Rotman, the award-winning magazine of the Rotman School of Management at the University of Toronto, just published an interview I did with them on Connection Cultures, leadership and employee engagement. The Spring 2009 issue also features fascinating interviews with Warren Bennis, Prof. Renee Mauborgue of INSEAD and Prof. Richard Thaler of the University of Chicago. You can subscribe to Rotman magazine or purchase the download by clicking here. Following is the text of the interview.

 Questions for: Michael Lee Stallard

The consultant and author talks about increasing employee engagement through “cultures of connection.”

Interview by Stephen Watt

Competition for talented employees has never been greater than it is today. Most organizations focus on incentives like compensation and promotions to keep their most valued workers. What role do emotional factors play in retaining employees and bringing out their best?

Rational factors such as compensation are important when it comes to retention, but it takes more than compensation to motivate people. We’ve learned from research that right brain-oriented emotional factors such as how people feel about their day-to-day tasks, their coworkers and their organization’s identity are on average four times as important as rational factors when it comes to inspiring people to give their best effort. No individual or organization can thrive for long without meeting the emotional needs that their members have.

The great leaders throughout history that I studied in Fired Up or Burned Out created ‘connection cultures’ that met the emotional needs in the people they lead. What I found remarkable is that this is true of leaders in every realm: in business, government, the social sector and in sports. For me, that was a very big ‘aha’ moment. It’s important to achieve results, but it’s also important to value relationships and human beings in the workplace. Both are critical if you expect to achieve long-term superior performance.

On a personal note, what emotional factors were involved in your own decision to leave Wall Street and start on a new career path?

It was a confluence of factors, some rational and others emotional in nature, that made me leave Wall Street in 2002. When I left Morgan Stanley‘s marketing department for the private wealth management group, we had put practices in place that had helped us double our revenues over two and a half years. These practices helped people feel proud of our group as well as personally valued.

Observing the effect of these emotional connections on the people and our business results, I knew that there was extraordinary force at work here, and I wanted to share this experience with the broader world. I knew what was like to work in a connection culture where I thrived, and also what it was like to work in a disconnection culture that was sucking the life out of people.

One other event had a strong impact on me. When my wife Katie was being treated for an advanced form of cancer at the gynaecological oncology group of Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, I observed a connection culture at its best among the patients and staff. I connected the dots between these workplace cultures and the research I was doing on thriving organizations, and gained the clarity and resolve to embark on a new path.

Research suggests a large percentage of employees are disengaged from their work. In fact, they might be consciously acting against their employers’ interests. What’s going on?

Over the past decade, on average over 75 per cent of employees report that they’re disengaged and just going through the motions at work. About 15 per cent of that group are working against the interests of their organizations. Most people in management are engaged, and so are the stars of the organization. It’s the rest of the people who feel disconnected: they don’t feel valued, informed or heard. They stop caring or putting their best effort in their work. They may even become angry and retaliate against the organization.

Disenfranchised workers may also stop communicating, and because of that, decision-makers don’t get the information they need to make optimal decisions. Performance declines and the downward spiral continues until leaders realize they’re in big trouble.

It’s remarkable how often this pattern repeats in both the history of organizations and nations. You can see it in the works of Herodotus, the father of history. In The Persian Wars, he was warning the Athenians about the widespread disenfranchisement he saw in the Persian bureaucracy. The bottom line is that leaders who fail to create these connection cultures commit self-sabotage because they will eventually experience managerial failure unless they keep the people they lead connected.

Explain why, for the sake of their own longevity and ability to thrive, it’s important for organizations to foster a sense of connection in the workplace.

The need for connection is in our DNA, and it includes the need for meaning, respect, recognition, belonging, autonomy and personal growth. These six needs are universal in order for people to thrive. No individual, organization or nation can prosper for long without meeting these needs. They may perform well for a season, but that high level of performance is unsustainable without meeting these basic emotional needs.

The lack of connection is analogous to slow death by oxygen deprivation. When people lack connection, they feel like they’re dragging: they’re bored and empty, and lack energy. They may not sense why, because the effect is so subtle yet cumulatively powerful. As the years pass, the lack of connection drains them physically and mentally until eventually, they collapse. Psychiatrists see a constant flow of business people who are suffering  from the deprivation of human connection. On the other hand, when these needs are met, performance is energized.

What are some examples of companies that have achieved a culture of connection?

Companies don’t build connections; leaders do. It’s an interesting fact that most of the companies profiled by Jim Collins in Good to Great are not doing as well now. Changes in leadership resulted in a loss of connection, which contributed to poor performance.

Leaders who are good examples of promoting a connection culture include A. G. Lafley, CEO and president of Proctor & Gamble, who has been very strong in promoting knowledge flows in his organization.  Ann Mulcahy, CEO of Xerox, rescued her company from the jaws of bankruptcy and created a tremendous connection culture there.

Steve Jobs, CEO of Apple, has been strong at inspiring identity, an important step toward creating a connection culture. When Jobs returned to Apple after a period of exile, he started the ‘Think Different’ advertising campaign, which reflects both his own identity and that of Apple. Jobs wants Apple to be the organization that stands for innovation, both in terms of aesthetic design and functional abilities. The strong sense of identity and culture of innovation that Jobs has inspired has brought the organization together and given it much success.

Ed Catmull, the co-founder and president of Pixar Animation Studios, is another notable example of a leader who has created a strong connection culture. Pixar was created with the intention to foster a sense of community that was otherwise missing in the film business, where so many people work as independent agents. At Pixar University, people can spend four hours a week in classes on any topic they like, whether it be sculpture, or art history or film-making. This university increases social capital by mixing people across silos. The motto of the university, translated from Latin to English, means “Alone No Longer.” Borrowing an idea from Steve Jobs, Pixar also centralized their meeting rooms, the cafeteria, the mail room and even the rest rooms so that people have to come into a core space where they will inevitably interact with other Pixar people.

How can business leaders increase human value in their own organizations?

Human value exists when people feel valued, and they feel valued when they are valued. Most work cultures today are indifferent to people. They’re not hostile, they’re just indifferent. Apart from paying lip service to valuing people, most cultures really only value results. The best cultures value both results and people. They reject behaviours that demean people, even if these illegitimate actions product positive results in the short term, because they know that such actions ultimately sabotage the organization’s performance.

Great leaders increase human value by getting to know their employees as human beings. They get to know their journeys in life and where they hope to go in their future. When their workers face inevitable difficulties in life, whether it’s sickness or death in the family, they reach out to support them. They help them progress toward their goals through mentorship, and by getting them into the roles that fit their strengths, as well as providing enough challenge to keep them going. They also keep them informed, and give them an opportunity to express their ideas and opinions. Great leaders are committed to the people they’re responsible for leading, and it’s this commitment that fosters a tremendous loyalty, and a desire to meet and exceed leaders’ expectations.

How does a manager or CEO become a great team leader?

A key responsibility of a leader is to learn ‘task excellence’, the processes that produce results. But a great team leader also learns, whether through experience, mentoring, formal or self-education, to create a connection culture that motivates employees and makes them more trusting and cooperative. A great team leader also understands that a successful connection culture extends beyond workplace relationships to encompass such things as task connection – that is, finding a role for an employee that is a good fit with his or her strengths – and connection with the organization’s identity.

Listening is also a key skill for a team leader. Listening not only helps employees feel connected and engaged, it also helps leaders make better decisions . When leaders make it a habit to ask for people’s opinions and ideas, they become better informed and make better decisions. Cultures that value listening inevitably create a more robust marketplace of ideas that stimulates creativity and innovation.

You have an interesting story about the rock band U2. Tell us what U2 taught you about teamwork and staying power.

U2 has had a phenomenal run since 1976: they have won 22 Grammy Awards, more than any band in history. They’ve been together over thirty years and have been able to maintain a strong sense of connection and commitment to each other. Doing that when you’re a rock star is not easy, given the amount of money, pride and status involved.

Bono, the lead singer, has said that the way the band functions is even more extraordinary than the band’s music, which is quite a statement when you consider the incredible music they’ve produced. He has also described the band as being more of an organism than an organization. When you look at the band and learn its story, you see all the elements of a connection culture.

They have a strong inspiring identity, which Bono refers to as the ‘spark’. They feel their work is important: there’s a sense of connection to their mission to help promote human rights and social justice. You see that social drive in their songs and also their activities outside their music.

The band members also have a strong connection to each other. Each member has suffered a number of painful personal experiences and setbacks over the years, but these have only made the band stronger. They’ve adopted a motto, “We’re all going to get through this alive.

They take this motto quite seriously, as the following anecdote illustrates. Back in the 1980s, U2 was about to play a concert in Arizona when they received a death threat aimed at Bono. The letter stated that if they played the song Pride (In the Name of Love), which is written about Martin Luther King Jr., Bono would die. Being Irish and a strong-willed bunch, they weren’t about to back down from a fight, so they went ahead and performed the song.

In a later interview, Bono described singing the first verse with his eyes closed, thinking, What if somebody is out there who has a gun and takes a shot at me? After singing the second verse, he opened his eyes to see Adam Clayton, the band’s bassist, standing in front of him to shield him.  As Bono later stated, that’s how you know what it’s like to be part of a great family. That’s an extraordinary commitment, and it’s what’s allowed these guys to stay together for thirty years.

 

Michael Lee Stallard is the president of E Pluribus Partners, a consulting firm that provides leadership training, team building, communications and executive coaching. Prior to founding E Pluribus Partners, Stallard was chief marketing officer for businesses at Morgan Stanley and Charles Schwab. He is the primary author of Fired Up or Burned Out: How to Reignite Your Team’s Passion, Creativity, and Productivity (Thomas Nelson Publishers, 2007). His work has been featured in publications such as The Wall Street Journal and The New York Times.