Getting What You Need.....Indirectly

As a leader, what strategies do you use when asking doesn't work?

Getting people to do what you want is difficult, especially if you lack sufficient authority......or the environment is very political.  When direct techniques like asking fail, try more subtle approaches:

• Talk less, listen more. Colleagues are less likely to resist when you've taken the time to acknowledge their concerns. Listen to their worries and make sure your solutions recognize them.
• Help them to like you. It's hard to say no to someone you like. We tend to like people who share our background and interests, or who show interest in us personally. Recognition of good work also works. If your colleague does a good job, tell him.
• Do a favour. Doing something for someone gives you influence and helps colleagues see a different side of you. Everyone understands the need to repay what another person has given them.

Adapted from Guide to Managing Up and Across (HBR Press).

Engaging Staff Members on a Daily Basis

As a leader, how do build staff engagement?

As a leader, dealing with staff members who lack enthusiasm for their jobs or don't feel connected to the school/organization is a big hurdle. Here are three things you can do daily to engage your people:

• Facilitate progress. Staff members feel engaged when they make headway toward objectives. Provide clear goals and resources to support their progress.
• Make work meaningful. Your school/organization doesn't need a lofty mission to make employees care. They simply need to see how their actions contribute to the value provided by the work of the school/organization.
• Reward and recognize. Don't wait for milestones. Show appreciation every day for the work your staff members do.

Adapted from "What Your Boss Needs to Know About Engagement" by Teresa Amabile and Steve Kramer.

Lead with Emotions in Mind

As a leader, do you consider the emotional impact of your words and actions?

People resist direction or change that they don't understand, don't value, or whose demands they don't feel they can measure up to.  The impact on individuals can be significant....and not necessarily in a good way.  Positive emotional impact - recognition of a person's work or their personal life - can be inspiring.  On the other hand, negative emotional impact - not noticing work well done, negative comments, neglecting the personal lives of staff members - can cause people to resist, shut down, or, at worst, sabotage organizational efforts. 

Staff members feel more confident about taking direction and tackling new ideas when leaders set a positive tone by recognizing work that is well done, thanking people for their work, and by exuding awareness and appreciation of the complexities of the work they are being asked to do. 

Remember the great quotation:

In the end, people will forget what you said, forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.

Maya Angelou

Don't miss a chance to recognize a staff member for work well done or to thank someone for their efforts.  They'll remember how you made them feel!

Recognizing and Celebrating Successes

As a leader, how do you recognize and celebrate the successes of your staff?

In the end, people will forget what you said, forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.

Maya Angelou

As a leader, recognizing and celebrating the successes of your staff can be very motivating.  Kouzes and Posner (2002) speak about encouraging the heart and its significance for people.  As leaders, we often focus on the front-end deliverables related to planning, implementing, resourcing, and managing.  It can be easy to forget about the power and energy that comes from sincere recognition and celebration of actual accomplishments.  Emphasis here is on the word 'sincere'.  If it's not coming from your heart to their hearts, it's meaningless.  People see through insincerity very easily.

In his book Drive (2009), Daniel Pink cautions us that an excess of recognition and celebration can actually de-motivate people.  Staff learn quickly that if there is no 'reward' on the way, the work is either not important or it's not worth doing because recognition won't come on the heels of completion.  When recognition becomes routine, isn't sincere, and doesn't recognize truly worthwhile work, it means nothing.  

For you as a leader, it's a case of knowing your staff and how much recognition and celebration are appropriate.  Here are a few questions to guide your thinking about when and when not to praise.

• How often will it be given?  In what forum?
• Does it always come from you?  Can it also come from colleagues?
• Is it done publicly or privately?
• Is everyone recognized at some point?  Is anyone left out?
• Do people know what merits recognition or does it appear to be arbitrary?  Does recognition come when school/organizational goals are met?
• Are people praised for results, effort, or other reasons?  Why?
• What have your staff told you about what they'd like in terms of praise, recognition, and celebration?
• Is it sincere and honest?

From:  Leading Every Day by Joyce Kaser, Susan Mundry, Katherine E. Stiles, & Susan Loucks-Horsley
Published by: Corwin Press

Celebrate, Recognize, Reinforce, Reward

As a leader, do you Celebrate, Recognize, Reinforce, and Reward your staff?

The kind of significant, sustained improvement that we need in [organizations] will not occur in an isolated, free-lance culture, where no one knows what anyone else is doing or what each other's operative goals are.  That is a system in disarray.

[Organizations] improve when purpose and effort unite.  One key is leadership that recognizes its most vital function: to keep everyone's eyes on the prize of [improvement].  The crush of competing agendas and distractions does not make that focus easy.

One of the most effective means to cultivate a goal-oriented culture is to regularly reinforce and recognize improvement efforts, both privately and publicly. 

From: Results by Mike Schmoker
(Published by: ASCD - The Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development)