Organisation
success isn’t achieved by one person at the top; it’s achieved by a group of
individuals working as an organisational team to achieve predetermined goals –
some individuals will have greater accountability and/or greater skills than
others but, if the structure is right, then it works like an orchestra where everyone
is required to achieve the predetermined organisational goals and objectives
(or at least they should be if your organisational development is correct).
The
business world has the full spectrum of leadership types from the arrogant,
narcissistic type leaders who consider all successes to be of their making, and
their making alone, yet where they conversely believe that any failures are the
fault of others somewhere in the organisation – but certainly nothing to do
with them.
Great
leaders have emotions like everyone else, and have their good days and their
bad days too – but what they recognise is that they develop and communicate the
corporate vision and strategy (after following a fully ‘inclusive’ process);
and then give direction to help others reach that vision but they constantly
appreciate the hard work and accomplishments of their staff at all levels, not
just the level just below them.
It’s
actually not rocket science – even a bad leader will remember at least one time
when they were praised for something they accomplished and how good it made
them feel, regardless that it may have been many years ago. So there is really no
excuse for anyone in a leadership position not understanding and ‘getting’ the
individual impact, both in terms of motivation and performance, that
acknowledging and recognising an individual’s successes and achievements has on
them – but only where this recognition is shown and given in an honest and
genuine manner.
Robert
Eckert, former chairman and CEO of Mittal, (2000-2012), wrote the following in
a 2013 HBR article, “Wherever I show my thanks, these tips work well for me:
•
Set aside time every week to acknowledge people’s good work.
•
Handwrite thank-you notes whenever you can. The personal touch matters in the
digital age.
•
Punish in private; praise in public. Make the public praise timely and
specific.
•
Remember to cc people’s supervisors. “Don’t tell me. Tell my boss.”
•
Foster a culture of gratitude. It’s a game changer for sustainably better
performance.”
I’m
not sure how much social media might be to blame, as some people try to
understand how to ‘manage’ their image to what they perceive to be a global
audience, but there seems to be a change in direction where some people in
positions of power want to take personal credit for ‘organisational’
achievements, so it can be ‘out there’ for all to see on the www.
These
aren’t necessarily the narcissistic leadership types, who without a doubt don’t
recognise any success to be anything less than ‘their brilliance’. No these are
the leaders that lack confidence and hence are petrified of others potentially
getting noticed for good work or special achievements, where they see these
workers as potential threats and replacements for them – and hence they
consider ‘recognition’ taboo, as it is contrary to their survival strategy. If
you’ve ever come across these leadership types, you’ll know exactly what I’m
talking about.
Recognition
is always a natural behavioural trait within an organisation which has a
positive business culture and ‘effective’ leadership (at any level). If you
have confidence in your own abilities and appreciate what makes a business
great – then recognition is the easiest thing to give and can have the greatest
‘pay back’ for an organisation.
Interestingly
cosmetics entrepreneur Mary Kay Ash put it this way: “There are two things
people want more than sex and money: recognition and praise.” These kind of
glib comments often garner a negative response in the social media sphere as
most people misunderstand and think that she’s saying money isn’t important –
but what’s she’s saying is that assuming an employee has the ability to make a
‘living’ and that they can ‘move between jobs’ relatively easily then an
employee will seek ‘job satisfaction’ as a primary driver, where some form of
recognition is a key requirement.
Unfortunately
the financial crisis has meant employees are less confidence in their ability
to move between jobs and hence this has allowed some poor leadership traits,
like not giving prise and recognition, to raise its head in many organisations.
If
you genuinely want to create a positive organisational culture and be recognised
as a great leader then you need to know when to say thank you to your employees
– not only is it the right thing to do – but the positive impact it will have
on sustainable performance might just surprise you.
References
Eckert,
R. (2013). The Two Most Important Words. Harvard Business Review. April
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