Amplifying the Success of Your Business Through Recognition and Inspiration
In an opening scene of the TV show The Simpsons, Homer stands among his coworkers ready to receive the “Worker of the Week” award, sure he is going to get it this time because it appears he is the only one in the entire company to have never gotten the award. The boss comes to the balcony overlooking the workers to make the announcement, and as Homer waits expectantly the award is given to “this inanimate carbon rod.” Homer then growls, “I’ll show him inanimate.”
The writers of The Simpsons are geniuses and we all know that. But in this scene they really capture the essence of several rules and reasons to give your employees recognition.
• Recognition is important.
• Recognition has no power if diluted by everyone getting the same recognition the same way.
• When people aren’t recognized and noticed they become inanimate.
• Where there is no recognition it is very difficult to have passionate, creative, motivated team members.
Jacques Plante, Hall of Fame NHL goalie, said, “How would you like a job where every time you made a mistake a big red light goes on and eighteen thousand people boo?”
The feeling and reality of acceptance gives people the best opportunity to become their best. People yearn for approval. I have a fabulous golden retriever that may be the best dog I have ever owned. This dog will do anything to get approval. Sometimes I think you and I are virtually the same way. People yearn for appreciation. Appreciation can launch even the most educated, sophisticated person into the stratosphere. My wife says women often dress to be appreciated, not only by their husband but even by their friends. In a healthy marriage most men yearn to be appreciated by their wives more than virtually anyone else on the planet. Proof of this is the fact that virtually every ultra-successful man I have met has an appreciative, supportive wife. The old joke is that behind every successful man is a fabulous wife and a surprised mother-in-law.
People yearn for attention. This yearning is so primitive that people will even act out negatively just to be noticed. They often become social morons just to be noticed in a social setting. The push for attention is so strong that it can lead even the most emotionally and spiritually mature person to act contrary to who they really are. Lastly, people yearn for affection. Anyone who has ever taken one semester of psychology has read about the studies of babies who had all their physical needs cared for but were never touched or loved and as a result nearly died.*
We yearn so desperately for affection, even as adults. But affection in the workplace? Eyebrows go up and suddenly running through your mind are visions of sexual harassment lawsuits flying everywhere. Obviously I am not talking about inappropriate workplace affection. However, the bad actors have scared the good people away from ever touching in proper ways. When someone’s mom just died of cancer you need to learn how to give a hug, for goodness sakes. The wife of one of my team members recently miscarried in the second trimester. They have three other kids, but the loss of a baby is never easy. We ran into them at lunch on Sunday a week after the loss. Without thinking I walked over and gave her a hug and told her we were hurting with her. That afternoon I got a great e-mail from my team member, her husband, reminding me that the reason he loves working with us is we actually care about people. Don’t be afraid to appropriately love people. The PC and lawsuit risk-management police have destroyed real leaders’ ability to treat their teams like family. People yearn for acceptance, approval, appreciation, attention, and affection.
The first rule of recognition is to simply bother to do it. Start making a habit of catching people doing something right. A sincere compliment is so unusual that when you begin giving them you are immediately set apart as a leader and as a human. We have to fight the tendency to only course-correct. “Constructive criticism” is often destructive. Why is it that when my child comes in with all A’s and one C on his report card I concentrate on the C? Why do I do that? Why do you do that? It is ridiculous to ignore the C, the area for improvement, but why do I focus on that instead of glorying in the five A’s? I guess when we perceive ourselves as “in charge” we somehow think that it becomes our job to correct. Course correction is part of a leader’s job, but it’s not their only job, and some bosses spend all their time finding what is wrong instead of what is right. Also, be careful to recognize activities and character traits you want all through your company. Remember whatever you give recognition for will grow quickly inside your company. I once recognized a guy for being really radical in his reaction to a situation. Guess what? I immediately started getting a ton of radical reactions, most not good, all through my company. Be very intentional to recognize what you want duplicated in scale, because that is what will happen.
Catching people doing something right can be as simple as a nod and a smile expressing approval of the person and/or their actions. When I walk through our building many times I am walking around people on the phone with customers, so I can’t really interrupt them. But I often will stand and listen to them serving our customers for a few moments, then nod, smile, and walk on. I just told my team member they are doing a good job without saying a word. I will admit I have to remind myself to be intentional about recognition.
A compliment has to be real. It cannot be something you fake because you read this chapter and got inspired. As motivating as a real compliment is, cheap flattery is very demotivating. Cheap flattery says to the person you are manipulative and lack integrity, and that will destroy the connection.
Look for opportunities to brag on and give honor to people. Giving one-on-one praise is effective, but giving recognition in front of others is even more powerful. The most effective recognition is given in front of people who the person cares about. With our young team I often get to meet their parents when they visit our offices. Always when I meet Mom and Dad I thank them for “loaning me this one” and tell them “they are special, they are a rock star in our company, and they are really particularly good at…” If you give that kind of sincere compliment to someone through their parents, anyone, even the ultra-sophisticated forty-year-old, will stand in front of you beaming. I am smiling just thinking about it.
When you meet a team member’s spouse be sure to tell the spouse how special their husband or wife is. One of my leaders even sent flowers to a team member’s wife with a card saying how awesome her husband is and how glad we are he works with us. When that guy got home he got a hero’s welcome from his wife.
Because of our success and the media I do, I have been blessed to meet many famous and world-class people. A few years ago I met and became friends with the world champion in a particular sport. I was a little worried that he would be arrogant and instead he was gentle, kind, polite, and an amazing athlete. As we talked late one night at my kitchen table he told me of the untold hours and sacrifice his father had gone through to help him train through his teenage years. He humbly attributed his world-champion status to his dad’s encouragement and sacrifice.
So without his knowing I researched and found his parents’ address. I wrote them a letter telling them what a sterling young man they had raised and that while I was impressed with his athletic ability I was more impressed with the man their son had become. I thanked them for being great parents. Can you possibly imagine the letter I got back? You see, famous, world-class people are complimented on their talent or their looks every day. But just like you and me, seldom are they ever told that they are great in other ways.
One of the EntreLeaders in our company started with us when we were small and very tight on cash. One day he stopped by my office and asked permission to order some embossed stationery. For people in big companies or who have a bunch of money, that might seem like a normal request. But we are blue-collar guys, and embossed stationery sounds, to guys like me, a lot like a froufrou expense that is borderline crazy. However, he convinced me he would use it to follow up with sales leads, so I grudgingly approved the order. This young EntreLeader is not only a master at sending follow-up notes to prospects, he also sends hundreds of thank-you notes a year. But best of all, he sends hundreds and hundreds of handwritten notes on embossed stationery recognizing people. He recognizes his team, his leaders, their spouses, customers, and even strangers, in writing. It is really hard to do something right within the view of this guy and not get a note of appreciation from him telling you how great you are. He has so inspired people all through our company that there is now a huge amount of embossed personal stationery for our team so we can try to copy him. I even got some, but to be truthful I don’t send many handwritten notes because of my handwriting and spelling. Occasionally though, even I venture into that realm, inspired by the power of this simple gesture. Recognize people in writing. They will remember it, and don’t be surprised to find your note framed when you visit their office.
As I said earlier, recognition is most powerful when done in front of the people who matter most to the person being recognized. So giving a parenting award to a CPA at a CPA convention might have almost no power, but giving that same award to that guy in front of his whole family at his church could have extreme power.
Because of size we had to change a wonderful tradition we had when our company was small. We had no money and there were just a few of us, so at first our company Christmas party was a home-cooked meal at our home, and later it became a dinner at a decent restaurant’s meeting room. At these small gatherings we did not give out lavish gifts, we gave out lavish praise. When it was time for our “program” I would give a short state-of-the-company talk, thank everyone, and then the fun began. I would bring each person up and praise them in detail for their work, their character, and their diligence. Often we would all be crying. You may think I am a big softy, but it is so rare for someone to receive praise or give praise that it can become very emotional. Praise in front of their peers and their spouses and friends was a Christmas gift that was looked forward to every year. Did you know you can get a standing ovation from a group of only twenty people when you do this? Truthfully it isn’t you getting the ovation; it is the person being praised. That is truly powerful.
When I was twenty-two years old I spent three months in a multilevel company. It was amazing how good they were at recognition. In the hyped-up super-enthusiastic weekend meetings, awards were always given. The awards were a T-shirt. Yes, a T-shirt, but I have seen people making over $100,000 a year kill themselves to hit a production mark to earn a T-shirt of a particular color. It was not the T-shirt that mattered, it was the opportunity to be declared a winner in front of peers. Men and women will fight hard for the opportunity to be honored.
I have a theory that no one ever becomes too old or too sophisticated to smile when someone says “Happy birthday!” But it is a little difficult to give someone a “happy birthday” wish when you don’t know it is their birthday. I have a friend who is a world-class illusionist and magician named Kevin King. Part of Kevin’s act is memorization, and he is the best I have ever seen. He memorizes the birthday of everyone in his life. In the last ten years every time my wife or I has had a birthday there has been a voice mail on our home phone from Kevin with birthday wishes. Without fail, every time we play the voice mail I look at my wife and she is smiling like a seven-year-old girl with a new pony. He does anniversaries too.
I took a cue from Kevin and decided to have our HR department post every team member’s birthday on my personal calendar so I could send them an e-mail with birthday wishes. I even might remember to say something when I see that person. This does not take a lot of effort but it creates a big result. I will come clean and admit that the humorous birthday e-mail is now even automated, so I am not really all that thoughtful, but it still has the same effect. Have you ever worked for anyone who sent you a “happy birthday” e-mail, automated or not?
You might be saying to yourself at this point that if I spoon out any more sugar you are going to throw up. I get that, but you have to be smiling reading this and knowing it works to love people well. If you want to have a different company, a different life, you have to try to do things differently. Napoleon said, “Leaders are brokers of hope.”
Inspiration touches the emotions and causes activity. When a book, a sermon, or a person inspired you, they lifted you and sent you forth. How do you do that in a company or an organization? First, let’s look at how you don’t do it. You don’t give talks or speeches to hype people up while leaving the entire culture of the organization in the sewer. Those talks begin to look like a Saturday Night Live skit because you are saying one thing while doing another. On the contrary, organizational inspiration is much more complicated than a simple motivational speech. Real inspiration has multiple layers and extreme consistency. If you want to become a real EntreLeader you need to be doing all the team-building steps I have outlined in this book, and the totality of those creates real inspiration. The whole operation must be inspiring, not a simple, single small gesture. Zig Ziglar says, “People say motivation doesn’t last, well neither does bathing, that is why we recommend both daily.” We intentionally use seven things to make sure the entire environment is inspiring.
Where there is no vision that is understood and repeated to the team, there is no inspiration. There is not much of anything that lifts people more than believing in a dream, vision, and mission bigger than them. I pounded this subject in the first few chapters, but now pause and make sure you see that I am bringing this all together to create an organizational culture where people are fired up.
I will cover compensation in detail, including how to build it properly, in chapter 14. Ultimately few people who feel underpaid and/or financially taken advantage of are inspired. It is a joke and even insulting to remember someone’s birthday when you have taken all the financial incentive out of the equation. If you want an inspired, fired-up team, plan on paying them very well when they earn it. All a good team member wants is a chance to earn when they win.
Crusaders will lay siege to the competition. Crusaders will run into a burning building. Crusaders work while they are at work. Crusaders require strong leaders of huge integrity. Crusaders don’t have to be driven like cattle; they run like wild stallions. Crusaders only crusade for something bigger than them. People are lifted up and inspired when they work for something bigger than themselves. I mentioned earlier Tom Peter’s old book In Search of Excellence, which studied excellent companies. Another of his discoveries was that the excellent companies understand their team has a deep-seated desire to be a part of something larger than themselves. My friend John Rich, of the megastar country group Big and Rich, says, “I play better when I am playing for something bigger than me.” The Bible says in Colossians 3:23 to do your work as unto the Lord, heartily, not as unto men. Which again points back to the need to have a higher calling and communicate that to your team. Leo Buscaglia said, “Your talent is God’s gift to you. What you do with it is your gift back to God.” Don’t just be a trim carpenter, be an artisan.
We covered the power of telling the story in the chapter 10. You have to tell the story of the history of the company. It is always inspiring. It is like learning that the pioneers went over the mountains in a covered wagon. Our forefathers were tough, independent people. Knowing my heritage is inspiring. The Ramseys fought with William Wallace. Our family coat of arms gives the family motto as Ora et Labora, which is Latin for “Pray and Work,” which we have always done; that is inspiring to me.
Always keep in mind how powerfully inspiring stories are. The history of the company is just one story, but you should also be continually building the story. One of the things we do in our weekly staff meetings is read mail from customers. I read hate mail aimed at me so we all get a good laugh. I also read e-mails and letters bragging on the team. This predictable, public recognition is unbelievably inspiring to everyone, sends a clear message about our culture and our values, and makes people smile.
Try reading an e-mail in front of the whole company, or even your department, that says, “Just wanted to say thanks and tell you what a great help Jimette has been helping us get our tickets to the live event. She is the best customer service person I have run into in a long time. No wonder your company is successful with people like her, I wish other companies trained like you guys do.” Here is what happens: Jimette is obviously red-faced and loving it. Everyone else is inspired to pick up the level of customer service because they might get mentioned someday. Applause breaks out and people are thinking this company really is different. We have just made the statement loud and clear that leadership values high levels of customer service.
Try reading an e-mail in front of the whole company that says, “We wanted to say thanks for our rep Amy. One week before we were to start our classes we were hit by a hurricane and had major damage to our building. All of our class materials were destroyed. We called to tell Amy that our materials and location were destroyed so we would be delaying class. We were not expecting what happened. Without hesitation she replaced all of our materials free of charge!! Wow!! We are now holding the class at another location and wanted to say thanks for having people like Amy on your team.” Here is what happens: every team member sits with their chest sticking out in pride over our company, Amy, and how we were all just part of someone doing the right thing. Generosity to the customer, quick thinking, and doing the right thing on autopilot are justly rewarded. Applause breaks out and Amy, who probably hasn’t had a perfect life, is set for a great week. She has energy, smiles, and is ready to fight the week ahead. The team is lifted, Amy is lifted, and recognition, unity, loyalty, and communication have occurred.
If you read three e-mails a week to your team you will see mail bragging on your team start stacking up on your desk; they’ll be hoping you will read one featuring them. You will even see internal fan mail come to your desk, where one team member is bragging on another. Remember, be careful to recognize what you want duplicated because I can tell you from experience that you will see your culture shift almost immediately.
Explosive, erratic behavior by leadership does not inspire; on the contrary, not knowing what to expect is one of the greatest causes of organizational paralysis. When people can’t predict how you will react, they freeze and do nothing. Assuming you hire motivated, quality people you will see them come to a screeching halt trying to figure out your next unpredictable move. Being predictable in matters of principle is a sign of deep integrity. Amy knew she could be generous and give those class materials away and be praised, not shamed, for doing so because over the years she had seen leadership do the same type of thing over and over. Leadership’s predictable response gave her great power to act.
Stated core values and operating principles help communicate how you intend the organization to run. Of course you must live those values on a moment-by-moment, day-by-day basis.
I have discussed that you can’t burn out if you were never on fire. Monotones do not inspire. You don’t have to yell or be a drama queen, but be aware of the importance of leadership conveying their passion to the team. In the name of sophistication many companies and people have removed, by their words, deeds, and body language, the communication that they care very deeply about the outcome. Show people you care if you want them to care. Be willing to show emotion about issues that matter to the success of the organization. Please don’t expect people to be inspired when leadership is asleep.
The EntreLeader knows they set the tone, the speed, and the work ethic of the team. I have a friend who had a very successful small business and his profit one year was just over a million dollars. He is an excellent golfer and had always dreamed of making it as a professional golfer. Since his business was booming he decided he could devote three or four days a week to his golf game so he could go pro. He really had the talent to potentially make it too. The next year while he golfed his business’s net profit dropped to $300,000. Over coffee he asked me what I thought happened. That was an easy answer. The example left the building to “live his dream.” As soon as he quit work, so did his team. As soon as he cared more about something other than the business, so did his team. As soon as he became apparently apathetic, so did his team. I told him his little golf outing was a $700,000 experiment in human behavior and he now had the answer to his question; sell the business to someone who cares about it or go back to work.
One summer in high school my son worked for a family-owned retail business run by a flamboyant character. I am so glad he worked there because in just a few months he was thoroughly taught how not to lead. The owner was a nightmare. He would lie to customers, the employees, and the suppliers. He would come in late and leave early. There are too many stories to recount here, but to show you how important little examples are, we were driving past that business recently and my son commented on how the owner always took the prime parking spot right in front of the business. My son’s comment was, “Dad, in all the years I can remember growing up I have never seen you park in the prime spot once at our office; you always reserve those for customers. I thought that was common sense.” Well, it is common sense, but common sense isn’t very common. When the owner does things like that his actions scream to the rest of the team that the customer doesn’t matter. Not to mention his actions say the same thing to the customer.
If you come in late and leave early, please understand what that says to your team about your passion. Your work ethic sets the pace for them. You cannot expect nonowners to care more deeply about the outcome than the actual owner does. Your example in every part and every movement of the organization is huge.
You probably have not read anything in this chapter that has given you a deep revelation or that is so complicated or sophisticated that it is unreachable. Instead it’s likely you have been nodding like a bobble-head doll, saying to yourself that this all makes sense. The thing to remember about doing business well is that it isn’t complicated, but you do have to pay attention to the details. So it is time for you to do a better job with recognizing and inspiring your team, yourself, and your family.
* From a study a hundred years ago when 99 percent of babies in orphanages in the U.S. died from a condition called “marasmus,” where lack of touch produces lack of appetite. www.benbenjamin.net/pdfs/Issue2.pdf.