Engagement Is Powerful

What is engagement?  Why is engagement so powerful? What risks do we assume if we are not engaged with our fellow employees? It’s when we interact with people cooperatively and without malice or prejudice. It’s hard because at times we do not get what we need from other people and we can react emotionally. There is a “true power” to engagement. The Leadership Council Study in 2007 showed people will yield a 57 % greater discretionary effort when they are engaged with. Guess what EMAIL IS NOT ENGAGING! We need to talk more, listen more, help more,  get to know each other more, learn about one another’s job more, etc.!

Let’s start with a great story about youth basketball team I coached. Yes my son was on the team but we had a kid who was a really good athlete but basically quit the game due to an interaction of about 15 his seconds with his dad. He missed a shot at a crucial part of a game and as I got up to tell him to keep shooting his father has literally lost control in the stands. He was pounding his seat and literally screaming his disappointment. It was too late the damage was done. This kid looked devastated! He never played organized ball again due to his association being so uncomfortable. Now my son missed a similar shot the same season. I ran across the floor to tell him I was so proud of him;. He said “dad, I missed the shot” and I said “I know but your teammates were praying you were not going to pass them the ball”. He said “Why?” “Because they were terrified and not really mentally ready to take such a pressure shot.

Now his association with that moment was positive and one he would not fear. Years later he had a stretch of games where he hit 4 game winning shots

So what is the lesson here you may be asking? Our reactions condition people’s perceptions of not only ourselves but the situation as well. If an employee gives a substandard speech would the employee be more or less likely to do it again if their manager screamed at them after the speech?

There is a cause and effect when people interact with us. If we react adversarial will they come back? Probably not much like the kid whose association to this day with a basketball court is negative and very uncomfortable. The key question we teach in our Progress Coaching training system is:

Are people more or less likely to exhibit effort after they interact with us???

If these questions serve as our guideline it will help us cultivate behaviorally the specific reactions that keep people engaged with us and the challenges we face with one another.

Let’s talk about risk. Recently I was in a meeting with a client and an employee asked a question after a manager had extensively presented a topic. After he was done presenting he received a question and he immediately pulled our his phone to check his email. What did he say about himself at that defining moment? He doesn’t care about other people’s feedback? He his only concerned about his viewpoint and not others?

What can a manager do to ensure they are developing and successfully applying the proper coaching skills? The following list will depict some basic things managers could do to ensure they demonstrate to engagement to their employees went coaching:

• Put smart phones or cell phones out of reach and visibility
• Turn off your monitor to avoid e-mail distractions
• Concentrate on maintaining eye contact
• Concentrate on presenting and open body language (avoid crossing of arms)
• Utilize language that is neutral or positive to ensure continued feedback from the employee

The greatest skill we can create in ourselves is the ability to engage and help others. The key in developing employees is to get them to see what they need to approve, but that also includes me as leaders looking in the near of those things that can allow us to be successful in doing so. 

Here is a whitepaper on "Creating a Coaching Culture"