Page 181 - Executive Warfare

The People You Have to Motivate

At the same time, on the same project, you might have a 28-year-old
woman who’s an IT genius. She wants to
move to California because that’s where
her fiancé lives, but you need her.
YOU HAVE TO
Her fiancé is a lawyer, so you ask, “Is
RESPECT YOUR
he any good?” And she, of course, says
EMPLOYEES’
he’s brilliant.
PRIVACY—BUT I
“I’ll tell you what,” you might say,
NEVER RESPECTED
“we’ll bring him here and set up inter-
AN EXECUTIVE WHO
views with three law firms that work for
DIDN’T KNOW
us. I’ll put in a good word. If he gets a
WHETHER OR NOT
job, we’ll make sure it pays better than
HIS EMPLOYEES
the one he has now.”And you get her to
HAD CHILDREN.
agree to the two years you need.
The same project may also require a
37-year-old marketing person who has three small kids and is debating
whether she shouldn’t just stay at home. If you need her, you might make
this deal:“You don’t have to come to work until Monday at noon, and I’ll
give you Fridays off. Just promise me the two years in return.”
These are not Kumbaya moments.
They are far more effective.You are win-
ning people’s loyalty in action. You are BUILD LOYALTY BY
not intruding on their lives; you are HELPING EACH
making a deal that recognizes that they MEMBER OF YOUR
do have lives separate from the office. TEAM,
Sometimes what people need most is INDIVIDUALLY, GET
respect for the fact that they have per- WHERE THEY WANT
sonal lives. Once I had an older guy who TO GO.
worked for me whose son died in a car
accident. The boy was only 18 or 19, and
my employee and his wife were just shattered. The wake was on a Mon-
day night in California. I had to be on the East Coast all day because of a

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