A while back, during a training event, I saw a situation where one company's employee was highly motivated. This guy loved what he did. He was happy to put in extra hours, passed up vacations, and never took a sick day.
When it came time for his quarterly review with the manager, he was given 5 stars. After all, what more could an employer ask for. This worker was great at what he did and totally committed to excellence.
But later the regional manager differed with the review. He felt it didn't give the employee motivation for improvement. "Give him 3/3.5 stars on a few things. Then he will feel like he needs to improve," the regional manager said.
The regional guy didn't really understand the nature of the worker in question, the manager under him or how to lead with and apply emotional intelligence in the workplace. This worker was filled with positive emotion and goodwill. Nobody worked harder or was more into creating excellence.
Instead of trying to make the worker feel like he wasn't good enough, a great leader would try to SUSTAIN that excellence to make it last for years to come.
" The ability to harness the emotions of your employees and colleagues separates the good leader from the great."
The regional manager was actually punishing the guy in hopes he would catch an even bigger fever for excellence. But, instead, he was missing a major opportunity.
This was a key learning moment where the company can understand why one employee exemplifies excellence, then duplicate that emotion and spread it throughout the company.
As a leader in your company, be certain to deliver the right feedback. That often means reinforcing the employee's positive actions. Look for excellence in their work, then support them to maintain that excellence. In most cases, workers will try even harder to give you more of what you are reinforcing.
This can create improved emotion throughout your organization and help brand your Communication Climate. Your culture becomes more positive, more rewarding, and more worthy of each individual's best efforts. I call this a Zone of Excellence.
Please contact me to discuss your efforts to create excellence. I can help you with training sessions, role play, question and answer and much more. Learn how to be a more skillful leader who uses and applies emotional intelligence to take your people and business to a much higher level of success.
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Carlos Raposo works with companies of all sizes, from new trainees to C-level executives, to help them achieve better leadership, change more effectively, stage effective turnarounds, improve their workplace culture for happier, energized, more effective employees, and supercharge their overall forces of success.