How to ensure that they never say:

“I want you, I need you,
But there ain’t no way I’m ever gonna love you;
Now don’t be sad,
‘Cause two out of three ain’t bad.”

Meatloaf

In 2004, Adam Sandler and Drew Barrymore co-starred in a movie called, “50 First Dates.” In this movie, Adam plays Henry, a vet living in Hawaii, who meets and falls in love with Lucy (Drew Barrymore), who suffers from short-term memory loss. Since she can never remember meeting him, Henry has to romance Lucy every single day, with the hope that she will return his love.

Many leaders I know feel a lot like Henry, as though every day, they are almost starting at zero with many employees and have to win their loyalty and commitment time and time again. As unfair as it may seem, engaging employees doesn’t take place at a large town hall meeting where visions are shared and accomplishments are celebrated. Engagement also doesn’t take place in monthly homeroom meetings or even at annual performance review time when rewards and raises are doled out. Engagement takes place every single day, when that moment of truth happens as a leader interacts with his or her employees.

The following are a few suggestions for what you can put into practice on a daily basis that will go a long way toward winning the hearts and minds of your employees:

• Be yourself: Avoid projecting a false persona

• Walk your talk: Treat employees in the same way you treat your boss and the same way you expect them to treat their customers/clients

• Project a positive energy to your employees: Be approachable, welcoming and inviting

• Get to know your employees: Find out who they are and what they want to accomplish

• Treat everyone as an individual: Be equitable in enforcing standards while recognizing unique traits

• Speak less, listen more: Give employees opportunities to be heard, and when someone speaks, give them your complete attention

• Respect, appreciate and value everyone: Notice and reward great performances and create an atmosphere in which everyone is important

• Set your employees up for success: Provide the training, tools and resources needed for superior performance, and help employees connect the dots between what they do and the overall success of the organization

• Pitch in to help: Walk your area; know what is happening and help out whether it is a necessity or not

• Empower employees: Give employees commeasurable authority to match their level of responsibility

• Practice empathy: Know what it is like to walk in your employees’ shoes; recognize that your employees are more than what they do

• Seek input: Get upfront input on decisions that affect employees that will greatly increase their buy-in once decisions are made

• Know the talents on your team and use them: Find out what your people are great at and leverage those strengths to make the team better and enhance their self-esteem

The bottom line

The Golden Rule goes a long way in creating environments that motivate great employees to stay and give their best efforts. Ask yourself how your employees would rate your ability to treat them as individuals. Select one daily priority of an engaging leader to implement this week. Finally, set aside 15 minutes per day to walk your area and interact with your employees.

Are you ready to take your leadership and organizational effectiveness to the next level? Check out the other resources available online at www.acceleraconsultinggroup.com or give us a call at 407.376.8522 for a free consultation. We accelerate results by igniting leadership and organizational potential!