Good morning from Haida Gwaii, the “Misty Islands” on the far north west coast of Canada, a remarkable, ancient and mysterious place. I have been working with a credit union here and have had many, many, ‘present moment = wonderful moments’ throughout my visit here.
One of our correspondents sent me this link the other day:
http://www.ted.com/talks/dave_meslin_the_antidote_to_apathy.html
Although the link is speaking about political apathy, I wonder if some of Mr. Meslin’s observations might be applicable in organizations. In my work with managers and leaders I’m often asked, how do we motivate people? How do we get people to take initiative? And for years we’ve been looking at the psychology of the individual and trying to create workspaces where people are more likley to be motivated. But perhaps we’ve been missing a key piece of the puzzle. What about the psychology of the organization? If we really do want employees to care about us, to be motivated, to take the initiative, how many barriers might the organization itself be putting up?
Simply put, how easy do we make it for people to be apathetic about what we’re trying to accomplish as an organizaton? For example, our obsession with numbers and metrics? If organizations were people we’d be hard pressed to be in their company, as self-centred as they seem to be. It’d be like hanging out with a person who spends all of their time looking in the mirror obsessing over minute changes in their waistline and butt size. Now being healthy and fit are good things, and we need to have measures to ensure that we are both. And we are not only healthy and fit for ourselves, we are healthy and fit for our families, for our communities. Or another barrier might be our tendency to hero worship. There are people I know in organizations who have been given status and authority in these organizations because they are hero; they have some skill or competency that is indeed very valuable, and yet they are often ill equipped to work in teams, to manage people, and to inspire and lead. And yet they are handsomely rewarded and even promoted because of their wizardy in some specific area. As a fellow employee, I can reasonably infer that the organization actually values that skill, rather than commitment, motivation and initiative, and so, why bother. Not mention the often cancer-like spread of unreasonable and inappropriate behaviour that rewarding heroes can enhance. If we really do value teamwork, if we really do value collective hard work, then, we need to clearly name and behave in such a way that supports teamwork and collective hard work. Perhaps excising the cancer can be the most motivating behaviour a leader can do.
May we each find an opportunity this week to look at our organization and wonder if the culture actually does inspire and motivate the people to do and be the best they can be?
Good afternoon from Vancouver!
We’ve been exploring the following leadership attributes from my reflections in Australia this summer;
Presence
Present Moment = Wonderful Moment
Slowing Down
Attention and Listening
Honouring Self, Others and the Place
Gratitude
Compassion
Solitude
Over the next weeks, I’ll expand a little more on each of them.
For this week, gratitude. It seems that everyone from the Buddah, Jesus of Nazareth, and The Prophet Mohammed, through to Henry David Thoreau, your Mum and even Oprah talk about the importance of gratitude and thanksgiving. There must be something to it?! Why is it that we can still sit in a restaurant and not thank the server who takes our order or brings our food, close a meeting and not thank the people who attended for their time and contribution, or even thank our family and loved ones for their presence in our lives?
Did you know that a sincere and heartfelt thank you is consistently one of the top three most important rewards an employee can receive? To be appreciated for a contribution, to be recognized for an act or word touches us at a very deep level.
During my stay on Heron Island on the Great Barrier Reef, www.heronisland.com I had the pleasure of meeting some wonderful people. Two couples in particular, became friendly as we shared some laughs on the boat to the island and then shared a few meals together. One couple were older; she in her 70’s , he in his 80’s, and both had lost their first spouses in death at quite young ages, and had raised six children each on their own from the time they were in their early 40’s. They had been married for about 10 years. In a moment of serendipity, with the beautiful weather, the gorgeouos location and the fact that I was ordained, they approached me and asked if I would officiate at a renewal of their wedding vows. Well with no legal issues to worry about, they were already married, I said sure.
The renewal was wonderful, they had written their own vows, and I said a couple of words about love and elderhood, the other couple acted as photographers and a few of the other guests shared the moment with us all, and one sang Ave Maria. And then off we all went for dinner. It was simple, lovely and a great memory. The ‘bride’ came over to me and said, “I’ve been thinking about how to thank you.” I said, “you’re welcome, so no worries.” Then she said, “I’m an artist, and I’d like to paint my view of Heron Island and send it to you.” I said “thank you.”
Her painting, an impressionist work, found me on my last night in a hotel in Melbourne, wrapped in a tube. I carefully brought it home, and it now hangs above the mantle in my office. It is absolutely lovely. And it touches me, because it came from her heart.
As leaders, we too can make a difference in people’s lives and in our relationships with them, by naming and acting on our thankfulness from our hearts. And, as an exercise, as you go to bed each night, think about the people and situations from the day that you are thankful for; and you may well find that you want to thank the people who come into your mind the very next day.