There have been some fascinating and very public examples lately of how NOT to treat the people you work with. Noriko Unoura, one of the top directors at Seiko, has just been pushed out by the board after years of bullying her employees and the 89-year old honorary chairman of the board who protected her for all these years has been stripped of his executive power. And General David Petraeus has been named to replace General Stanley McChrystal as commander of US forces in Afghanistan after McChrystal bashed his boss in public and lampooned his coworkers, calling them "clowns" and other derogatory names.
There's a lesson here for all of us, whether you're in a formal leadership position or you answer to a boss: Don't be a jerk.
Nothing demotivates people more than working with somebody who gossips, bullies, complains, insults others, yells, lays down unrealistic expectations, and in various other ways makes it clear that he/she couldn't care less about you or the other people in your organization. Likewise, nothing gets people working harder or more creatively than working alongside of people they like and care about.
In fact, two-thirds of employees say they believe they do better work and are more productive when coworkers are friendly outside the office. And anybody who has ever worked with volunteers knows the importance of providing socializing opportunities and lots of food when people show up to share their time and talents!
No matter what kind of organization or business you're a part of, people will be more committed to it and to the purpose you share when they are committed to each other.
That's why we teach leaders about the importance of igniting passion - one of the seven renewable leadership practices. Igniting passion is not about getting people excited about whatever you're excited about. It's about cultivating healthy relationships between people so that a love for each other and for the purpose you share can blossom and grow.
And that starts with not being a jerk.
We are in the final production of a new book called "19 Or More Ideas for Igniting Passion" - an addition to our Renewable Practices for Faith-Based Groups series.
Click below to get other titles in this series - all of which are on sale for just $4 each! – including:
"19 Or more Ideas for Asking Purposeful Questions"
"19 or More Ideas for Using Participative Processes"
"19 or More Ideas for Working Playfully"
You are so right. I know of a situation where an interim pastor arrived at a congregation and never bothered to get to know the people or the congregation at all before starting to behave like a jerk to a significant number of the members, especially the ones most active in the ministry of the church. Because the church had a history of decline, she assumed it was still on the way down. But in fact, it was already well on its way back up in renewal in terms of significant, new ministries to the community which had been started over the past 5 years. The church had finally bottomed out in the decline and had stayed at the same worship attendance level for three years running. That was significant, because the congregation was doing a complete transfusion of new members replacing the elderly members who were dying. Although the numbers didn't show an increase yet, 50% of the worshipping members had joined during the pastorate of the pastor who had just left. Because this interim pastor bashed so many people in the congregation, its worship attendance was halved and the church almost died. Even a year later, it is still having a very difficult time regaining the ministry and momentum it had going before the interim pastor arrived. Yes, the church fired her, but it is still feeling the effects of her disrespect for the congregation and its members.
Posted by: Churchjumpstarter.blogspot.com | June 24, 2010 at 05:08 AM
jumpstarter, thanks for the reminder that leaders and people in EVERY kind of work need to be intentional about cultivating healthy relationships - just because somebody is working in a faith-based organization doesn't mean they are going to do automatically do their work with love. unfortunately, you can find people acting like jerks everywhere. thanks for sharing this story.
Posted by: Kelly | June 24, 2010 at 11:14 AM