Page 140 - The Bible On Leadership

126 THE BIBLE ON LEADERSHIP

lowers—the Reubenites, the Gadites, and the half-tribe of Manasseh—
all of whom had helped him conquer the neighboring tribes: ‘‘You have
done all that Moses . . . commanded, and you have obeyed me in every-
thing I commanded. For a long time now . . . you have not deserted
your brothers, but have carried out the mission . . . Return to your
homes with your great wealth . . . and divide with your brothers
the plunder of your enemies . . .’’ ( Joshua 22) Both Joshua and Tim
Hoeksema realized that this would not be the last time they would be
counting on ‘‘the troops’’ to achieve ambitious goals, and both recog-
nized the power of positive reward in developing employee loyalty and
getting commitment to future performance.
Jack Welch also knew the power of rewards, whether it was a bonus
or an appreciative ‘‘call from on high.’’ In his meetings, Welch very
visibly took notes on who was to do what, what the expected results
where, and when the results were expected. He reviewed these expec-
tations at the end of every meeting.
But, unlike many leaders who use expectations only as a threat,
Welch was quick to reward those who met them. He had a staff mem-
ber phone him every time an agent got a price concession from a ven-
dor. Immediately, the agent would hear the phone ring and the voice
of Chairman Welch trumpeting, ‘‘That’s wonderful news; you just
knocked a nickel off the price of steel.’’ And a few days later, the agent
would receive a congratulatory note directly from the chairman. 24
Another company where the ‘‘king delights to honor’’ and reward
excellent performance is UNUM, an insurance company headquartered
in Maine. Anyone in the firm can nominate anyone else for the Chair-
man’s Award, but the recipient must be below the senior vice president
level. Teams of employees review a large pool of nominees, reducing
the pool to twenty-five; the chairman then selects the group of five to
ten final winners.
The recipients each receive $5,000 in stock, a $2,500 travel certifi-
cate, and a Mont Blanc pen and pencil set. In addition, the awardees
are the invited guests of honor at a banquet hosted by the chairman and
attended by the board, senior management, and the awardees’ immedi-
ate supervisors. The message to those honored, to those who nomi-
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