IT LITERALLY 'PAYS' TO BE NICE...

So, lately I seem to have been having a lot of conversations with clients about how to motivate their people and increase productivity without causing a cash flow crisis and while at least looking like they're paying attention to their mental health.

Hopefully you realise by now that the ONLY way to get people to work harder for you is to make them WANT to. That's where it gets tricky. How do we create an environment and a culture that makes people want to come to work and want to work?

The truth is, it's far easier than you think it is and it doesn't have to involve big budgets, sacrifices and/or system and procedures. Let's face it, none of us want more systems and procedures, right? 

Here's the thing. You already know that your people ARE your business, right? Of course. But did you know that....

IT QUITE LITERALLY PAYS TO BE NICE?

IF YOU WANT TO MAKE MORE MONEY AND FEEL GOOD ABOUT YOURSELF, READ ON.

As a leader, do you find it easier to criticise than to praise?

Do you think too much praise makes you look too much like a soft touch? 

Do you listen twice as much as you talk (after all, our mouths and ears exist in that proportion)?

A recent article by Tony Schwartz, CEO of The Energy Project, talks about how whether or not workers feel their managers are genuinely interested in their well being, is the single highest driver of engagement according to a worldwide study conducted by Towers Watson. 

So why is it then, that praise and effective listening doesn't come easily to managers and leaders in the western world? Why do we feel so ill at ease with it or even feel that it weakens our position...our control?

WE JUST DON'T DO IT ENOUGH to become comfortable with it and competent at it. We don't follow our emotional instinct, but rather comply with historic examples of leadership and perceived convention. We're all too readily reactive and defensive without considering the impact on others and, therefore, on us. We have become, in the words of the rather fabulous neuroscientist Antonio Damasio, "...thinking machines that feel." rather than "...feeling machines that think." And, we don't allow ourselves to be vulnerable.

In pretty much any business, the people are the power. They're key to business success. In fact, a recent study by Marcial Losada has found that among high-performing teams, the expression of positive feedback outweighs that of negative feedback by a ratio of 5.6 to 1. By contrast, low-performing teams have a ratio of .36 to 1. We know this, and yet we feel that to let our people know that would be to lose control. Well, let me tell you a secret...THEY ALREADY KNOW.

So what can you do to make your people feel better about you, and enthusiastically want to help you build your business?

? Start with appreciating you. You're doing a great job!

? Listen. No, really listen and hear what's being said.

? Act on what you've heard. There's nothing worse than feeling you've been heard and then nothing happening. It makes people feel undervalued and like they've been paid lip service to. Don't be a box ticker!

? Incentivise in creative ways. Incentives don't have to cost ￡. Not sure what would incentivise your people? Here's a novel idea...ask them.

? Be prepared to put aside your complacency and arrogance. Trust that you've done a good job and have put the right people in place.

? Do less harm. Practice "If you can't say something nice, say nothing."

? Notice...what people are doing well.

? Take a deep breath, say something nice and be prepared for people to fall off their chairs without entering in to litigation.

Sometimes, just sometimes, they can actually have the answers. 

As always, I'd love to hear your thoughts. Don't be shy.

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