Did you feel it? There was a subtle but detectable shift in the ground underneath managers all over America. It happened recently when a well-known leader at the New York Times was fired because of how she managed people - harsh, detached, and difficult. Because my new book deals with this very topic I have been getting a lot of questions about it. But the question is settled.
You can no longer get people to respond to you as a manager/leader if you treat them like numbers. First, the best workers have options and job opportunities elsewhere. It may not be for more money but it will be a better working environment.
Second, Gallup reports that more than half of American workers are not engaged at work with what you are trying to accomplish. And that will hit directly on the bottom line. If you want them to be engaged then it starts with leaders who are engaged with the people they lead.
Third, you can learn a better way of leading. Each week on my Leader's Gift Blog, I discuss a section from A Leader's Gift - How to Earn the Right to Be Followed. These weekly posts are a helpful supplement to the principles in the book with suggestions on how to gain the respect of the people you manage. The earth below managers has moved - how about you?
Be encouraged,
Barry
