Great Leaders, Teams and Why People Follow
(Tom Rath & Barry Gonchie, 2009)
Key highlights of Tom’s book that relate to Leadership development and organizational development.
Note: These leadership elements are helpful whether you are leading a business to new heights, leading a group of sales people to increase revenue, engaging customer service representatives to deliver remarkable customer experiences, or planning what is needed in that new business development system so you can gain success with CRM.
12 Core Elements that measure the engagement of a local work team.
Engaging your immediate team requires spending time on the basics. These elements are the 12 best predictors of engagement and subsequent business outcomes. And for the most part, they are within the control of, and most directly influenced by, the manager or leader employees are closest to at work.
You can expect to have a more engaged group if your team members can strongly agree with these 12 items:
1. I know what is expected of me at work.
2. I have the materials and equipment I need to do my work right.
3. At work, I have the opportunity to do what I do best every day.
4. In the last seven days, I have received recognition or praise for doing good work.
5. My supervisor, or someone at work, seems to care about me as a person.
6. There is someone at work who encourages my development.
7. At work, my opinions seem to count.
8. The mission or purpose of my company makes me feel my job is important.
9. My fellow employees are committed to doing quality work.
10. I have a best friend at work.
11. In the last six months, someone at work has talked to me about my progress.
12. This last year, I have had opportunities at work to learn and grow.
Some of these elements may be beyond your control, but you can dramatically influence your immediate team’s engagement if you start with these 12 basics. The key is to measure your team’s responses to these 12 items every 6 – 12 months and track your progress to ensure that you are doing your best to engage your most important constituency.
If the leader is somewhat removed from the front line employees (e.g. a CEO or General Manager), there are an additional three that appear to be the best predictors of key business outcomes:
1. The leadership of my company always treats me with respect.
2. I am confident in my company’s financial future.
3. The leadership of my company makes me enthusiastic about the future.
Surveys of various organizations of various sizes show that only 20 percent of employees are fully engaged. Use these elements to foster more engagement and watch your business, and deeper business relationships, grow.
What items from the lists above are you going to act upon?
