jon gordon – Workplace Navigator

I think so many businesses, in today’s economy, figure employees “should be happy they have a job.” The truth is that, according to Inc. magazine, 70% of your employees are job hunting. They might smile and nod and laugh at your jokes, and at night they are on CareerBuilder and asking for recommendations on LinkedIn. Their resumes are up to date and they are ready to jump ship at the first sign of a decent paying job. They aren’t just looking for more money; they want a place that encourages engagement. As Dan Pink espouses in his book Drive, “autonomy, mastery and purpose” are the ingredients for the Engagement Wizard.

The Engagement Wizard is the secret to holding onto those employees who are phoning it in while they search for greener, autonomous pastures. It is far better to employ some engagement tactics to hold onto your veteran employees than to search out a perceived better fit. I realize that some folks are too far gone to turn around and they are the poison in the kool-aid. Employing a few tactics to create engagement for those who are salvageable, is well worth the effort when you figure that turnover can cost you anywhere from 50 to 200 % of the positions salary (and the replacements likely to cost you 10 to 20% more that the incumbent anyway).

So what are the techniques of the Engagement Wizard? Here are a few:

1. Thumb. Quit keeping your employees tightly under your thumb. It’s time to loosen the reigns. As Dan Pink said at a recent conference, no one ever said “my favorite boss was the guy who breathed down my neck”. People leave bosses. If you are dictating an employee’s every movement and deed and watching the clock to make sure they are constantly at the grind stone, your employee will not be engaged. Loosen up your thumbs.

2. Don’t prescribe. You should not view yourself as the doctor who is prescribing all the answers. As Liz Wiseman said in her book “Multipliers”, you want to shift from being the Tyrant who has all the answers to the Liberator who is listening. Listen; don’t talk. This encourages the autonomy that Dan Pink prescribes. If your employee is thinking for themselves, they are happier. If you don’t believe me, tell your partner how to make the bed. See how that goes over; and if they ever make the bed again. Don’t prescribe.

3. Learning. One of the downfalls in the recent economy is the slashing of training budgets. We keep the Sales and Marketing budget status quo, and cut the non-essential training and development budget. This, especially for Millennials, is a bad idea. Employees, who have a “Growth Mindset” as espoused by Carol Dweck, are constantly looking to learn new skills. “The Investor” as written by Liz Wiseman is the leader who is investing in resources for their team. Encourage learning so that your employees are gaining “Mastery”.

4. Monkeys. Delegate the monkey (as in task, project or duty) and check up on their care and feeding. Leaders need to delegate and give ownership to their team. This is another trait of Wiseman’s “The Investor”. You can’t develop Pink’s “Mastery” without letting go of the monkeys. This doesn’t mean you aren’t responsible for checking in on the monkeys, however you shouldn’t be the one filling the water dish. Delegate the monkeys.

5. Big Picture. Does your team know the big picture? Jon Gordon at a recent conference suggested handing out 3 X 5 cards to all your employees and asking what the purpose of the company was. What would your team answer? We all need to know the purpose of the organization for which we work. It is much easier to align with an organization and be engaged when we know what the purpose it. If you answer, “To make money”, your team is not engaged. Make sure they know the Big Picture.

6. Non-Commissioned Work. One of the best examples of how effective autonomy is to creating better outcomes was a study that Pink refers to in his book “Drive”. They found that in a blind evaluation (they didn’t know which art work was commissioned versus non-commissioned) paintings that were commissioned (i.e. I want it to match my couch, I want flamingos and it needs to be 6 feet wide) were of less quality and creativeness as opposed to non-commissioned work. So make sure your team has some time to just create instead of keeping them “in the box.” It’s not practical to have all non-commissioned work all the time, however some time left to one’s own devices is critical to engagement.

Once you’ve found your magic wand, get out of the way. You will be amazed at what folks can do if they are given the freedom to find their own path. Find your Engagement Wizard and start waving the magic wand.

I had the privilege of hearing Jon Gordon speak at a Capital Associated Industries conference recently. He is the author of several books but the one quote I took away from the lecture was “Be positive! You can’t be stressed and thankful at the same time.” How true is that! When was the last time you were stressed while praying or meditating? So when you’re running late for work; be thankful that you have a job and a car that’s working.

Jon Gordon’s recent book is “The Positive Dog”. It talks about how positivity in your relationships and at work will not only make it better for you but for those around you as well. Haven’t we all been there? You know who the Debbie Downers of the world are; and you try and stay clear of them. The guy who is constantly saying that the sky is falling? Yeah. Skip lunch with him. You’ll have a gun to your head if you hang out with him for too long. Positivity rules. And it is the ultimate stress buster.

Here are some tips on how to increase your positivity:

1. Stop. The minute you start catastrophizing some adverse event, you need to STOP. In Martin Seligman‘s book “Learned Optimism”, he recommends physically hitting the wall and saying “Stop!” If there isn’t a wall handy, try a rubber band on your wrist and snap it (hard) and say “Stop!” As Seligman says, this disrupts the thoughts. So if you are thinking your daughter was in a car accident because she is 10 minutes late, just smack yourself and say “Stop!”

2. Truth. As Byron Katie says in her book “Loving What Is”, is it the truth? If you are telling your self that your boss hates you, that your spouse doesn’t love you or that you’ve blown your diet; take a second look. Stuff a sock in your Inner Dictator, and ask yourself if it’s true. Dust off the evidence and analyze what you know to be absolutely true. What evidence do you have other than what your Inner Dictator has said? The boss is in the middle of an acquisition and is overwhelmed. Your spouse is working overtime and needs some appreciation. One brownie and a glass of Zinfandel is not blowing a diet. Make sure you know the truth.

3. Spill. Set the timer, grab a pen and spill your guts on paper. Dump all the worries, self-doubt and demons on some good old college ruled paper. This is amazingly freeing. Suddenly the stage of your prefrontal cortex is wide open, now that you have all the villains, bad actors and stage hands safely cleared off. Getting it all on paper and out of your head is such a relief. From there, light a match and literally “burn up your worries”. Spill your guts so you can look at the positive.

4. Blessings. Count your blessings. Inspiring coach Michele Woodward recommends counting three things you are thankful for before you get out of bed in the morning. Sometimes I cheat and count ten things I’m thankful for. Being grateful starts your day off with optimism. It might just be the roof over your head, your hardworking spouse and your dog (who is happy to see you no matter the circumstances…actually I’m usually the one that feeds her and she knows where her bread is buttered). An attitude of gratitude is an attraction magnet. Who would you rather hang out with, Sue Ann Nivens or Simon Cowell? I’m guessing the one who counts their blessings.

5. Discourse. Martin Seligman also recommends getting a close trusted friend and modeling the self talk in your head through some discourse. Your role is to take the positive angle and your trusted buddy takes your normal self talk of pessimism. So your buddy starts off with “You messed up that project and everyone is disgusted with you. You are so lazy”. You respond with, “It’s true I delivered the project late but the project itself was spot on. I know my boss was upset it was late, but he appreciated the quality of the project. I’m a hard worker. I was just a little overwhelmed and that caused me to be late.” The point is, that if you get good at arguing for you instead of against you (in your self talk), it will become second nature to stand up for yourself against your inner dictator. Grab a buddy and engage in discourse.

It’s amazing how much stress can be created by our inner dictator. Embracing optimism and positivity can have a huge impact on your ability to roll with the punches. The most important thing that Martin Seligman has found in his research is that you can learn to be optimistic. I hope a few of these techniques will help be a stress buster in your life.