It is a sad tale one hears repeatedly from executives about how they seem unable to motivate and mobilize their employees. It is a sadder tale to hear it often rationalized that this must be due to some other factors, such as the way different cultures view work. It is not common that executives train their sights inward and look to themselves as holding the keys to inspiring their employees. Many would rather look outward and place the responsibility – or blame – on others. But the reality is that executives do hold the keys to engaging and energizing their employees, and in this article, the Author discusses 6 of these keys.

1. 6 KEYS TO ENGAGING & ENERGIZING YOUR EMPLOYEES
It is a sad tale one hears repeatedly from executives about how they seem unable
to motivate and mobilize their employees. It is a sadder tale to hear it often
rationalized that this must be due to some other factors, such as the way different
cultures view work. It is not common that executives train their sights inward and
look to themselves as holding the keys to inspiring their employees. Many would
rather look outward and place the responsibility – or blame – on others. But the
reality is that executives do hold the keys to engaging and energizing their
employees, and in this article, the Author discusses 6 of these keys.
TRISTAN B DE LA ROSA
Founder & Principal Coach
www.thebanyanway.com
Banyan Way © 2007 Page 1

2. This is a true story.
I was a brand assistant 9 months fresh out of college. One morning my Associate
Advertising Manager called me to his office. Being several layers down the
marketing ladder, I thought this a bit unusual. I was not overly perturbed though
since I thought I was doing a swell job (this was just my opinion of course since my
Brand Manager never gave me any indications to the contrary). Once I got to his
office, my AAM briefly looked up from whatever he was doing, handed me a small
piece of paper, winked and then motioned with his hands that I can go. On the
piece of paper, scrawled in his microscopic handwriting was a dollar amount.
Perplexed, I approached another brand assistant a few months my senior to ask
what this was all about. “Well buddy, you just got a raise.” So much for my first
ever performance evaluation.
Whenever I look back to this and other events in my corporate career I think about
all the significant opportunities that marketing managers and other executives miss
in terms of engaging and energizing their employees. It is a sad tale one hears
repeatedly from executives about how they seem unable to motivate and mobilize
their employees; and it is a sadder tale to hear it often rationalized that this must
be due to some factors in the way different cultures view work, as if the phrase
“strong work ethic” were the monopoly of one organization or even of an entire
race of people.
It is not common that executives train their sights inward and look to themselves
as holding the keys to inspiring their employees. Many would rather look outward
and place the responsibility – or blame – on others. But the reality is that
executives do hold the keys. And here are some of them…
The 6 Keys to Engaging & Energizing Your Employees
1. Earn the right to lead.
This is perhaps the single most important key. Your position or title does not
automatically entitle you to leadership. You may enforce compliance, but you may
not get commitment. You can order soldiers to charge, but you cannot expect
them to hold their ranks when the tide of battle reverses. You earn your stripes as
a leader with every sentence you utter, every decision you make, and every action
you take.
Competence and character are the foundations of leadership. Competence
assures your employees that you know what you’re doing; character assures them
that you can be trusted to use that knowledge to lead them toward a common
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3. goal. A Chinese proverb goes: “Not the cry, but the flight of the wild duck, leads
the flock to fly and follow.” An executive may rant about vision and goals and
performance incentives, but if he neither has the competence to show the way, nor
the character to be credible and trustworthy, his employees will not follow.
2. Know your employees (and let them know you as well).
Executives most likely spend more hours each day with people at work than they
do with their families. Yet beyond what’s written on resumes, many of them only
have a superficial knowledge of their employees. Without stepping into more
sensitive areas in their employees’ private lives, executives should know more
about their people outside of what is seen and learnt at work, for instance: their
families, their personal aspirations, sports, hobbies. And your employees should
know the same things about you as well.
This humanizes work relationships and provides common ground for conversation
other than shop talk. This sharing of knowledge creates an invisible bond between
you and your employees as they come to realize that you’re not someone who is
untouchable and distant. You are another human being with the same concerns
about family, perhaps with aspirations other than what you’re doing now, and who
enjoys the same sport, the same shows on tv as anybody else.
It is easier for people to follow leaders who they feel are in touch with and
understand them than someone who is cold and aloof. As one executive puts it:
“People don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care.”
3. Tailor your management style to each employee’s specific needs.
Knowing your employees importantly includes understanding where each one is
on two vital performance indicators: competence and commitment. Competence
rests on a person’s technical ability to perform an assigned function. Commitment
is the attitude towards and sense of purpose a person brings to the job.
An executive cannot have a “one size fits all” management style but must
customize this depending on an employee’s competence and commitment.
Broadly, this would be as follows:
 High Competence + High Commitment: This is an exemplary employee and the
executive must give as much leeway to the person to grow with little guidance.
Delegate whenever possible and challenge your employee with higher level
responsibilities.
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4.  High Competence + Low Commitment: While this person is very capable
technically, his/ her heart is not in the job and is not performing to full potential.
Understand the reason for this employee’s poor commitment – perhaps he/ she
has career expectations that are not being met or that his/ her current assignment
is not challenging enough. Coach your employee to unearth the basic issue behind
the lack of commitment, and move to address and resolve this issue.
 Low Competence + High Commitment: This employee is energized and highly
motivated but does not have adequate technical competence. Fortunately,
because of his very positive attitude he/ she is highly trainable. Adjust your
management style to allow for training this person. Assign tasks of gradually
increasing complexity and follow up regularly based on agreed milestones.
 Low Competence + Low Commitment: This employee is a serious drag to your
group. His low level of commitment can be poison to the team’s spirit and
acceptance of his low level of competence would be interpreted as tolerance for
sub-par performance. This person is a candidate for exit coaching. Explore with
the HR Manager whether there are positions available within the organization
where his/ her skills could be a better fit
Your objective as a leader must be to move all your employees to the “High
Competence/ High Commitment” quadrant.
4. Set clear expectations and provide regular feedback.
Let’s go back to that story I told at the start. Throughout my first 9 months in the
company my immediate manager and I never talked about what was expected of
me; neither did we talk about how I was doing. As I said, I just assumed that I must
have been doing well as I never heard anything to the contrary. Now, let us
suppose that my manager did in fact think that I was not performing to his
expectations (whatever these were), and that instead of a dollar amount on the
paper I read something that said “you’ve got 3 months to strut your stuff or you’re
out”. Would you think I’d be engaged and inspired? Heck no… I’d use the 3
months to look for another job and then I’m out of there.
The essence of motivating employees is in providing a sense of purpose, a goal to
which they must aspire – in other words, sharing with them your expectations as to
how they can contribute to your team’s success. These must be communicated
and discussed from the time a person joins your team.
And then at every opportunity thereafter, you must review instances where these
expectations are being met, as well as instances where they are not. Positive
feedback is not only a great motivator; equally important it serves to reinforce
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5. correct behavior. On the other hand, a candid discussion of instances where an
employee falls short of expectations represents a perfect coaching opportunity.
This helps ensure that mistakes are not repeated, and underscores your
commitment that you are interested in your employee’s career success.
5. Deliver messages that engage, inspire, and teach; and do so in story form.
An effective way of engaging employees is by telling stories. It should not be
surprising that Christ’s most compelling lessons were delivered in story form –
“The Prodigal Son”, “The Good Samaritan” – to mention just two. Stories have
drama: people are drawn by the conflict and they are interested in how it is
eventually resolved. They employ themes that can one can relate directly to work
situations. Because employees are not personally involved in these stories, these
can be used to deliver painful messages without being hurtful or confrontational.
For instance, to coach an employee who frequently misses deadlines one can use
a story to make a telling point. “You know early in my career I was so concerned
about submitting a perfect report that, like you, I would frequently miss deadlines.
When a senior member of the staff resigned, another member of the team was
promoted to fill the position instead of me even though I felt I was the stronger
candidate. My boss explained that even though I did write good reports, he
needed somebody whom he could rely on, somebody who knew the importance of
meeting deadlines and the meaning of commitment. This experience set my
career back by at least a year. I do not want the same thing to happen to you.”
This particular story is memorable and effective for a number of reasons. First, it
allows a peek into the executive’s vulnerability immediately creating empathy.
Second, it specifically points out the subordinate’s weakness without being sharply
confrontational. Third, it frankly lays out the possible consequence to the
employee if he does not modify his behavior, but does so without coming across
as threatening.
6. Create leaders out of your followers.
A point that we have repeatedly made is that employees follow a leader who they
perceive as being interested in their career success. As an executive, there is no
more effective way of showing your commitment to this than to provide training not
just to meet immediate challenges but to develop followers into future leaders. The
noted poet and essayist W.H. Auden put it in another way: quot;No person can be a
great leader unless he takes genuine joy in the successes of those under him.”
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6. Obviously, not everyone in your team will become future leaders but everyone
should be made aware that they have the opportunity to aspire for leadership. The
basis for such an opportunity should be clear and must form part of the
expectations discussion that the executive has with his subordinate.
In ending, I can think of no better way to summarize the essence of the 6 Keys to
Engaging & Inspiring Your Employees, than to quote the eminent management
theorist, Robert Greenleaf: quot;The best leaders are clear. They continually light the
way, and in the process, let each person know that what they do makes a
difference. The best test as a leader is: do those served grow as persons; do they
become healthier, wiser, freer, more autonomous, more likely themselves to
become leaders?”
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7. About the Author:
Driven by a personal mission to “take executives to the edge
and push them to fly – as leaders”, Tristan B de la Rosa is
the Founder & Principal Coach of Banyan Way, an executive
coaching and development company. He is also in the
Coaching Advisory Board & Faculty of Northwestern
University. Tristan brings an uncommon blend of masterful
real-world experience and rich multi-national & multi-cultural
insight to the Executive Coaching field. He has decades of
leadership experience working at the world’s most respected
CPG companies, among them P&G, J&J, General Foods,
and the Wrigley Co. As country head or senior marketing
executive, he has been posted in some of the world’s most
important and fastest growing markets – including China,
India, the tiger economies of South East Asia – and in the
United States. Tristan is based in Chicago where he shares
a home with his wife, Marilyn. Tristan can be contacted at
tristan.delarosa@thebanyanway.com.
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