“It’s Not About You: A Little Story About What Matters Most in Business” by Bob Burg and John David Mann (Portfolio/Penguin, $24.95).
Ben’s marching orders were straightforward: Convince the employee-owned firm to accept the purchase tender offer from his firm. He’d done it before; he’d do it again. But (one of Ben’s favorite words that was an intro to a shoe dropping), this time it was different. After his rah-rah, “this is what the merger means” speech he asked for a straw vote. The 500-plus owners voted NO.
Licking his wounded ego, he went to meet Claire, a friend who happened to be a marketing whiz, at the coffee shop. She was with her Aunt Elle. Ben sat down and told Claire what happened. He wanted her advice on how to convince the employee owners to accept the merger. Much to his surprise, Aunt Elle jumped into the conversation. She said, “The less you say, the more influence you’ll have.” Ben smiled politely and asked why. Aunt Elle’s Zen-like response: “Because the more you yield, the more power you have.”
The banter continued and Aunt Elle asked, “What do you really have to offer them?” Ben launched into his rah-rah speech. The wise old lady simply said, “Ah” and finished her coffee. Ben felt like he failed an exam, but didn’t know why. He had all the right answers — or did he?
Ben’s lesson continued the next day when he met with Allen, the company’s CEO. He took Ben through the storied past of the firm. Allen closed the conversation by telling Ben that the biggest challenge of a leader was seeing and holding to the company’s vision amid the fear and doubt swirling about in tough times.
Back to the coffee shop; Aunt Elle was there. She schooled him about influence. Ben thought influence was push-driven — because you got others to do what you wanted. Aunt Elle countered: “How far can you push a rope?” A rope only did its job when it was pulled. “Pull is the substance of influence, not push.” Ben’s light bulb finally went on.
Instead of convincing, Ben spoke to the 500-plus employee owners in terms of continuing the vision of their firm and commitment to its product. He closed with, “Ladies and gentlemen, I offer you … you.”
The moral: You can be singular or plural. Think plural when making decisions.
“The Progress Principle: Using Small Wins to Ignite …” by Teresa Amabile and Steven Kramer (Harvard Business Review Press, $25).
The authors’ survey of hundreds of managers found that only five percent ranked “supporting progress in the work” as a way to increase employee motivation. What are they (or aren’t they) thinking? You only find winning attitudes on winning teams. Why? Winners see progress — and expect it to continue. They play to win; losers play not to lose.
The authors also found that setbacks and obstacles could have a negative effect on work life 2-3 times stronger than the positive effect of progress. Their studies of 12,000 workplace diaries found that “Setbacks in the work can lead a person to feel generally apathetic toward doing the work at all.” When managers ignore issues that impede progress, productivity doesn’t just stall — it falls. Creativity and innovation die.
Acknowledging the effects of progress and setbacks on attitude (which drives intrinsic motivation), the authors believe managers need to realize they are catalysts for performance. Taking action that directly supports the work (e.g. resources, autonomy, eliminating roadblocks, etc.) sends a message of support to the troops. Relative to the individuals, managers must make time to nourish by showing respect and encouraging two-way communication.
The bottom line: A manager’s performance is based upon his/her staff’s performance.
Jim Pawlak is a nationally syndicated book reviewer.
