The Minneapolis/St. Paul Business Journal has named its 2012 Best Places to Work honorees. An exceptional group of companies in the hometown delivering progressive work style design and experience during a time when so many employers simply cannot get it right. This group has figured out that culture is a real competitive advantage. Fun to watch.
I’ll be keynoting their Best Places to Work Awards Luncheon this August. I look forward to addressing the challenge of sustaining such exceptional performance. Getting there is hard work. Staying there might be even harder.
Good is the enemy of great.
Can you recall the best job you ever had? Best boss you ever worked for? How about your best day at work?
When workshopping I will occasionally walk Leaders an Managers through those questions. The understanding can offer some valuable insight. The enclosed video offers a sample excerpt of that kind of visualization exercise. Invariably, 3 things almost always occur in those moments:
1. People physically transform. The lean forward. They smile. They get switched on. It happens every single time.
2. Most often the best of experiences are about who we are working with.
3. Most often the most pride in accomplishment comes from contributing to something meaningful that is much larger than ourselves and our own individual work.
Work is an emotional experience. (Lesson #47)
Leader Tip: Ask the people working for you where they want to go? What being successful means for them? What their best day at work was and why?
Listen.
You’ll learn how to be a better leader for your team. Learning, especially learning more about the people you serve, is an invaluable ingredient for more effective leadership.
Leadership isn’t about you. Leadership is about them. Great leadership is very much about selecting the right people and putting them in a position to be successful. When you help people get where they want to go, they will help you get to where you want to go. Interesting how that works.
Is your company a great place to work?
Working for a great boss and/or a great company is a special experience.
Looking forward to connecting with some great hometown leaders and employers at the awards luncheon next month.
Ryan Estis on Your Best Day At Work…Ever from Ryan Estis on Vimeo.
