There is a certain type of person for whom the glass is not just half full; it is completely full – all of the time. You will have come across them in your journey through your business life. They are the people who bounded out of bed this morning just so they could get going on their next project, they are the people who greet every request with enthusiasm and joy; and they are the people who can always find some good no matter how bad the disaster.
When these people are genuine they can be a tremendous force within an organisation but what about when they are not genuine, what happens when they profess one thing but their enthusiasm is only skin deep? It’s a question which comes up regularly when we talk about organisational culture and about the methods used to engender employee engagement.
In the TV programme ‘The fall and rise of Reginald Perrin’ one of the comic effects is achieved by two individuals parroting ‘Great’ and ‘Super’ at every turn. Their responses are clearly automatic, meaningless and designed simply to both please the boss and avoid giving offense. But it is the total lack of thought which goes into the comments which enables the writers to achieve comic effect with even impossible suggestions being met with the same two phrases.
Sadly, there are some organisations in which a similar pattern of behaviour has built up. You may even have come across them; the businesses in which every leader above a certain level constantly professes their keenness and enthusiasm, and does so openly whenever their immediate superior is in the vicinity. But when talking to their teams the enthusiasm is far more muted or even non-existent. Meanwhile those outside the leadership sphere just get on with their tasks and view the outward show of false enthusiasm displayed by their leaders with a certain world-weary cynicism; effectively turning outward shows of excitement into a negative force.
It’s an important lesson to get to grips with when talking about culture and leadership but it is one which doesn’t come naturally to some. Simply professing enthusiasm, the high-fives, the leaping up and shouting when a sale is made, the outward shows of keenness mean nothing; unless time is taken to genuinely align people with the business strategy. Of course alignment and engagement aren’t as straightforward as simply imposing targets or promoting ‘yes men’. To genuinely engage employees in the strategy, beliefs and behaviours of an organisation takes time and effort. It requires communication rather than diktat, it requires collaboration rather than strict hierarchy and it requires a willingness to be challenged rather than simply being applauded. In short it requires true leadership.
However when alignment and engagement are successfully integrated into an organisation something wonderful happens. Suddenly glass half full or even completely full doesn’t seem out of place; rather it becomes the natural state for all. There’s no need to impose targets because everyone is working for the good of the organisation and there’s no need to outwardly proclaim how enthusiastic you are because everyone is collaborating in a naturally enthusiastic way. The meaningless parroting of false phrases has been replaced by genuine enthusiasm as everyone from the executive team downwards works together for the good of the organisation, its customers and investors. Suddenly excitement becomes a positive value and everyone benefits.
If you’ve got a question on resetting organisational culture to align people with business strategy feel free to email Derek at [email protected] or visit www.cultureconsultancy.com for more information on organisational culture and employee engagement.
