Ten Tips for Modeling Enthusiasm
1. Be enthusiastic. Maintain a level of enthusiasm that is contagious. This has to be an authentic enthusiasm; most people can tell when you are being insincere.
2. Be honest. Be honest at all times. Preach it, talk about it, coach it, do it! This is where it gets tough—sometimes it is not easy to be honest. It is difficult to tell someone, for example, that the project they worked on is not acceptable, after they put a great deal of effort into the project. You must, however, be willing to be honest, because that is what you want your team to do. You want them to come to you when they have made a mistake, are confused, or don’t agree. At some companies I have worked with, I have seen employees agree in public, but disagree privately with their team members. This happens because they don’t feel comfortable being honest. They found that honesty didn’t get them anywhere and, in fact, was a punishable offense. That can have a huge impact on employee motivation.
3. Work hard. When Michael Eisner took over Disney many years ago, he decided that Disney was in a crisis mode. He came in early and left the office very, very late. He parked his car right up front where every employee could see it. As employees came in every day, they saw that Eisner’s car was already in its spot. As a result, employees started coming in earlier. This is a great illustration of modeling the behavior. If you come in late and leave early, that is what the team will do. As Cardinal J. Gibbons said, “There are no office hours for leaders.”
4. Be ethical. As a manager, it is critical to be ethical at all times. There are courses that mention the term situational ethics. I am very much against that thought. Are people ethical only in certain situations? Managers must model the highest level of ethics at all times, particularly in today’s time of corporate scandal.
5. Be respectful. Every employee should be treated with respect at all times. The pride and feeling of motivation this builds is phenomenal. I had an employee once who did a fine job on a project, and when I gave her a compliment, she turned about five shades of red. I asked her what was wrong, and she proceeded to tell me that she had never been given a compliment at work. In 15 years in the work place, not one supervisor had given her a compliment. Respect includes not yelling, demeaning, or criticizing employees in public. I have known and heard of executives who treat employees like they are invisible. Respect pays huge dividends and builds loyalty, especially if employees have never been treated respectfully. Lastly, it is just the right thing to do.
6. Have fun. If you want the team to have fun at work, you have to have fun. Use good-natured humor and tell funny stories. Be willing to laugh at yourself. As a caution: The humor should never obviously be at someone else’s expense and should not be offensive. A good rule of thumb is that if you would say it in front of your grandmother, it is probably safe humor.
7. Be willing to be wrong. Sometimes managers get a little too egocentric and too arrogant. Sincere humility is a valuable quality that employees will admire and respect. When you are wrong, just simply say “I was wrong. I was thinking at the time that (fill in the reason why), but now I realize I made an error. Let’s move forward and talk about what we can do to fix this.” I have seen managers who absolutely refuse to ever admit they were wrong under any circumstances, even when it was blatantly obvious.
8. Stay calm. In the middle of havoc, you must always stay calm. You must be the calm captain of the ship who stays focused in times of crisis. During the horrible time of September 11th, Rudy Giuliani, mayor of New York City, stayed calm in the middle of all heck breaking loose. The result of his actions was that New Yorkers were calmer. As a manager, if you want your team members to stay calm, cool, and collected, then you need to model that behavior. They will be watching your every move, especially during those times. If you want to be upset and “vent,” wait until you leave the office and call a friend to tell them about it.
9. Communicate frequently. Most managers think they are communicating frequently, but the reality is most employees feel that managers don’t communicate enough and they feel under-informed. The result? Employees feel “out of the loop.” If you want employees to communicate frequently, do so yourself, both formally and informally.
10. Support the company. Managers should always support the company. As officers of the company, that is what they are paid to do. A manager in very real terms is the company. Managers must support company procedures and policies, even when they disagree with them personally. Why? Because not supporting company policy sends mixed messages, which is very confusing to employees. Under no circumstance should a manager express any negative comments about the company to employees such as the following: I am telling you to do this, but I disagree with it. Or I work for the company and I support the company, but don’t agree with its policies. Making negative comments about other departments is ill advised, as well. I have heard managers say, “Well you know how those knuckleheads are in Marketing.” This sends a message to the entire team that it is okay to criticize and talk negatively about other departments. After all, those departments are part of the company. Savvy managers should set a “no whining policy.” Employees are not allowed to whine or complain, but they are allowed to point out issues and solutions. This sets an entirely different tone.
Model the behaviors that the team is expected to emulate.