Page 192 - How America's Best Places to Work Inspire Extra Effort in Extraordinary Times

The Power of “We” to Magnify Engagement C179

me to we. We have noticed that employees at nonwinning companies
tend to have more difficulty seeing engaging activity beyond the scope
of their work and the work of their coworkers. They think they are
doing a good job, they see some positive things happening with their
coworkers, and as a result, they may have some hope that their em-
ployment will continue. But, sadly, their view tends to end there; they
have less confidence that there is strength in areas beyond their own
view.
Employees at winning companies don’t just see the good things
happening with what’s within their “line of sight”—their work and
the work of the coworkers. They somehow have gained a perspective
beyond themselves and their coworkers in terms of what is working
and what is successful in their organizations. They see strength in the
quality of the supervisor. They see strength in the senior leadership
of the company. They believe the entire organization is on the right
track. These transformed employees see far beyond their own navels,
and overall engagement is enhanced as a result.
In an age of technology and telecommuting, we now must accom-
modate new breeds of individualists—autonomous, mobile, results-
only workers—the “nanobots” described in a recent Wall Street Journal
article and the Dwight Schrutes of TV’s The Office, whose oddball
3
and contrary perspectives may actually bring their teams into healthy
4
conflict sooner. Add to this mix all the other issues of difference—
generational, racial, gender, political, class, and basic personality
type—today’s team leaders will be challenged as never before.
The good news: vertical hierarchies are gradually disappearing,
and cross-functional teamwork appears to be on the rise. We think
that companies like Cisco Systems are showing us a new way, creat-
ing an “open-source” culture and spreading the company’s leadership
and decision making into working groups that involve as many as 500
executives who compose a network of councils and boards and are en-
couraged by new financial incentives that reward social networking,
innovation, empowerment, and team achievement. 5