Employee Engagement with David Zinger
The best in employee engagement...
I encourage you to watch this 5 minute video of Oscar Peterson playing and playing with Sweet Georgia Brown. This is an exceptional model of someone fully engaged in their work and watch the respect of the bass players as they watch Oscar play.
Have you ever engaged this fully in your work – so much so that the work is transformed by you and you are transformed by the work?
My thanks to Erik van der Liet for bringing this piece to my attention.
This blog/site began on November 11, 2005. This July and August I want to reprint some of my favorite posts. This is the post that began it all on Canada’s Remembrance Day. This site’s primary focus for the first year was strength based leadership. Strong leadership that also brings out the strengths of employees is a vital behavior fostering employee engagement.
Enjoy the article.
Posted November 11, 2005
Peter Drucker died today. I will miss his thinking and viewpoints. I have been in a conundrum on how to start this new blog on leadership. I knew my central focus was on strength-based leadership and the importance of caring and love in leadership. Since Peter Drucker is no longer alive to offer his insights and actions I would like to dedicate this site to him.
Peter wrote a very important article on “Managing Oneself.” in the Harvard Business Review March-April. 1999: 65-70. The essence of managing oneself was to know our strengths and to fully develop a strength-based leadership approach. Here is a short outline of the article from the Harvard Business Review site (you can also order a reprint of the article at this site):
Peter Drucker tells us in this seminal article first published in 1999, it means we have to learn to develop ourselves. We have to place ourselves where we can make the greatest contribution to our organizations and communities. And we have to stay mentally alert and engaged during a 50-year working life, which means knowing how and when to change the work we do.
It may seem obvious that people achieve results by doing what they are good at and by working in ways that fit their abilities. But, Drucker says, very few people actually know–let alone take advantage of–their fundamental strengths.
He challenges each of us to ask ourselves: What are my strengths? How do I perform? What are my values? Where do I belong? What should my contribution be? Don’t try to change yourself, Drucker cautions. Instead, concentrate on improving the skills you have and accepting assignments that are tailored to your individual way of working. If you do that, you can transform yourself from an ordinary worker into an outstanding performer.
Today’s successful careers are not planned out in advance. They develop when people are prepared for opportunities because they have asked themselves those questions and rigorously assessed their unique characteristics. This article challenges readers to take responsibility for managing their futures, both in and out of the office.
There are many sources to understand our strengths from Martin Seligman’s work on authentic happiness and the VIA signature strength inventory to the work of Gallup on their Strength Finder. This blog will help you to understand, foster, and develop a strength based approach to leadership.
Peter Drucker, as one of the major contributors to this approach to leadership, your legacy will not be forgotten.
Postscript: I don’t think Peter has been forgotten but I do think we need to do more to have his focus on strengths live on and be strengthened both in leadership and the workplace.
Here is a brief except from the TED organization on the power of ideas:
There is no greater force for changing the world than a powerful idea. Consider:
Are you creating weightless ideas
at no cost
that can have an extraordinary impact
to reshape minds and
dramatically alter behaviour
while spreading like a virus?
What ideas are you developing for your own engagement and employee engagement within your organization?
Photo Credit: Reach by http://flickr.com/photos/aussiegall/551526306/
Here is a new modified and illustrated version of the employee engagement alphabet.
Click here to view the latest 28-slide presentation of the employee engagement ABC’s.
There is a bit of insanity in dancing that does everybody a great deal of good. ~Edwin Denby
Nobody cares if you can’t dance well. Just get up and dance. ~Dave Barry
Watch the dance then engage in your own dance. It can even be an internal dance but dance none the less.
Here is a 4 minute video of Matt dancing around the world with his friends. Enjoy your weekend.
You can dance anywhere, even if only in your heart. ~Author Unknown
Dancing with the feet is one thing, but dancing with the heart is another. ~Author Unknown
Anyone who says sunshine brings happiness has never danced in the rain. ~Author Unknown
Common sense and a sense of humor are the same thing, moving at different speeds. A sense of humor is just common sense, dancing. ~William James
Care for a Chat?
There are now 99 Forum Topics at the Employee Engagement Network.
Come join us in our discussions. Here is a list of our latest 20 discussions. Don’t forget, we have 79 more if one of these discussions doesn’t evoke conversation. Of course you can always start your own forum and move us into 100 conversations.
Yesterday, Taleo Corporation released a study that was bad news for companies hiring college graduates and hoping to retain their services. The quick numbers: * 43% of adults who got a job after g…
Started by Scot Herrick in Major Forums. Last reply by Scot Herrick Jun 26.
Like many of you, I’m in an organization where cost pressure is the current focus of the day. I see many leaders who avoid sharing information until they know the whole answer (which is generally b…
Tagged: change, employee, engagement
Started by Jennifer Schulte in Major Forums. Last reply by Jennifer Schulte Jun 30.
Terry Seamon, just posed a great question to me. I think it is worth a discussion. If we want to sustain a culture of engagement, what qualities should our leaders possess to ensure that they are …
Started by Judy McLeish in Major Forums. Last reply by George Reavis 18 hours ago.
Interesting article on how the growth and professionalisation of a business can impact engagement
Started by Mike Healy in Major Forums. Last reply by Mike Healy Jun 14.
an FYI… there are a lot of seminars being presented at the MoShow this year. http://www.motivationshow.com/education-sem I still need material for the presentation we’re doing on "How Globalizat…
Started by Carol Wain in Major Forums. Last reply by Carol Wain Jun 30.
Its quite common for managers to be seen as “the problem” when it comes to lack of employee engagement. We are happy to provide all sorts of advice and models which, if the line manager only follow…
Started by Mike Healy in Major Forums. Last reply by Jennifer Schulte Jun 25.
Maybe our approach is all wrong. Maybe we are too focused on the drivers of engaging the entire employee population and are not focused on where engagement starts. I would love to hear your thought…
Started by Judy McLeish in Major Forums. Last reply by Jay Forte Jun 26.
I am curious to know what others think. How important is consistency when it comes to employee engagement? I am going to talk to an MD next week who finds he has a challenge around ensuring ‘consis…
Started by Catherine Harwood in Major Forums. Last reply by Catherine Harwood Jun 11.
I’m planning to post a list of (quality) blogs that deal with, touch on, come close to, make sense of, and show some savvy regarding Employee Engagement. I plan to post this list on Friday, 6/6/08…
Tagged: blog, employee, engagement
Started by Tim Wright in Major Forums. Last reply by Wayne Turmel Jun 11.
I am in the organisational development team in a media company in Australia and whilst we have some excellent programs of work in HR running at the moment, we would love to be able to hear about ot…
Started by Andrea Vienet in Requesting Assistance. Last reply by Fraser Marlow Jun 3.
I’M IN THE PROCESS OF CARRYING OUT A SURVEY ON EMPLOYEE ENGAGEMENT AT A REPUTED COMPANY IN INDIA. FROM THE INITIAL INTERVIEWS OF THE EMPLOYEES WHAT I COULD GATHER IS ‘IT’ IS AN UNCODITIONAL SURREND…
Started by Job D Madapat in Major Forums. Last reply by Fraser Marlow Jun 25.
Had lunch with the gang from my last position. Amid chat about this and that and how the old place had changed, one of the fellows said, “Y’know, I wish my boss would just say ‘thank you’ once in a…
Started by Kathy Lankford in Major Forums. Last reply by Carol Wain Jun 3.
Does engagement relate to “a company’s future-value premium”? Read this piece (from 2007) and you’ll get the connection.
Tagged: growth, innovation, sustainability, culture
Started by Terrence Seamon in Major Forums May 29.
The discussion Rocky started about passion got me thinking. What motivates people to accomplish anything? In my own life, I drove myself to achieve some status as a competitive bodybuilder because…
Tagged: vision, passion, pain, goals, motivation
Started by Carol Cole-Lewis in Major Forums. Last reply by David Zinger Jun 4.
Where would you start if you were writing a literature review leadership research paper on the topic of engage others as it relates to fostering development, communicating effectively, building tea…
Started by Debbie Payne in Requesting Assistance. Last reply by Nicole Aitken Jun 25.
To employee engagement practioners, which tools are the most valuable to you to perform all aspects of your responsibilities? What tools are missing or weak? These can be any type of tool. Finally,…
Tagged: programs, recognition, tools, software
Started by Carol Wain in Major Forums. Last reply by tasneem hameed May 30.
Something I read yesterday reminded me of the original advertising campaign for the Saturn automobile. When other companies were selling cars, Saturn sold employee engagement. They didn’t say much …
Started by Kathy Lankford in Major Forums. Last reply by Tim Wright May 29.
I am co-presenting a seminar at the Motivation Show in Chicago this September on the topic of global employee recognition and how technology helps. It’s really 2 topics in one, which we hopefully c…
Tagged: recognition, global
Started by Carol Wain in Requesting Assistance. Last reply by Carol Wain Jun 3.
I’m just curious if others have done or experienced this in their workplaces. The management team at my work has rotated through each month at staff meetings each sharing their autobiographies to g…
Started by Mike King in Major Forums. Last reply by Mike King May 30.
If you were going to create a new position for an EE manager, what responsibilities would you include? What qualifications would you expect? Assume the company has some beginning engagement activit…
Started by Loretta Donovan in Current Developments. Last reply by Blues Jun 11.
Marian Hossa a gifted hockey player was signed by the Detroit Red Wings – A winning organization.
The most interesting part about the signing is that Hossa passed up on a lot of money (it could be as high as $12 million over two years) he could make with another hockey club. Instead he joined the Red Wing organization.
I believe Hossa would like to win a Stanley Cup but another part of the Red Wing offer was: sacrifice.
Read the following quotation from Ken Holland, the general manager of the Red Wings:
“Success is about sacrifice — sacrificing ice time, sacrificing personal statistics, sacrificing some money,” said Holland. “Success doesn’t come easily. Marian, obviously, wants to come here because he thinks we give him the best chance to win the Stanley Cup. He’s showing incredible sacrifice — and it goes to his determination and character and how important winning is to him, and playing with other good players.
I think a strong sign of employee engagement is when employees are willing to make a sacrifice to work for their organization.
We don’t ask them to make a sacrifice, we invite them to be part of a special team and they understand that there will be sacrifices to be part of that team. Now that’s engagement!
Of course, the organization must create a culture and a place that people want to join.
Reflection Questions: Do you ever moan that you can afford to get the best talent? Have you thought about sacrifice as part of your recruitment strategy? Are you creating a winning team that people not only want to join but are willing to make a sacrifice to be a part of your team?
Photo Credit: Lets Go Red Wings!! by http://flickr.com/photos/mandj98/2548550660/
The Employee Engagement Network has a extensive list of employee engagement RSS feeds written by the members. We currently have about 35 feeds collected on one page and we continue to grow. Each RSS Feed offers you the last 3 articles of each author plus the first one or two lines of their current articles.
Click here to visit the feeds and ensure you give yourself enough time to read the fine articles or posts composed by the Employee Engagement Network members:
David Zinger from Winnipeg Canada is an expert on engagement. He founded the 4500 member Employee Engagement Network. His work is designed to increase engagement for your organization.
He is a management consultant with over 25 years of experience. His education services are enhanced by his 20 year background as a University educator for the University of Manitoba and over 15 years managing an employee assistance program for Seagram Ltd.
David's services mix current research with practical approaches to build authentic relationships and achieve powerful results. To learn more about David, click on "About David" on the link bar near the top of this site.
Contact David Zinger at:
Phone (204) 254-2130.
Email dzinger@shaw.ca
