Feeling Valued at Work

"Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others."  Philippians 2:3-4 (ESV)

 

 Over the last few days, I have asked a number of people, “What makes you feel valued in your workplace?” It seems to come down to three things: Trust, Respect and Input.

 Trust – “assured reliance on the character, ability, strength, or truth of someone or something.” (Merriam-Webster)

Trust is the building block for transformational leadership.  Leaders want their followers to trust them, but to gain trust one must first prove himself to be trustworthy. One way to build trustworthiness is to place trust in the other person. The more trust I show you, the more I increase the likelihood that you will trust me. Delegation of responsibility is a huge way to build trust. Sharing of information and sharing personal prayer requests are also trust builders.

Respect –“a feeling of deep admiration for someone or something elicited by their abilities, qualities, or achievements.” (Oxford Dictionary)  

The simplest recognition of the other person’s experience, contributions or individual accomplishments can go a very long way toward making the person feel respected. Another simple way to show respect is to put down the smart-aleck phone and give the person your undivided attention. 

 Input – “advice or opinions that help someone make a decision.” (Merriam-Webster).

This is about feeling you have the opportunity to share Information and Insights.  Being given the opportunity to share these three I's creates a feeling of empowerment. 

 

Information x Input x Insight = Empowerment  ( I³ = E ).  

 

The word “empowerment” is often confused with delegation of authority.  People do not necessarily have to be given a delegated authority, however, to feel empowered.  The opportunity to give input up line with absolute confidence that they will be heard makes people feel they actually make a difference. This is more than just having the opportunity to influence decisions. It has to do with simply being heard, knowing that your manager has an open ear and will give attention to what you have to share--even if your idea is not implemented.

The ability to give input also helps to build trust that leads to respect. Of course, if a person's input is repeatedly rejected outright, then that becomes a trust-buster, making the person feel disrespected and devalued. 

 

All of this boils down to helping people feel that they are persons of worth, that they are known and valued for who they are and not just for what they do. Who you are amounts to much more than just what you do in your job at work. 

Hint to the Leader:

Imagine what your organization would look like if leaders would go out of their way to demonstrate a genuine value for every worker at every level throughout the organization.  What could you do to start building such an organization right now?   What could you do to show that you are genuinely TRI-ing? (Remember, Trust, Respect, Input.)

 

Hint to the Follower:

Even if you are not feeling valued at work, you can make others feel valued. Consider starting your own campaign by showing respect for your manager or supervisor. Offer your input with an attitude of helping.  By the way, would your family members say they feel valued by you? Would they say you are TRI-ing?

© Dr. Larry N. Gay, October 16, 2015
 

Don't Fixate on ONE Solution

Walking on the beach I noticed a dedicated, hard-working egret who knew what he wanted and thought he knew how to get it.

 

 

 

Fish in a bucket should be easy pickings, right?  The only problem was how to get them out of the bucket, because the fisherman had placed a weighted cover there... precisely to keep the egrets from eating his bait fish!

 

Throughout the morning other egrets smelled the fish in the bucket and came to check it out, but they quickly determined that there was a better way to get fish in the nearby surf. Not this guy, though. He was so fixated on this one solution to his hunger that he ignored the obvious solution that everyone else found. He was so convinced that this was an easier and better way, that he wasted the entire morning while all the other egrets got their fill of small fish in the surf. In fact, the fisherman told me this particular egret did the same thing every morning! Occasionally the fisherman would empty his bucket when he was through fishing, but he would never allow this particular egret to have any of the fish, because he was so fixated on this method of feeding that the fisherman knew he would never catch his own fish again if ever allowed to eat from the bucket. Even so, the egret still was determined that this was easier than catching fish in the water, so day after day he keeps dreaming of how to open the bucket and get at all those yummy fish that are just waiting to be eaten.

He reminded me of that simple definition of insanity--continuing to do the same thing over and over again and expecting to get different results.

 

 

Hint to the Leader: Don't get so fixated on ONE solution to the problem. There might be another way. Be willing to think a new thought.

 

Hint to the Follower:  Don't take rejection of your suggestion of a solution as rejection of the problem you are seeing. The resources to open the bucket might be beyond your reach. When you hit a wall of limitations, turn around and look at the ocean of other ideas that might also work, be willing to follow the example of others who are already getting results.

 

 

© Copyright Dr. Larry Gay, December 2013

"Lessons on Leadership and Followership"

http://mylead360.blogspot.com/

 

 



How do you spell "Success?"

"I want that guy out of here in 60 days!" The angry CEO made it clear he did not like the lower level manager, not necessarily because of poor job performance, he simply did not like the guy.

A major part of the problem, however, was the fact that from the beginning there was no standard of performance or clear expectation of how the manager would do his job. So he had rocked along for several months doing what he thought was a pretty good job. Then, "Wham!" Out of the blue he was blindsided with the fact that he had not been meeting the CE0's expectations and there was no opportunity to rectify the problem.

Sometimes even following a clearly written job description is not enough to guarantee successful job performance. Job descriptions often describe typical tasks that are to be performed while failing to define the most important item of all, which is how will success be defined?

Remember the old antacid commercial: "How do you spell relief?" Smiling men and women declared, "I spell relief R-O-L-A-I-D-S." They knew exactly what to do to get the desired outcome of relief from the pain of heartburn.

So how do you spell SUCCESS? A team can get along fabulously well, with no conflicts, everyone respecting each other and enjoying working together while they are effectively accomplishing absolutely NOTHING for the company. They might rate themselves an A+ team in spite of the fact that they have zero tangible results. They can even come up with a score card rating themselves on their performance while measuring the wrong things.

To head off this train wreck before it leaves the track, be sure the train is on the right track! Make sure you both spell SUCCESS the same way!

Hint to both the Leader and the Follower:
Make sure the job description not only includes tasks to be completed, but also the main objective to be accomplished through this position.

Make sure you both know how you will measure success and agree on how and when success will be evaluated.

Hint to the Leader:
Clarify what steps will be taken if success is not acheived. The first corrrective action should be to help the follower improve performance, increase their effectiveness and contribute more positively to the company's objectives. Don't just fire under-performers without first investing in them to help them become peak-performers.

Hint to the Follower:
Ask how you are doing and if you are making a positive contribution to the company's objectives. If you have not received a performance review in over a year, ask for one. Let your boss know you want honest feedback so you can give the job your best effort. Show that you care for the company and want to help it be successful. To do that, you need to know how to spell SUCCESS.

(c) 2011 Dr. LarryN. Gay http://mylead360.blogspot.com/

     "Lessons on Leadership and Follwership"