Page 157 - How Great Leaders Build Abundant Organizations That Win

THE WHY OF WORK

environment reflects all of these levels of engaged personal
connection.
Ideas for creating a connected workforce are elaborated
in Chapter 5. In addition, leaders build a positive work envi-
ronment through caring connections by focusing on what is
right more than what is wrong, expressing appreciation and
gratitude, and creating ways to celebrate both people as indi-
viduals and the work unit as a whole.
Leaders can use what we call gratitude enhancers to help
connect employees. One leader created a language that
employees could use to describe their day—a simple rating
scale of 1 to 10—and he would often ask, “So how is your day
going, 1 to 10?” or “Did you have a 10 day today?” Another
leader encouraged people to remember others’ birthdays and
special events. Another wrote letters complimenting employ-
ees to their spouse, children, or parents. Another started most
staff meetings with a “good news moment” where people
could briefly share a personal or work-related highlight. A
leader who graduated from Duke University sent “blue devil”
stuffed animals (the Duke mascot) to employees who had
done a good job. Another leader wrote notes on personal-
ized stationery that expressed appreciation. Another provided
funds for employees to go bowling together. Another invited
employees to brainstorm ways they could support a teammate
with cancer. Such ideas (and many others . . . see the excel-
lent examples by Bob Nelson ) help employees feel close not
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only to the leader but also to each other.
Obviously, leadership is not just about affirming but also
about making corrections. However, we have a three-to-one
rule of thumb. For every correcting comment we encour-
age leaders to make a bare minimum of three positive and
affirming comments. This encourages everyone to focus

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