by David Harder
The healthy workplace will be filled with people who’ve come to terms with ever-increasing change. In organizations that have built “the solution,” we will find talent attracted by the quality and brand of the organization’s mentors. Want to grow a career? Find the mentors who will teach you the skills, give you the role-modeling, and connect you to transforming professional opportunities. It is the quality of your mentors that will determine how quickly you rise or develop comfort and confidence. This is how the world always worked; it was simply obscured in the obtuse workplace left over from the Industrial Revolution.
Mentors have always been the early adopters of success. They have always been the most prized sources of help. We institutionalized cubicles. Why not institutionalize compassion? The organization’s mentors will be the adopters of cultural characteristics and standards of excellence, as well as purveyors of change and engagement. Mentors will be the new elite within the workplace, far more valued than attaining a particular caste on the organizational chart. Of course we will continue valuing what someone did, but we accomplish so much more when we help someone grow into a new and more vital contributor. It is the mentors who take responsibility in helping others become better, stronger, more capable, and more successful. They take newcomers under their wing, and they live for those meaningful moments of uplifting others.
In this new workplace, we don’t encourage our people to learn the skills of communications, sales, presentations, and relationship-building simply to connect with our customers. We teach them so they connect with life and everyone around them. We teach them to present because in so doing, they take ownership of their work. We teach them to sell so they start asking great questions and listen more appreciatively to others. They become keenly aware and skilled in finding others’ needs and expectations. Most of all, we teach them these skills so they can end the dreadful isolation that is sweeping so much of our talent to the sidelines.
In taking this initiative on, we also can require and expect so much more from ourselves and one another. For those who refuse to listen or respond, we don’t have to wait years before their obsolescence becomes blatantly apparent. We build cultures that attract the souls that stand in the open, appreciate being seen and seeing others, and view transparency as the means to stay on top of the waves and thrive. In building tomorrow’s engaged worker, there will be nothing to hide. Talent will no longer be gripped by fear. Flying below the radar will only happen in organizations that also fly below the radar and eventually disappear without a trace.
The mentor-driven, growth-driven culture of tomorrow will not be taken very seriously. If you mean it, you will find someone who is succeeding in every area you want and need to succeed in. What you don’t do is hang out with other workers who are infected with negativity or disengagement. For example, if you want to become a rock star in technology, you find a mentor who is a rock star in technology and you do whatever it takes to carry that person’s water. You follow their instructions. You listen. You study. You are humble and respectful. If not, you are shown the door.
When an egregious customer service incident happens, it will not fly to blame it on the union. As labor laws have developed the sophistication to protect the worker, unions will have to become skilled partners with employers in helping workers embrace active learning, hitting performance standards, and staying competitive with the changing workplace. Absent that, unions will become progressively more outmoded in trying to hold off change through detrimental behavior. It will not be acceptable to blame a lack of training on workers, because engaged workplaces will be filled with individuals who always learning and thus strong in life skills. Other organizations will have to pay more to attract talent in the absence of a great culture, but the best of the best will still not want to work there—or stay there.
Hiring managers will make more skilled hiring and promotion decisions. They also will be aware of their own bias and often will hire more of the people who used to give them pushback. Here’s why. If a candidate has the kind of strong human skills, ethics, and values that will make them a great worker and the organization has a strong mentoring program, why not select that person? In fact, how many more awards, technological breakthroughs, sales, retained customers and other advancements will come out of mentors turning the very workers we might have dismissed into stars? It is mind boggling to think this one through. This is one of the many reasons I propose making mentorship a fiercely important aspect of your culture.
Where does this narrative leave the CEO? Let’s begin by examining the job’s promise.
The title, CEO, implies mastery. As human and organizational evolution accelerates, however, CEOs will be left with no alternative but to demonstrate mastery by continuously developing their own culture. Boards and investors are wising up. They are realizing the connection with the market and profits is determined by the strength of the connection we have with our people. The kind of lazy, cynical, and even contemptuous attitude towards employees is showing up in the bottom line with ferocity. And, as financial and performance oversight becomes more educated about the ways of engagement, expectations will raise around the fact that even an average CEO can lead an awakened, responsive, enthusiastic band of brand ambassadors.
For organizations that dive into The Workplace Engagement Solution, the days of getting rid of employees because they cannot keep up with change will no longer be the routine. Of course, market fluctuations will continue to impact the workforce, and performance challenges will come up. But, the needless loss of institutional knowledge, valued relationships, and cultural depth will be the things that get shown the door. The people who work for us and with us not only learn how to change, but they also will know it is expected, nurtured, rewarded, and required. Our colleagues come with us—sometimes confronted, sometimes inspired, sometimes even dragged—but they will be pulled forward as valued members of the tribe.
Insisting that our cultures become filled with active learners ensures a competitive edge that eludes most organizations today. It also creates environments in which talent is constantly evolving, adapting, growing, and becoming. How exciting! Becoming. No longer waiting, no longer holding on, but learning and becoming.
As the chief human resources officer continues to evolve into a chief talent officer, we will find professionals who work as partners with the business owner or CEO in developing awake, alive, and fully engaged organizations. The talent officer wouldn’t consider taking over the culture. In fact, if a CEO asks someone else to do the job, that person ought to dust off their resume and leave. The fully engaged CEO looks for a savvy, emotionally aware professional to lead the business of people and become an advisor on how to build human capital, grow overall intelligence, produce loyalty, inspire collective courage, make change an attractive adventure, and always protect transparency.
People will not join your organization because they want to set themselves in park and grow old there. People will join your organization because it is the best place to grow. People will join your organization because they can be their absolute best with you.
Consider the alternative: How many of our nation’s consumers have lowered their expectations and think of calling a service provider with dread? How many of us stand in line with a cashier who doesn’t want to be there? How many workers, parents, and families live in a trance because we literally dull their lives for eight hours a day? How many of our valued citizens have fallen into the scourge of under-employment because we didn’t show them how to come along on the journey of change? If we allow this departure to continue, how much will we have to pay in order to take care of them? How many of us are picking up after employees because we didn’t take the initiative to change ourselves?
In the 1980s, I worked with an organization that helped more than 80,000 gays and lesbians come out of the closest. Years later, I was asked what that experience contributed to my work today. I responded, “Everyone who comes into one of our programs is in the closet about
something!” They are hiding a dream or aspiration, or they have a precious gift and are afraid of the attention if it comes into the light. Some of them are quietly desperate and unhappy because they are barely meeting the needs of their families. Some have disliked who they work for and observe that nothing changes because it is never voiced. Some have grown bitter because they have always been better than the job at hand but never learned how to get anyone to notice. Yes, in our programs, I have watched thousands of souls step forward and express who they really are, what they are capable of, what they aspire to become, and what they need to learn in order to become their best future selves. The coming out process is the same. There is often the fear of survival and the idea that no one will help them. And then, there is light.
Retooling our talent and our culture will take vision and, above all, courage. Changing ourselves will require the best of our humanity, our humility, and our resourcefulness. Developing cultures that actively build the engaged workforce will exude courageous action on both good and bad days, in wonderful and in terrible markets. We will be required to demonstrate a level of vision that rises far above the quarterly spreadsheet and plans for several years ahead.
So, let me propose that if you have extended the honor and expense of hiring someone into your tribe, that investing in that person’s greatness will only increase the innate value of that decision, that building a mentor-driven, high-standard, radically compassionate, connected, and open culture will also lead to less house-cleaning and more exciting opportunities.
Can such organizations save lives? Absolutely.
Will such organizations become category leaders? Of course they will.
Actually, they will accomplish far more. We will build new economies. We will build a future devoid of patronizing promises to the past and filled with a courageous vision of what we have earned through our hard work.
The “trance” simply must end.
Many have asked me if The Workplace Engagement Solution is written for CEOs or human resource professionals or people who want to become more engaged.
Actually, I have written it for anyone who will listen.
APPENDIX
Question Library
The deep value and benefits of Socratic inquiry are vast. In the work-place, asking and answering a few key questions can bring a fluid discipline to the day that is far more effective than reviewing a checklist. In fact, consider the reality that if someone is focused only on going over a checklist, this is a ritual that is actually supporting and sustaining disengagement. Many believe that if they focus on the tasks on the list, that they are doing the right thing to align people and outcomes. But this is only partially true.
Alternatively, when we pose compelling questions to the mind, it immediately becomes more active and engaged. When beginning a meeting, for example, asking the participants to answer a few questions related to the topic helps each person take greater ownership of the topic at hand rather than being less participative or totally passive listeners.
The Question Library offered here is an introduction to the Socratic inquiry process. Many of our clients have developed in-house libraries covering all of these areas. You can also invite your employees to submit new questions that raise the bar, uncover new information, and initiate new behaviors. In fact, this is an exceptional way to increase and extend the benefits inherent in the overall process.
These libraries should be accessible to all employees, and everyone should be encouraged to engage with them as well as contribute new questions for a wide variety of applications. Under these circumstances, it is also valuable to appoint a curator to monitor and organize new submissions to help keep the standards of the library high. Alternatively, the process could take a Wikipedia approach, in which new visitors make improvements, once again, through a curator.
When asking questions that can elicit uncomfortable feedback, it is critical to establish certain guidelines. Once you have them, make sure to publish the required behaviors throughout the organization. This will save needless friction. Here are a few pointers:
1. If you are the individual asking the question, simply listen or ask clarifying questions. Don’t defend, retaliate, react, or dismiss. Make it safe for stakeholders to respond.
2. If you are the stakeholder answering a question, don’t use that moment as an opportunity to shame, insult, or abuse the questioner in any way. Give feedback in ways that are respectful, supportive, and constructive.
3. Practice taking nothing personally.
4. Never ever rely on the words “I don’t know.”
Our first exercise, Irrevocable Happiness, is to be used at the beginning of a Workplace Engagement Solution initiative with everyone. It is also to be used with new hires and for revisiting on a quarterly or biannual basis. It can be used privately, between mentor and mentee, and as an exercise within groups or teams. We encourage frequent reviewing to deepen the definitions and to solidify the pursuit of happiness in your daily awareness. Remember: there is only one incorrect answer, and that is “I don’t know.”
Irrevocable Happiness
If you were happy all of the time, what would you be doing with your work? How would you be spending your time? Where do you live? How do you feel? Describe your personal and professional lives as if you were “sentenced to happiness.”
Career and Change Updates
The following questions can be used by mentors, career counselors, human resources, and talent management professionals. We strongly suggest that everyone uses these questions to stay abreast of the constant need for change.
Active Learning/Skill-Building
1. How do I feel about building my “courage skills”?
2. If I embraced the learning experience, how could these skills impact my future?
3. If I became a master with these new skills, what impact would it have on my life?
4. In moving forward with my career, here or elsewhere, what do I need to learn as soon as possible?
5. Which areas of my job and profession are about to be impacted by change?
6. If I stay, what kinds of new skills do I need?
7. If I move on, what kinds of new skills do I need?
8. What are my biggest fears about the changes impacting my work?
9. How can I take positive action despite my fear?
10. Who do I know that could provide insights about the skills I need to be effective with change?
11. How will I learn the skills?
12. How can I make this learning process as pleasurable as possible?
Time Management
These questions are to be used on a daily basis. Modify them as needed to fit the work area and function. We strongly recommend using questions like these at the beginning of each day to develop the ritual as an ongoing practice. These few minutes, in many organizations, represent the most valued time for leveraging productivity. Customize the questions to acknowledge differences in environment, but never remove the spirit of the inquiry.
1. What is the best use of my time today?
2. What is the ideal blend of tactical and strategic activity?
3. Who needs my attention today?
4. How can I best take care of myself?
5. Who deserves my praise?
6. What is the one problem I most want to solve?
7. How can I best market my value, new ideas, and solutions?
8. Where do I need support, improvement, or change?
9. What is my current attitude and how can I improve it?
Mentor Questions
Mentors will be those who have developed a modicum of mastery in questioning others with positive results. They will have committed to the courage skills and learned enough to be objective about their value and use. Through time, mentors can become masters of Socratic questioning because questions are the primary method of connecting people to their truth, opening them up and motivating them to learn, grow, and succeed. Consequently, it is wise for a mentor
to keep a journal, add questions to it and explore new ones, and continue to refine the best ones.
Here are a few examples that can get mentors started quickly:
1. What do you want to accomplish in our meeting today?
2. If I become your mentor, what do you want the outcome of mentoring to be?
3. What are some of your challenges?
4. How would you describe your relationships with your colleagues?
5. What do you attribute the quality of your relationships to?
6. Who deserves your praise today?
7. Do you have time management rituals? If so, tell me about them and how they support you in getting more out of your day.
8. Where do you want to grow next and why is it important?
9. What changes would bring you the most joy?
10. What would be frightening, difficult, and worthy for you to pursue?
11. What is the one thing you can do that would make this a transformative year?
Meetings
All too often, those who lead meetings spend little time evaluating how to make the meeting as engaging as possible. Meetings should include inspiring and praising others. It should be so exciting that attendees are motivated to tell others about it. Meetings can be greatly improved by answering a few questions while preparing the agenda and by asking everyone who attends to answer a few questions before you begin.
For the Leader
1. What can I do to make this meeting engaging, interesting, and valuable?
2. How can I best justify the time, manpower, and value of pulling this group of people together?