Posts Tagged ‘Executive Leadership’

Are you curious as to what’s really behind employee engagement?

Wednesday, September 1st, 2010 by Martha Forlines & Thad Green

Leaders everywhere

Are talking about

The importance of engagement

Of having employees

Fully involved in

And enthusiastic about

Their work

We all get

The WHY of engagement

It’s the HOW

That stumps us

It’s simple really

Motivation is the key to engagement

It’s like the often used phrase

If you really want to know

What’s going on

Follow the money

In your case

If you want to know how to

Engage employees

Follow their motivation

Then you’ll know

How to engage them

Because motivation determines engagement

And more

Motivation is the fuel for performance . . . no gas, no go

When motivation sags below the enthusiastic line

Effort shows a corresponding decline

Causing performance to cough

Like an engine begging for fuel

fuel_gauge_analog

As a leader you have to wonder

How much unrealized potential

Is silently seeping away

Every second of every working day

In these turbulent and troubling times

Just imagine redirecting all of that unrealized potential

Like rechanneling fresh water into parched soil

Could you produce more

And what would happen to the wilted flower called profit?

Is your lost opportunity measured

In ounces or pounds or tons?

Please note… this is an excerpt from Martha Forlines and Thad Green’s new book, Inspiring Women…BECOMING Courageous, Wise Leaders, available at  www.inspiringwomenbook.com

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What Does Employee Engagement Have To Do With Customer Satisfaction?

Wednesday, August 18th, 2010 by Martha Forlines & Thad Green

Recap of leader Quick Tip: What does employee engagement have to do with customer satisfaction?

If you measure customer satisfaction by having reliable processes in place to deliver quality products and services, plus good customer relationships, then there are a handful of employee engagement measures that can make a difference.

customer-satisfaction

Employee Engagement Measures for Process Improvement

  • One of the key measures for employee engagement around process improvement is having the materials and equipment for employees to do their very best job.  Ok, that sounds reasonable and fair.
  • The second employee engagement measure for successful process implementation is having the opportunity for employees to do what they do best in their job every day.  This gets back to selecting the right people for the right seats on the proverbial bus, doesn’t it?

That’s as far as the research goes for process improvement and the link to employee engagement. But what about employees having input on the process improvement activities or employees needing to be communicated with about changes in the workplace before they happen?  It truly is in the eye of the beholder – the employee.

Let’s move on to what research says about managing the customer relationship… keeping the customer satisfied and happy. These two may surprise you.

Two Employee Engagement Measures That Contribute To Satisfied Customers

  • The first: The purpose or mission of the organization makes the employee feel like their job is important. Shouldn’t everyone be made to feel like their contributions every day are important to the success of the organization?  What a lost opportunity for so many organizations and for so many leaders.
  • The second: Co-workers are committed to doing quality work. Translated, this means “If I’m going to bust my hump every day doing quality work then I expect my peers to be doing the same”. Otherwise, keeping the customers satisfied is a lost cause.

So which of these elements do you as a leader have in your control in order to create a satisfying experience for your customers?  How about all of them? Isn’t that a relief !

If you really want to know more, all you have to do is ask your employees.

Martha Forlines and Thad Green are leadership consultants with BSI, an Atlanta leadership consulting firm. We offer leadership solutions for increasing employee engagement and performance. Contact Us

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Traditional Employee Engagement Strategies Are Flawed

Wednesday, August 4th, 2010 by Martha Forlines & Thad Green

Recap of Leader Quick Tip: Traditional employee engagement strategies are flawed

Let’s say (just for the sake of understanding the big flaw) that you’re not truly engaged—that is, YOU aren’t truly committed physically, emotionally, and intellectually to your work.

Now, how many things have to change for you to get “true engagement?” Exactly what would have to change? Hmmm . . .

And suppose the execs above you announce an employee engagement initiative. They’ve picked out 10 to 15 things to address to get the workforce truly engaged—a magic generic formula.

How many of the 10 to 15 would you guess are on the list YOU made?

And what’s the likelihood you’ll ever get the 10 to 15 anyway, given the way things usually are implemented due to blasé attitudes and lack of accountability?

How does this make you feel?

You are a leader. So if you feel this way, how must those below you feel?employee engagement strategies are flawed

So what is a leader to do?

Look at the strategy. It’s all based on the false assumption that everybody is the same, that everybody will be more engaged if someone does the same 10 to 15 things for (or to) them.

Well it just isn’t so. The reality is that you’re not like the guy in the office or cubicle next to you. You’re not like your boss. You’re not like the people on your team.

Sure there may be some sameness, but the truth is— everybody is different.

The workforce will never be truly engaged until leaders recognize and manage to these differences.

Martha Forlines and Thad Green are leadership consultants with BSI, an Atlanta leadership consulting firm. We offer leadership solutions for increasing employee engagement and performance. Contact Us

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BSI Experts Lambast Traditional Employee Engagement Surveys

Wednesday, July 7th, 2010 by Martha Forlines & Thad Green

Recap of Leadership Quick Tip: Engagement surveys are nothing more than employee opinion surveys by another name

employee-engagement-survey

Here’s how they are the same:

1. Survey items are around the same old employee satisfaction stuff;
2. Engagement surveys are completed anonymously too;
3. Data continue to be aggregated for reporting;
4. Survey results continue to show problems that are too pervasive, too elusive, too demanding, too costly, and too easy to let slide and
5. Good intentions to take action (based on results) lose momentum like usual.

Perhaps the biggest issue, aside from the surveys themselves, is this: If managers haven’t been held accountable to lead effectively in the past, who is going to hold them accountable now?
So what’s a leader to do, if you want to crank up employee engagement a notch or two on your team…

Call us for proven engagement solutions that work for your team or larger organization at 678-576-5207.

Martha Forlines and Thad Green

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Leading Differently Pays Off!

Wednesday, May 26th, 2010 by Martha Forlines & Thad Green

Recap of Leader Quick Tip: Leading differently pays off

John Chambers Leading Differently

John Chambers. Photo Credit - Wikipedia

John Chambers, head of Cisco Systems, summarizes how he leads differently, according to U.S. News & World Report.

Decision making –Get the jump start on new know-how before others.
Management team—Build one that can help render swift and informed decisions.
Operating the company—Use empowerment and collaboration rather than command and control.
View of the universe—It’s all about education and the Internet.

Sounds simple, right?

Yeah, but the surface doesn’t tell you what the deep waters know.
It takes a lot of leadership know-how to be different and pull it off with great success.

Here at Belief System Institute, we’re all about DIFFERENT!
If you’re interested in DIFFERENT, see our website at beliefsysteminstitute.com or call Martha at 678.576.5207.

All the best to your success,
Martha Forlines and Thad Green

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Sally Ride’s Leadership Secrets

Wednesday, May 12th, 2010 by Martha Forlines & Thad Green

Recap of Leader Quick Tip: Sally Ride puts listening as top quality of a good leader
There are other views.

1. “Leaders are supposed to tell, employees are to listen.”
2. “I don’t have time to run around listening to everybody!”
3. “I’d listen more if people had something worthwhile to say.”
4. “I get everything I need to know from my weekly (or daily) management reports.”

Why then does Sally Ride put so much emphasis on listening?

1. Leaders are faced with an information void. They don’t have enough information to lead effectively.
2. Listening does something technology can’t do—it lets you get inside a person’s head and shine a light on information you can’t get anywhere else.

If you don’t listen, where else will you get impressions, perceptions, opinions, observations, and experiences of savvy, experienced people on your team and in your larger organization?

What better way than listening can you uncover problems-causes-solutions, and wants, needs, and priorities of those you lead?

Why do leaders often shy away from listening?


1. Fear of hearing (mainly the truth)
2. Trust (employees don’t trust the leader, leader doesn’t trust employees)
3. Lack of training (how many active listen techniques can you name?)


How can you make listening work for you?


1. Line up some training for you and your managers
2. Get some coaching on how to listen and lead better
3. Consulting may be necessary to get people in low trust environments to open up


If you are interested in how we can help you close the information gap on your team or in your organization, call Martha at 678.576.5207.

All the best to your success,
Martha Forlines and Thad Green

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