the truth—that’s only marginally above government officials who come in at a whopping 13 percent. Not a very positive endorsement.
“We’re clearly experiencing a crisis in leadership,” says Richard Edelman, president and CEO of Edelman PR.
Not too long ago I spent some time with Judith Umlas, Senior Vice President at the International Institute for Learning, to talk about her most recent book Grateful Leadership: How to Use the Power of Acknowledgement to Engage, Motivate, and Keep Your Best People. It didn’t take long for me to discover that we were both on the same page as we talked about creating a positive work culture, effective leadership, and employee engagement.
Not too long ago I wrote about the 65 percent of American workers who would choose a better boss over a pay raise. With that in mind, I think it’s high time we started paying more attention to the “…crisis in leadership” Edelman is talking about.
One of the things I like about Judy’s approach is how a simple change in how we interact with each other can actually foster an environment where people can perform at their best, be more engaged in their work, and have a positive impact on the level of trust employees feel toward the boss. I have to admit that I was very surprised at how little I really knew about acknowledging people—even though I thought I was pretty good at recognizing and rewarding accomplishments (which, by the way, are two very different things).
One of the case studies she shared with me really seemed to hit the nail on the head. At least it pointed out the difference between recognition and acknowledgement for me; and might be a great way to illustrate the difference for you too. And, lest you think this is all about sensitive leaders coddling overly-sensitive employees, you might be interested to know that the case study involves the U.S. Army and how Judy consults with them to better train their officers. She shared with me the observation of one Army officer who said, “I’ve been recognized many times over the course of my career, but I have never been acknowledged.”
He then proceeded to share how he thought this was something important enough that the Army should pay attention. Since that time, Judy has been a regular consultant working with the Army on a number of challenges that face its leaders and its fighting men and women.
I really thought I understood what the idea of acknowledgement was when I first met Judy, but I was wrong. The two biggest lessons I learned from her are:
1. It’s less about what someone does and more about who they are: I don’t want to put words in Judy’s mouth, but I think the fact that acknowledgements are more about who you are than what you do is part of what makes them so meaningful. What’s more, “Grateful Leaders create a culture of appreciation,” she says. I have always believed that effective recognition needed to be specific. Although that might be true of recognition, it doesn’t apply to acknowledgement. “Judy, you bring a wonderful temperament into the office. The stress levels just seem to drop on every project you work on,” is a great acknowledgement. At the same time, “Judy, thank you for the extra effort on the Jensen product. The extra time you spent to make sure the drawings were perfect really made the difference and helped us secure the contract,” is a good example of recognition. See the difference?
2. Sharing acknowledgement might be uncomfortable at first—get over it: I must admit, acknowledging people sounds easier than it is. As I’ve sat down with members of my team and tried to incorporate this approach into our interactions, it has sometimes felt pretty cheesy and maybe even a bit contrived. However it’s become easier for me to be genuinely more appreciative of my colleagues as time has gone on. I work with some pretty incredible people. What’s more, whether or not the acknowledgements I share are meaningful to them (which I think they probably are), I feel better about the members of my team and the people within our organization I get to work with. So, at the very least, it’s been meaningful to me.
I agree with Edelman, we do have a real leadership crisis in businesses large and small all across our country. Business schools have done a great job of teaching people how to manage, but we need leaders. We need to stop managing people in the same way we manage process or equipment. We need people who can motivate and inspire the workforce to step up and perform at their best. What we have today is a culture where 65 percent of American workers (both executives and manual laborers) say they would rather work with a better boss and 82 percent of them don’t trust the guy (or gal) they work for.
I’m convinced that the value of our employees is less about what they do and more about who they are. It just makes sense to me that acknowledging people generally, as well as recognizing their accomplishments and skills, should be something every business leader does. I recognize that it might not be a panacea for all that ails business in America (or the solution to the lack of trust most workers feel towards their boss) but it’s an easy and powerful first step.
Judy would likely suggest that it’s possible to build a culture of appreciation and trust even where that culture doesn’t now exist. It all starts with one person, one conversation, and one acknowledgement. The Chinese philosopher Lao Tsu said, “The journey of a thousand miles starts with one step.”
When the leaders of businesses both large and small step up to the plate and quit talking about how culture is important and start putting their money where their mouth is, we might actually see this environment of distrust and dislike dissipate. Business is personal—and that includes the relationship between employees and their employer. We should embrace it, rather than fight it. It might be uncomfortable at first, but it’s well worth the effort.
New York Enterprise Reports
January 2, 2013
What Employees Want – Why leaders need to be grateful
By Michelle Court
http://www.nyreport.com/articles/83728/what_employees_want
Judith Umlas is senior vice president of International Institute for Learning, Inc. and the author of Grateful Leadership: Using the Power of Acknowledgment to Engage All Your People and Achieve Superior Results.
Traditional leaders say, “You should be very grateful to me because you have a job, I pay your health insurance, and your 401k.” A grateful leader, however, will be one who is in touch with his or her own personal gratitude for the opportunity that they have to lead.
A grateful leader is someone who’s very, very comfortable expressing appreciation for his or her people for who they are and what they do (or are, at least, very willing to experience their discomfort and do it anyway), and not just those who work for the company. It might be for the customer. It might be for the vendors who bring the products in that allow them to do their work. And a grateful leader is also one who’s easily accessible to their people on a regular basis.
At the moment, it can be considered a little embarrassing to be a grateful leader because you could be criticized so easily. Based on my near decade of research with CEOs and leaders of hundreds of companies, over the next 10 years, it’s going to be the model that leaders want to—need to—follow, in order to achieve maximum performance and reach their revenue goals. Gratitude from a leader is extremely critical in making the workplace a place that people want to be in, perform in, and do the best they can in.
Benefits such as onsite daycare, cleaning services, and unlimited time off will become more popular. But if you take all of those great things that you can give an employee—every single one of them—put them in a beautiful box, wrap it in paper, and put a bow around it, it is not enough if you don’t let the person know that they’re valued and appreciated.
McGraw Hill Professional Blog
December 6, 2012
The Immediate, Positive, Ongoing Impact of Grateful Leadership!
A guest post by Judith Umlas:
Recently, I led two webinars for Thomson Reuters on Grateful Leadership: Using the Power of Acknowledgment to Engage All Your People and Achieve Superior Results. During the class, I asked each participant to acknowledge someone in their career who they had not previously acknowledged in a heartfelt, profound way. I’ve done this exercise with many thousands of people, and the results are dramatic and moving to me as well as to the individuals sharing their acknowledgments.
Almost immediately following one of these sessions, I received a delightful email exchange from a participant named Srinivasan, who is based in Bangalore, India..
I was thrilled to discover that Srinivasan had heard and understood the message from my webinar, and had also acted almost immediately by acknowledging his whole team via email. They in turn had responded back to him, and I was lucky enough to receive permission from Srinivasan to share his wonderful example of Grateful Leadership.
Hi All,
Today attend[ed] the [virtual] session by Judith W. Umlas, author of “Grateful Leadership,“ who emphasized using the “Power of Acknowledgment” to engage all your people and achieve superior results.
During…the session there was an exercise…like this – Think of a person you should acknowledge. Why should he or she be acknowledged? Write a brief acknowledgement to that person. And, are you willing to deliver it to him or her? When? - I could recall each one of you having contributed significantly during the last one week and thought, why not share such an acknowledgment today with each one of you?
Prafulla Devkumar – Excellent job done on the seamless coordination of the Mobile developer Summit and the leadership Chat session of Rahul Powar. Confidence demonstrated on preparing and sharing the Spend Report.
Berna Dsouza – Committed follow up with all teams and doubling the target on disposal of assets to NASCCOM.
Vijayalakshmi Balarajan - Ensuring all aspects of Peter Warwick’s visit and dedicated support towards managing the Karnataka Bandh Situation.*
Rashmi Doreswamy – Would like to appreciate the efforts put in by Rashmi D for the excellent coordination of the CSP project yesterday despite her personal exigencies.
I am proud of you all. Keep up the great job and I look forward to your committed engagement to achieve superior results.
Thank You.
Regards,
Srinivasan
* A Bandh is a form of protest or strike
And, wonders of wonders, within a few hours every member of the team wrote back to both thank and acknowledge Srini for his outstanding leadership! Even his boss, who was copied on the emails, acknowledged Srini for his contributions. These kinds of results are really what are at the core of Grateful Leadership, which shows how simple and effective it is to deliver messages of appreciation and acknowledgment. By doing this, your people will feel valued and will want to perform and take more initiative because they know their contributions are noticed and affirmed. When Grateful Leaders take action, the impact is immediate and sends positive ripples throughout the organization. Grateful Leaders like Srini can achieve more in terms of team satisfaction and overall business results, and the same outcome is possible for any leader once he or she makes the decision to Go Grateful.
CNBC Bullish on Books
December 2, 2012
http://www.cnbc.com/id/100267922/Want_a_Great_Team_Show_Them_Some_of_This
GUEST AUTHOR BLOG by: Judith W. Umlas author of”Grateful Leadership, Using the Power of Acknowledgment to Engage All Your People and Achieve Superior Results”
How many millions of dollars are being spent by companies to develop the newest, most innovative and best employee retention strategies?
Some companies try to entice employees by offering more and more benefits like on site dry cleaners, child care, house-cleaning, gift cards and countless other solutions.
Record amounts of money are being funneled into these retention strategies, and sometimes these incentive initiatives overlook a fundamental element of retaining their people.
Benefits will only take you so far in keeping employees and all of a company’s stakeholders on board if they are not engaged and passionate about what they do.
People need to feel valued for their contributions, and building a culture of appreciation and acknowledgment is a simple,cost-effective method that companies can implement and maintain to keep people engaged and able to achieve the work-life balance they seek in their lives.
I will give you an example that I wrote about in my new book, “Grateful Leadership: Using the Power of Acknowledgment to Engage All Your People and Achieve Superior Results.” The example as I recall it, really drove home the point for me about the effectiveness of having and continually enabling a culture of appreciation and gratitude. It occurred when I delivered a keynote address to an Information Systems conference in Arizona, after which a young woman came up to me and said, “I am a living example of what you have been talking about!”
“Great,” I said and waited curiously to hear her story.
“I used to work for a great company, Booz Allen Hamilton,”she began. “I felt valued and appreciated every day and loved coming to work,even when I was involved in difficult and challenging projects,” she continued.”And then I got an offer to go to another company with a more senior level position with a higher salary. Even then it was a tough call,” she said, “but I eventually chose to take the job. Then, after just a few weeks, I realized I had made a huge mistake. There was no appreciation for anything I did, no praise or recognition or acknowledgment. I felt confused and uncertain all the time, and did not feel valued at all. And so,” she said with a big grin, “last week I quit! I don’t have another job lined up, but I am going back to Booz Allen Hamilton in any position. I really need to be in a company that appreciates its people.”
I found this story intriguing, and with my interest piqued, I sought out a partner at the company to talk about their culture as well as to share with her the story I had been told. I asked the Partner, “Have you heard of other examples of people leaving and then wanting to return to your company because they missed its positive culture?”
She laughed and said, “Oh yes, we call them the ‘come-back kids’, and we welcome them, knowing how happy they are to make their greatest contribution to a company that values them.”
The Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) cites “lack of appreciation” in an Employee Retention Study as the number one reason why good people leave good jobs to go to other companies. So what can be done about this goes beyond perks and benefits. Leaders who recognize that the special gifts and talents people bring to the team and organization as a whole must be valued and acknowledged on a consistent basis. As a leader, allow yourself to feel and express the gratitude you have for your people, especially when they dedicate themselves and their unique talents to accomplishing the objectives at hand.
As part of my new book,I had the awesome opportunity to interview 11 inspiring and amazingly humble Grateful Leaders, including Walter Robb, co-CEO of Whole Foods Market and Tom LaForge, Global Director of Human & Cultural Insights, The Coca-ColaCompany, I was always surprised to find out how each Grateful Leader had a unique perspective and always taught me something new about what it truly means o build a culture of gratitude and appreciation. More than anything, I see these leaders as courageous pioneers, in changing the way we think about leaders and their relationship to their teams. Rather than expecting their people to be grateful to them for their jobs, their health benefits and 401(k)s, these leaders allow themselves to feel and express their gratitude for having their people choose to join and stay with them.
To lead with gratitude is to have the courage to learn, the vision to lead, and the passion to grow. Through my experience training executives and business professionals around the world, I have learned that the leaders who want to make their companies better places to work and the jobs of the people around them more gratifying, have frequently built the strongest and most loyal teams through authentic, heartfelt acknowledgment. Successful teams almost always share one unique trait, and that is the ability to freely express appreciation for the contributions of others, which has an immediate positive impact on productivity, engagement and overall well-being of team members.
So the message I want to get across in my books, this blog entry, training sessions and pretty much anything I do is that gratitude, acknowledgment and appreciation are powerful leadership capabilities. Leaders who possess these skills will engage their people and let them know how valued and appreciated they are, which outlasts the novelty of tangible benefits — including even raises. According to a McKinsey Quarterly survey, respondents to questions about what motivates people identified three non cash motivators. “Praise from immediate managers,leadership attention (for example, one-on-one conversations), and a chance to lead projects or task forces – [were] no less or even more effective motivators than the three highest-rated financial incentives: cash bonuses, increased base pay, and stock or stock options….”
So let’s be clear: if you want to provide the foundation for a healthy and collaborative workplace culture, be grateful… and be sure to let your people know that you are!
About the author: Judith W. Umlas is Senior Vice President at International Institute for Learning, Inc. (IIL) and Publisher of IIL Publishing as well as the project management website all M.com. She has trained over 20,000 professionals, including project managers, engineers, executives and C-Level leaders. Her articles have appeared in Working Woman magazine, the New York Times, the Chicago Tribune and many other newspapers and magazines. She is the author of The Power of Acknowledgment,Grateful Leadership: Using the Power of Acknowledgment to Engage All Your People and Achieve Superior Results, and the upcoming, anti-bullying book The Power of Acknowledgment for Kids.
Blogging4Jobs.com
November 25, 2012
GRATEFUL LEADERSHIP: A Little Praise Goes A Long Way
By Shannon Smedstad
http://www.blogging4jobs.com/work/i-am-grateful/
I am Grateful in Life & Leadership
In a recent episode of Modern Family, DeDe (Shelley Long) and Manny (Rico Rodriguez) are sitting on the couch talking, when DeDe says, “Thank you for your letters.” To which Manny replies, “It’s a lost art, no one puts pen to paper anymore.” And, in a nutshell, that’s an issue that — Grateful Leadership: Using the Power of Acknowledgement to Engage All Your People and Achieve Superior Results — is trying to resolve, from a business perspective.
Through her book, Judith W. Umlas takes the reader on a journey toward understanding the seven principles of acknowledgement and incorporating a philosophy of grateful leadership into the daily grind. This might sound touchy-feely, but Umlas does a fantastic job of tying the more emotional aspects of leadership back to tangible, measurable business outcomes.
Grateful Leadership is comprehensive professional development guide, chocked full of real examples, situations and an assessment. It also includes poignant profiles of leaders from organizations such as Southwest Airlines, the NYPD, Nokia and one of my favorite places, Whole Foods.
WHAT IS GRATEFUL LEADERSHIP?
Back in the 1960s, a new concept called servant leadership was explored and studied. It’s the notion that people naturally want to serve, that when leaders listen to the needs of their people, individuals perform better. Today, it’s a philosophy adopted by many Fortune 500 companies.
I don’t want to give away the meat and potatoes of the book, but here is the essence of the defining principles. Many people deserve to be appreciated, but few actually are. When you acknowledge people and their contributions, you can: build trust, reduce negative feelings, improve employee engagement, profoundly impact someone’s life, become healthier, and produce positive results. There are many opportunities throughout each day to acknowledge individuals; grateful leaders seize them and act.
WHAT GRATEFUL LEADERS DO DIFFERENTLY
While reading Umlas’ book, I extracted five simple things that grateful leaders do. These leaders:
- Regularly express heartfelt appreciation, and acknowledge the contributions and attributes of individuals or teams.
- Have an open door policy and are accessible to everyone, from receptionist to upper management, and will talk about things other than work.
- Recognize that being in a leadership role is a privilege that should not be taken for granted.
- Understand that sincere acknowledgment improves employee engagement which impacts the bottom line.
- Focus on their people, the “followers,” and strive to help them grow, develop and achieve more.
SHIFT TO A STATE OF GRATITUDE
Most likely, you celebrated Thanksgiving on Thursday and gave thanks for family, friends and other blessings bestowed. But the season of thanksgiving can transcend the entire year, not just one day in late November. When I finished Umlas’ book, I immediately grabbed a pen and piece of paper, and wrote a list of seven people that I needed to acknowledge. The book shifts your thinking to a state of gratitude.
I’d like to get in a habit — like many of the grateful leaders profiled in this book — of carving out time each week or month to thoughtfully acknowledge the people around me for the contributions they make. I don’t want to wallow among the thankless any longer! My resolution is to rise and energize amidst the thankful.
Globe Newswire (Press Release)
Nov. 13, 2012
Eleven Outstanding Leaders Honored With First Annual Grateful Leadership Tribute
Leaders From NYPD, Whole Foods, Prudential Annuities Among Recipients Honored at Rizzoli Bookstore Event November 15, 2012
NEW YORK, Nov 13, 2012 (GlobeNewswire via COMTEX) — Eleven outstanding leaders will be honored with the first annual Grateful Leadership Tribute at the launch of the new book from author Judith W. Umlas, Grateful Leadership: Using the Power of Acknowledgment to Engage All Your People and Achieve Superior Results, McGraw-Hill Professional and International Institute for Learning, Inc. (IIL). IIL will present the tribute to attending recipients, Captain Daniel E. Sosnowik, Commanding Officer of the Leadership Training Section of the New York Police Department and Kimberly Supersano, Chief Marketing Officer of Prudential Annuities. The book launch will be held at Rizzoli Bookstore, 31 West 57th Street, New York, Thursday, November 15, 2012, 5:30 to 7:00 pm.
Other honorees not in attendance include: Mark Addicks, Chief Marketing Officer, General Mills; Lynn Batara, Enterprise Project Management Office Director, Franklin Templeton Investments; Michael Case, President & CEO, The Westervelt Company; Janis O’Bryan, Chief Information Officer, Hudson Advisors; Primitivo Davis, Brigade Chaplain, U.S. Army; Walter Robb, Co-CEO, Whole Foods Market; Tom LaForge, Global Director of Human and Cultural Insights, The Coca-Cola Company; Xavier Joly, Global Director of People Development, Volvo Powertrain and Roberto Daniel, Senior Director, Invensys Controls.
These leaders are profiled in Umlas’ book and embody the spirit of Grateful Leadership by cultivating gratitude and appreciation through acknowledging the value of staff and their contributions to the organization as a whole. Honorees have long-standing records of superior employee engagement, building positive workplace cultures, and delivering world class business and professional results. The Tribute will be presented by E. LaVerne Johnson, Founder, President and CEO, IIL and Judith W. Umlas, Author, Trainer & Sr. Vice President, IIL. The company will make a donation in each of the Grateful Leaders’ names to the Covenant House New York Mother and Child Program.
Umlas’ book Grateful Leadership presents the business case for The Power of Acknowledgment, her first book, and proposes and demonstrates with research and case studies that leaders who appreciate their employees and express their gratitude in a heartfelt and authentic way have improved performance and overall results. The Grateful Leadership Tribute honors leaders who exemplify this style of leadership.
“IIL is thrilled to honor business leaders who are pioneers in enhancing and improving the workplace culture,” said IIL President and CEO Johnson. “Putting people first and enabling their success is a core value of IIL, and we are proud to acknowledge business leaders who share this vision for including gratitude among the core competencies of leadership. We are very moved and happy to make a donation in each of the Grateful Leaders’ names to Covenant House, and to present the leaders with drawings and writings from current residents stating one thing for which they are grateful.”
The first Grateful Leadership Tribute ceremony and book launch event will be held on November 15, 2012 at Rizzoli Bookstore in Midtown Manhattan. Members of the press and other interested parties are invited to attend by contacting Vanessa Innes at 212 515-5177.
About International Institute for Learning, Inc.
IIL is a global leader in training, consulting, coaching and customized course development, and is proud to be the educational provider of choice for many top global companies. IIL’s core competencies include Project, Program and Portfolio Management, Business Analysis, Microsoft(R) Project and Project Server, Lean Six Sigma, PRINCE2(R), ITIL(R), Agile, Leadership and Interpersonal Skills, Corporate Consciousness and Sustainability.
www.iil.com
www.gratefulleadership.com
Lendio Small Business Blog
October 22, 2012
Grateful Leadership—Business Fuel Podcast #8
http://www.lendio.com/blog/greatful-leadershipbusiness-fuel-podcast-8/
By Ty Kiisel
Over the last several years, I’ve been particularly engaged in trying to help teams and work-groups become more productive. Unfortunately, many of the practices we traditionally utilize to hopefully inspire and motivate employees not only don’t work, they inhibit and de-motivate (if that’s even a word) people.
Some of the guys I ride motorcycles with would likely think this is a little “mushy” if they were to listen, but I’m convinced the evidence of numerous studies (many I have written about over the years) suggest how we interact with employees is critical to whether or not we are successful in fostering an environment where they are engaged and contributing at a high level.
Part of today’s podcast includes what the U.S. Army is doing in this regard and I doubt there are many people who would call them “mushy” or “touchy-feely.”
If you interested in learning more about the 5 Cs you can email Judy at Judy.Umlas@iil.com.
Deseret News
October, 19 2012
Utilizing the power of acknowledgment to motivate and inspire the workforce
By Ty Kiisel
According to a recent survey by Michelle McQuaid, one of the world’s foremost leaders in positive psychology intervention in the workplace, 65 percent of the American workforce would prefer a better boss to a pay raise. Only 35 percent say a pay raise would make them happy.
With that in mind, if you don’t know Judith W. Umlas, you need to get to know her — and soon. Especially if you want to build greater trust among your employees and create an environment where they can become more engaged. At Lendio, I have the opportunity to interview and speak with many authors and entrepreneurs throughout the year, but I found Judith and her message to business leaders and entrepreneurs to be something special.
In an upcoming book to be released in November, “Grateful Leadership: How to Use the Power of Acknowledgement to Engage, Motivate, and Keep Your Best People,” Umlas talks about how taking the time to acknowledge people (in this case employees) fosters an environment where people can perform at their best and tend to be more engaged in their work. I had the great pleasure of reading a pre-publication manuscript of her upcoming book in addition to speaking with her. I was surprised that I didn’t know quite as much about “acknowledging” people as I thought I did.
You’ll likely discover the same thing.
Over the last 30+ years of my professional career, I’ve experienced the good, the bad, and the ugly — so far as bosses are concerned. Through those experiences, I’ve formed opinions that have shaped they way I try to interact with my colleagues and subordinates.
Sometimes I even believe I’ve been successful.
I’ve always thought that praise needed to be specific and public to be effective. Through my interactions with Judy Umlas — her friends get to call her Judy — I’ve come to appreciate that I didn’t have the entire story. In fact, after speaking with her I remembered an interaction I had with a boss I had a few years back. Let me share it with you.
During the course of an otherwise unrelated conversation (I don’t even remember what we were talking about), my boss said something like, “Ty, you have an influence for good throughout our entire department that extends beyond your team. I’m very glad you’re here.”
Looking back, that “acknowledgement” as Umlas would describe it, was very meaningful to me. Even though it wasn’t specific, it took place in a private conversation, and it was way too touchy-feely for most executives, I have to admit: It really felt good to be appreciated for something other than how well I did my job, for which he regularly “recognized” me. Nevertheless, “acknowledgement” and “recognition” are not the same thing. During the time I worked with him, I found him to be such an inspiring leader, I would have walked over broken glass barefoot if he’d needed me too — that’s an acknowledgement from me to him, by the way.
Lest you think this is all about sensitive leaders coddling overly sensitive employees, you might be interested to know that the U.S. Army consults with Umlas to better train their officers. She shared with me the observation of one Army officer who said, “I’ve been recognized many times over the course of my career, but I have never been acknowledged.”
He then proceeded to share how he thought this was something important enough that the Army should pay attention. Since that time, Umlas has been a regular consultant working with the Army on a number of challenges that face its leaders and its fighting men and women.
I don’t want to put words in Judy Umlas’ mouth, but I think the fact that acknowledgements are more about who you are than what you do is part of what makes them so meaningful. What’s more, “Grateful leaders create a culture of appreciation,” she says.
I’m convinced we have a real leadership crisis in corporate America today. Business schools have done a great job of teaching people how to manage, but we need leaders. We need to stop managing people the same way we manage process or equipment. We need people who can motivate and inspire the workforce to step up and perform at their best. What we have today is a culture where 65 percent of American workers — executives and manual laborers — say they would rather work with a better boss than get a raise. To be honest, that statistic blows my mind, which is one of the reasons it was a topic of discussion in a recent Forbes column.
I think it’s time that more business leaders, in small and large organizations, step up to the plate and quit talking about how culture is important and start putting their money where their mouth is. Business is personal. We should embrace that rather than fight it. It might be uncomfortable at first, but it’s well worth the effort.
What are you doing to acknowledge your employees?