YOUR BUSINESS
Loyalty, expected or earned?
One thing that always fascinates me is how the leadership team in a business views the loyalty of its employees.
There is no debate that management teams want loyal employees, but there is a huge difference of opinion as to why employees should be loyal, and an equally broad range of behaviors, good and bad, that I have seen attempted to inspire and maintain loyalty.
These days people give their loyalty only for real and personal reasons.
It can’t be bought or coerced. There has to be something that is meaningful to the person as a human, that will cause them to grant you their loyalty.
I still see some management teams that “expect” loyalty in exchange for a paycheck. If you want it, you’ll need to earn it. So are you expecting loyalty or earning it?
YOUR PEOPLE & COMMUNICATIONS
Love, money, torture, and other approaches
To Be or Not to Be an Asshole:
It is required? There are mixed opinions.
This “leadership approach” works when the company is on an undeniable winning streak and people are getting paid very well. The deal is – I treat you like crap, but I make you rich. You do what I say, and you get a big payoff.
There are some world-famous, spectacularly successful assholes out there, and I would never begin to argue with their success. But what want to say is that:
1) You CAN achieve a great deal of success without being an asshole.
2) The alternative, positive approach works well in a wider range of situations
3) The alternative, positive approach gives you a broader canvas to inspire loyalty, where the former typically employs only “command and control”, and money.
What works?
So without going out on a limb too far, I can say that the most reliable way to engender loyalty, which works under any business conditions, is to
create an environment where people want to be, and use techniques other than money to genuinely earn their loyalty.
Here are a few things that work, other than money:
YOUR PUBLICITY
The value of being consistent
Creating loyalty goes hand in hand with managing what you are known for. And you become known for what you do consistently. If you are inconsistent, you become known most for disappointing people.
YOUR LIFE
Loyalty to YOUR desired outcome
This part of the column each month is about stepping back from the overwhelm of your work and getting some ideas of do-able things that can have a positive impact on your life.
Many people I work with struggle to map the time they spend at their work, to what they want out of their life. Work has a way of squeezing out the time for your family and time for yourself.
The most effective way I have found to deal with this is to stay tuned in to your desired outcome. Not just for this job, but for the next one, and your life in general.
I hope you have found a few useful ideas that you can apply right away to start building value in your career and business.
Let’s keep the discussion going.
Please contact me if you have feedback, on these topics.
And please let me know I can help you with your career or business.
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About Patty
Patty Azzarello became the youngest general manager at Hewlett Packard ever at the age of 33. She ran a $1B software business at the age of 35 and was a CEO for the first time at the age of 38. Patty is known for her personal leadership qualities, her straightforward and practical manner, and her genuine interest in making a real connection with people to help them to advance their career and business, and to find ways to enjoy their life more.
Patty Azzarello is the CEO of Azzarello Group, www.AzzarelloGroup.com which is a unique services organization because Patty is a real executive who has chosen to do this with her time. Azzarello Group delivers practical, experience-based tools to help business leaders get more done and get a bigger payoff from their hard work, through products and services including articles, e-books, mentoring programs, executive coaching, public speaking, and workshops for business teams
