Page 197 - How Great Leaders Build Abundant Organizations That Win

WHAT CHALLENGES INTEREST ME? (PERSONALIZED CONTRIBUTIONS)

At the other extreme, one executive team (which will
remain unnamed) told us they as executives had vast expe-
rience within their industry that enabled them to solve
problems better than anyone else in their firm. They iso-
lated themselves to define what should be done and how
to do it and then shared their wisdom with their employ-
ees. Describing this highly centralized governance process,
an executive quipped, “We sort of believe in ‘designed by
genius, implemented by idiots.’” It is not a shock that their
organization had higher employee turnover, lower morale,
and less productivity than competitors.
When employees participate in defining and solving prob-
lems, they are more committed to their decisions. We refer
to shared decision making as the fingerprint test. A leader
wants a lot of employee fingerprints on a project or initiative
so that employees are a part of the governance process and
multiple perspectives and types of expertise are included in
solutions.

Opportunity. Work varies according to how much the employee
can grow from the work. While some employees prefer steady
jobs with little change, most want the chance for growth
and challenge. The more common opportunity choice is
the extent to which an employee wants to either broaden or
deepen skills. Some employees would like to become deep
specialists who have extensive expertise in a particular area.
Other employees like the chance to learn a little about many
types of work. To determine how employees define opportu-
nity, Beverly Kaye suggests leaders have a “stay” interview
with employees where they ask, “What would it take to keep
you both on the job and passionate about the job?” 4

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