Great people stay in places where they can do great work, their best work. It’s as simple as that.
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Business isn’t rocket science, though it does run on rocket fuel. Leaders must inspire people to be the best they can be in pursuit of a dream. Leaders inspire people towards greatness. They accelerate people beyond being good. They develop greatness in people through the four pillars: Responsibility, Learning, Recognition, and Joy.
The key is to give people responsibility before they are ready.
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“The price of greatness is responsibility,” said Winston Churchill. To lead is to take on responsibility, and every young person I meet wants a piece of that action. Responsibility is the foundation. The key is to give people responsibility before they are ready. Spread every eagle’s wings, unleash their potential, and extend their range. They will reward you beyond measure. I often get asked: “How do you retain talent?” Great people stay in places where they can do great work, their best work. It’s as simple as that.
Elevated responsibility should take place in a framework of learning. Screwing up is OK, if you fix failure fast and learn from it. Train people to do what they love, the activities they were born for. Play people in positions where they’re at their best. I’m at my best when I’m the captain. In my first game of rugby, I was the youngest on the team. At halftime, the coach made me captain. Today I’m at my best as a coach or mentor, but in operational situations, even if I’m not the designated boss in a group, I just assume command.
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Recognition means giving people what they care about. Few companies do. (Money is only important when you don’t have any; it’s a way of keeping score if you’re insecure.) Recognition programs are generally useless. As soon as you put a program behind recognition, it becomes an entitlement. What is real recognition? It’s one-on-one. It’s beyond personal. It’s intimate. Ask this: “What empathetic gesture will rock this overachiever’s world?” It’s always different. It depends on the situation, the person. It could be an experience beyond reach, country relocation, spouse-synced vacation time, bringing children to work, tickets to a World Cup final. It might be a personal phone call on a job well done.
Business, especially service business, succeeds and wins on happiness and joy.
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The corporate world is potted with oppressive cultures, regimented hours, sterilized environments, toxic bosses, old boys’ networks, penguin suits, and pet prohibition. Research shows that the majority of employees are not engaged at work. It also shows happy people are more productive at work. Joy in the workplace is scant, yet its flow is critical. Happy people work harder than unhappy people. Happy people make other people happier.
Business, especially service business, succeeds and wins on happiness and joy. A winning culture is demanding, but not dispiriting. Its performance-driven engine hums with passion, harmony, and joy. My mission in life has been to emotionalize every enterprise I come in contact with. I rev the company engine and juice every driver on the grid. I’ve always liked business leaders who inject passion. Renzo Rosso at Diesel. Akio Toyoda at Toyota. My first boss, Mary Quant, a force of nature. Instilling joy in work is the next big thing. Winning companies will empower people—as Oprah says—to live their best life every day. I don’t mean work/life balance. I don’t believe in it. I’m fundamentally opposed to balance in every shape and form. I believe that balance and moderation should be avoided at all costs.
The future is about work/life integration, creating conditions to harmonize the different realms of our lives to avoid trade-offs. It’s about finding ways to be the best you can be in everything—the best friend, the best partner, the best parent, the best business person, the best you! This creates sheer joy and fulfillment. The outcome is greater productivity. The point is that to create a culture where ideas and innovation flow, you need all four pillars in equal parts, every day, upwards, downwards, and sideways. It can’t be responsibility and learning this year and recognition and joy the next. Startups fall down on responsibility and learning. Established organizations fail on recognition and bomb joy.
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All four factors must be given in the same time frame, in equal measure. People perform better when they know what the plan is, have responsibility to action it, someone’s shown them how to do it, they’re recognized for their ability to perform, and they have a spring in their step. Leaders inject all four pillars into every conversation. They are disciplined in framing the conversation towards giving someone responsibility, encouraging them with a bit of learning, recognizing them, and letting them leave smiling.
Networks beat hierarchies. Inspire horizontally and diagonally, not just vertically.
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The four pillars are not just a boss-to-subordinate thing. If you don’t give the four to your boss, why should she give them to you? Who inspires the inspirers? Who coaches the coach? Individuals have to give the pillars to their bosses, to their subordinates and to their peers. Networks beat hierarchies. Inspire horizontally and diagonally, not just vertically. Energy must build in all directions. To create a winning culture, live and give these four pillars at all times. People will peak perform. Greatness will materialize. Ideas and innovation will flow.
—Excerpted from 64 Shots: Leadership in a Crazy World
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