This Friday, March 2, is Employee Appreciation Day. And while it might be nice to have a day designated as Employee Appreciation Day, every day should be Employee Appreciation Day in your office! That’s right. Every day.
Why Appreciation is So Important
In the book, How Full is Your Bucket?, by Tom Rath and Donald O. Clifton, the authors cite a U.S. Department of Labor Study that found the #1 reason people leave their jobs is because they don’t feel appreciated on a day-to-day basis. But people who do feel appreciated are more likely to be “engaged.” An engaged employee: shows up on time (or early), stays late when needed, smiles, shows enthusiasm, is a great ambassador for the firm and recruits other engaged employees.
On the other hand, people who don’t feel appreciated are more likely to be “actively disengaged” from work. You do not want actively disengaged people working for you. An actively disengaged employee will not only make your life miserable, he’ll tell others that your firm is a horrible place to work.
Show Your Appreciation
So how do you make sure your employees are engaged and not disengaged? It’s really simpler than you may think. Show your genuine appreciation for the work they do. Not just one or two days a year, but every day. Say “thank you” for even the little things. It’s OK – really – and it doesn’t cost you anything.
The Losada Line
Research by psychologist and business consultant, Marcial Losada, and reported in The Happiness Advantage, by Shawn Achor, found that it takes about three positive comments to offset one negative comment. And the very best, most productive teams have a ratio of about 6 to 1.
Get Specific About the Good Stuff
Have you ever noticed that when you’re giving someone constructive criticism, you’re very specific? Yet, when you praise someone it’s usually a very general, “Nice job!” Guess what? Our brains remember the specific, not the general. That’s why we can remember a piece of stinging criticism for years, but have trouble remembering a time when we felt truly appreciated. So get specific with your praise.
Make Appreciation a Daily Habit
If you show your appreciation daily, remember the Losada Line, and get specific with your praise, your employees will show their appreciation by showing up engaged – not disengaged. It won’t cost you a penny, and you’ll create a happier and much more productive office. Like the Beatles said: Money can’t buy you love. And all the money in the world can’t buy an engaged employee.
Click here for a great TED Talk on “The Happy Secret to Better Work,” by Shawn Achor.
Do you know what all great leaders have in common? They are willing to get out of their fish bowls. What I mean by that is great leaders adapt their behavior. They are aware of how they are perceived by others, and they learn to adapt their behavior in a variety of ways. Why is that so important?
Think of adapting your behavior like learning a new language. If you’re visiting another country, you’ll have a much better time if you learn the language of the country. Learning a new language is one way of adapting. And if you want to be a better leader for your law firm, you need to understand the language of the people who work with you. Yes, you and everyone on your team speaks a different language – a different behavioral language. You’re all swimming in different fish bowls. So, how do you get out of your fish bowl? The DISC behavioral assessment is one way.
Click here to read more about how law firms are using DISC to enhance effectiveness and build better teams.
I’m reading Enchantment: The Art of Changing Hearts, Minds, and Actions, by Guy Kawasaki. According to the bio on his website, Guy was previously the chief evangelist of Apple. While that may be accurate, he is so much more. He is a phenomenal communicator and connector. And Enchantment is a book all attorneys should read. Why? Because all attorneys are in the business of changing hearts, minds and actions. All attorneys need to be enchanting.
Let’s look at just one nugget of gold from Enchantment – How to Achieve Likability. Buy the book for this chapter alone. The most important thing you can do to market your practice is to build “know, like and trust” with your influencers and referral sources. Enchantment will help you do this . . . and it will enchant you along the way. Read Enchantment and your approach to marketing will never be the same. You’ll understand why it’s important to: smile like George Clooney; shake hands . . . and connect; create real win-win solutions; and NOT speak like a lawyer.
And while we’re on the subject of likeability check out: 16 Enlightening Communication Principles at Dan Rockwell’s blog, Leadership Freak. The words we speak – or choose not to speak – have a tremendous impact on our likeability. I read Dan’s blog post yesterday, and it reminded me how much words matter. Here are the 16 Principles.
Flatterers puff you up so you’ll lift them up.
Backstabbers secretly invite you to condemn yourself by inviting you to condemn others.
Always answer a question with a question.
Casually spoken words cut. Stop blabbing.
The rule for words is restraint: fewer words are better than many words. Churchill said, “We are masters of the unsaid words, but slaves of those we let slip out.”
Words limit and create bondage like a snare. Avoid unnecessary promises and commitments.
Life giving words are intentional; seldom accidental.
Intentionally energize rather than accidentally demotivate with your words.
Harsh words invite harshness.
Gentle words drain drama and anger.
Quiet words enable better than loud words.
Loud words excite or overwhelm; more frequently they overwhelm.
Avoid whisperers they manipulate.
Behaviorally speaking lying is hatred.
Never publicly improve the boss’s words.
Embrace the two to one rule. Ask two questions – at a minimum – before making statements.
If you can enchant and enlighten in all your communications, you can change the world one person - or conversation - at a time.
Are there any other principles you would add to Dan’s list?
I spoke with two clients today, who, during the course of our coaching calls said to me, “Nora, I’ll try.” Every time I hear those words, I think of Yoda and one of my favorite quotes. It’s from Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back. Whenever you are making changes in your life, you can’t try to make the change. You’ve got to do it. Or in the words of the Jedi master: “No! Try not. Do. Or do not. There is no try.”
Lady Gaga knows how to get attention. Whether it’s wearing a dress made out of meat or eyeglasses made out of burning cigarettes, she knows how to get attention. A recent article in Psychology Today, explains how “getting attention” is a critical element of leadership. It doesn’t matter how good your ideas are, if no one notices them, nothing will happen.
So how do leaders get attention? Psychology Today suggests that the simple act of asking people questions, rather than telling people what to do, is a real attention-getter.
“In fact, the most effective approach is simply to ask questions. We can ignore directives, but questions force us to attend to them. In the corporate world, most of us are so used to being told what to do that when someone asks us what we think we should do, it stops our automatic processing in its tracks.
Rather than telling people, we should ask them, whether it’s deciding how to implement a strategy, setting objectives, or evaluating performance. The effect of a question may not be as stunning as glasses made out of burning cigarettes, but it will activate the brain and get it working the way we need it to.”
How can you apply the concept of asking questions to strengthen your leadership? The next time you’re faced with a challenge or a “dropped ball” in your office, rather than telling your team how to “fix it,” ask them for their ideas. You’ll show leadership by your willingness to listen, and you’ll likely find that your team has some really great ideas. All you have to do is ask.
Remember the movie Love Story? If you do, you’ll remember Jennifer Cavalleri’s famous line to her husband, Oliver. They’d had an argument. He ran out. He came back to find her crying on the steps of their apartment, and he began to say he was sorry. And Jenny says . . . wait for it . . .“Love means never having to say you’re sorry.” Well, what may be true for love, isn’t true for leadership. It’s the other way around. Leaders understand the importance of acknowledging and apologizing for their mistakes.
In his book, What Got You Here Won’t Get You There, Marshall Goldsmith, identifies 20 habits that hold leaders back. Habit #15 is “Refusing to express regret.”
People who can’t apologize at work may as well be wearing a t-shirt that says, “I don’t care about you.” The irony, of course, is that all the fears that lead us to resist apologizing – the fear of losing, admitting we’re wrong, ceding control – are actually erased by an apology. When you say, “I’m sorry,” you turn people into your allies, even your partners.
If you’re considering planning a retreat for your firm, there are any number of things you need to consider – from the location to the facilitator to your desired outcomes. If you want your retreat to truly make an impact on your firm, begin now thinking about the kinds of objectives you want to set at the retreat. The concept of SMARTER Objectives is set forth in Strategic Planning for Success: Aligning People, Performance and Payoffs, by Roger Kaufman, Hugh Oakley-Brown, Ryan Watkins, and Doug Lee. SMARTER Objectives offer a different perspective from the idea of SMART Goals. SMARTER Objectives call for the objective to be “Audacious,” not merely “Achievable,” as SMART Goals suggest. In addition, SMARTER Objectives must be “Encompassing.” Objectives must encompass results and consequences, not just for individuals, but also for the entire firm and the clients you serve, and all objectives must relate to each other. Finally, SMARTER Objectives must be reviewed and revised frequently.
S = The objective is written for a specific result or area of performance.
M = Each objective must be observable and measurable. The objective must answer these questions: How much? How many? How well?
A = The objective is audacious. It aims at significant change designed to “stretch horizons” and exceed the present level of results.
R = The objective must clearly define the results to be achieved. However, it should not include the methods and means to achieve the results.
T = Each objective must have a targeted time for completion.
E = The “sum total” of all of the objectives are encompassing. They are aligned, supportive of each other, inclusive, and linked.
R = All objectives are reviewed frequently to check for progress toward results.
Put SMARTER Objectives to work for your firm. And be sure to pay particular attention to the last “R.” No objective will be successful and no goal will be reached without regular review to ensure effective implementation.
“Phyllis Mindell, an acclaimed expert on professional communications, shows women how to transform themselves by transforming their language; shed weak words, phrases, and gestures; empower themselves to win attention and respect; and get their ideas across with confidence and power.
Perhaps the best teacher of how the power of language can transform is an unexpected one: Charlotte the spider of E.B. White’s, Charlotte’s Web. Mindell demonstrates how Charlotte communicated messages that gained national attention and saved a friend’s life. As a model, she combines female strengths of wisdom and compassion with the determination and power to make a difference.” Read more or buy it…
Have you ever had any staffing or personnel problems in your firm? If you’re like most attorneys, the answer is a resounding “yes.” Who hasn’t had to deal with personnel issues in their practice? Nobody. And if you’re like many attorneys, you’d rather be grilled before the Supreme Court than address personnel issues in your own office.
Well, I have good news and bad news for you. First, the bad news. Ignoring personnel issues won’t make them go away. Sticking your fingers in your ears and saying, “Nah, nah, nah. I can’t hear you,” didn’t really work when you were a kid. And its professional cousin, simply ignoring personnel problems in your office, makes them even worse.
Here’s the good news. You can learn to lead your firm and build a truly championship team. There are three simple steps. Caveat: Simple doesn’t mean easy.
Get very clear about what you expect from your people – both with respect to performance and values.
Evaluate people not only with respect to their performance; measure how well their values (i.e. how they behave) fit with your firm’s values.
Get rid of anyone on your team whose values are inconsistent with your firm’s.
The hardest call to make is to let someone go who is a stellar performer, but who violates your firm’s values. – Someone who churns out the work and generates revenue for the firm, but is consistently late. – Someone who is great with your clients, but rotten to other staff members. – Someone who is “very experienced,” but who creates a miserable experience for everyone else in the office.
“We made our leap forward when we began removing the people who hit the numbers but violated our values and making it clear to the entire company why they were asked to leave – not for the usual “personal reasons” or to “pursue other opportunities” but for not sharing our values. Until an organization develops the courage to do this people never have full confidence that these values are real.”
I talk with my clients a lot about the importance of working with “A” clients. Why? “A” clients are a pleasure to work with, they listen to your advice, they pay their bills, and they refer other “A” clients to you. “D” clients on the other hand . . . well. The other great thing about “A” clients is that you love working with them. While there are some universal truths about “A” clients, like the ones I’ve listed above, every attorney can add to the list with specific characteristics that are key for their “A” clients. One more thing: “A” clients also generate most of your firm’s profit. It is very important for you to know what constitutes an “A” client for your firm.
It’s equally important for you to know what constitutes an “A” player on your team. And you need to let your team members know what you expect – clearly and unambiguously. Why not create specific, written criteria for A, B, C and D players? Let your team know what it takes to be an “A” player. Create a written agreement, ask them to sign it, and commit to being an “A” player. Then, if they should start to fall short of the mark, you can pull out the agreement and use it as a coaching tool to get them back on track.
People cannot excel if they don’t know what’s expected of them. Let your players know what you want from them, and they will either hit the target or they won’t. But at least they’ll be able to see it.
This Friday, March 2, is Employee Appreciation Day. And while it might be nice to have a day designated as Employee Appreciation Day, every day should be Employee Appreciation Day in your office! That’s right. Every day.
