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  Bryan Flanagan, outstanding speaker and director of our corporate training division, holds the honor of being recognized by our staff as one of the most outstanding I LIKE … BECAUSE writers in our office. Everyone looks forward to getting feedback from Bryan because he is so kind and so specific. He carefully validates every compliment he gives. Many times he will give verbal feedback to support the written I LIKE and will do this in front of the supervisors of those he is complimenting—always sincerely.

  Bryan also uses all the proper tools and techniques when it is time to give instructive feedback to those for whom he is responsible. On one occasion, Jim Savage, who at that time was Bryan’s immediate supervisor, observed a “less than highly motivated” employee exiting Bryan’s office. Naturally, he was interested in what happened.

  Bryan told him, “You know, Jim, that young lady is one of the best workers we have in our division. She is at work on time every day and is more than willing to stay late when necessary. She is pleased to do just about anything that will benefit our organization. Why, just last month I asked her to take on a project that is somewhat outside her area of expertise and interest, and she not only took on the project, but she also performed extremely well. Actually, however, this project was what de-motivated her. The project I assigned took her off track from her normal duties, and since returning to these duties she has been less effective than before the project began. I simply pointed out that her productivity was not up to her usual standards and asked why … and listened. She shared her concerns, and during the conversation we were able to determine the specific behaviors and factors that were decreasing her productivity. With this information we were able to come up with a plan of action, which she agreed with and felt good about, to increase her productivity. I reminded her that she is not only a valuable employee but a valuable person as well. We also set a date when we would get together again to review the progress on our plan of action. She actually was relieved to discuss the concerns we both had, and while she was a little nervous about the meeting, she realized she needed direction and was glad I cared enough to give her the time and direction.”

  Bryan Flanagan is a role model for excellence in this particular scenario. I know you were picking out the key points as we went along, but let’s go back together and be sure we have analyzed carefully.

  The feedback was given in private. Nothing can be more devastating than public censure. Some managers are prone to tease or “dig” at an employee in front of others about a real concern as a way of hinting that they are displeased. All this does is destroy the seeds of trust between the people involved. All instructive or critical feedback must be given in private.

  The feedback was about specific, observable behavior. The individual involved was never under personal attack. If there is to be criticism, it must pertain to the performance, never the performer.

  The feedback was immediate. As soon as Bryan recognized the problem, he confronted the situation.

  Bryan asked questions and listened to the answers. Rather than rushing to judgment, he asked questions for which, for the most part, he already had answers. He wasn’t looking for the answers as much as he was looking for the employee’s perspective on the answers. As a bonus, try closing your next instructive feedback session with this question: “How do you think I feel about this meeting?” The answers will often surprise you and will generally give great insight about what has just transpired at your meeting.

  A cooperative plan of action was developed. Bryan did not mandate what action was to be taken to correct the situation; rather, the two people involved discussed a mutually agreeable plan. The employee contributed and “shared ownership” of the plan.

  A date for a follow-up session was assigned to inspect to make sure Bryan got what he expected. Too many excellent plans of action fall victim to the “tyranny of the urgent.” With all good intentions, we try to get back to the employee, but “things” pop up and we forget. Establishing a specific date and setting an appointment creates a sense of urgency for the plan and helps prevent failure as well as hurt feelings from neglect.

  Praise was used throughout the session. There is much debate about “sandwiching” criticism between praise. Some managers think they must start or end every session with praise. I will leave the decision on when to use praise up to you. However, to measure success, you must be able to answer this question affirmatively: “Did the person leave my presence feeling good about himself?” No one should ever leave an encounter with a manager doubting his or her personal value or self-worth.

  To be a goodfinder we must often teach those for whom we are responsible to do something good. That is the objective of the instructive feedback session. The great managers give others instructions on how to be more successful—always giving direction within the ability level of the employee. The great manager does not ignore mistakes. Permissiveness is neglect of duty. For as Dr. Michael Mescon, dean of the College of Business Administration, Georgia State University, says, “When a store clerk is rude, don’t blame the clerk, blame the manager. The manager is ultimately responsible and accountable for actions of subordinates.” If you will look for the good, point it out verbally and in writing, give instructive feedback in the manner outlined, and accept responsibility for those who answer to you, you are well on your way to becoming an excellent manager of people!

  Marshall Field, American business leader and philanthropist, said, “Those who enter to buy support me. Those who come to flatter please me. Those who complain teach me how I may please others so that more will come. Only those hurt me who are displeased but do not complain. They refuse me permission to correct my errors and thus improve my service.”

  As leaders, we need to hitchhike on what Marshall Field said as a method for improving performance and assisting in the personal growth of our people. (Remember, if we only flatter the people, we are pleasing them. If pleasing them is all we do, we are participating in a conspiracy to prevent their further growth and opportunities for themselves as well as service to the company.)

  A Positive Reminder

  One of the most important aspects of motivating a workforce has to do with praise and recognition. That’s the reason the I LIKE … BECAUSE approach is so effective. Before we close this chapter on goodfinding, let me share one last story that has a different twist.

  A company sent four couples to one of our recent Born to Win seminars. At the end of the first day, they were tremendously motivated and excited about the I LIKE … BECAUSE idea. That evening they went to a late dinner at one of Dallas’s most exclusive restaurants. They hit the jackpot. The food was exceptional and the service was superb. Their waiter was a professional with twenty-five years of experience, and over twenty of those years had been at that one restaurant. He was at their table when he needed to be, but he did not join the party. Friendly but not familiar. In short, to repeat myself, he was a pro.

  The four couples were all personable and friendly and soon on a first-name basis with the waiter. The meal was particularly delicious and was greatly enhanced because of the waiter’s gracious and effective service. The diners left him a 25 percent tip, which, in an expensive restaurant, is substantial. Each of the guests also left him an I LIKE … BECAUSE slip, detailing why they liked him. After they had made their exit and were about a hundred feet from the front door, they heard their waiter calling for them to wait a minute.

  The waiter briskly walked up to them and, with the eight slips of paper in his hand, started to speak but broke down with emotion and for a moment or so literally could say nothing. When he finally regained his composure, he told the four couples that in his twenty-five years of being a waiter, this was far and away the most meaningful thing that had ever happened to him. Imagine!

  The waiter was living proof of something my late friend and fellow speaker Cavett Robert used to say: Three billion people on the face of the earth go to bed hungry every night, but four billion people go to bed every night hungry for a
simple word of encouragement and recognition. (It would be truly unfortunate if one of those people was your mother, child, parent, or coworker who was in the midst of a difficult and challenging period in their life.)

  GRATITUDE CAN BE EXPRESSED IN MANY WAYS,

  AND THE EXPRESSION OF GRATITUDE IS UNIVERSAL.

  Do you think that with this kind of input this already effective waiter is going to be even more conscientious in his efforts? Do you think he benefited from the experience? Wouldn’t you have loved to have been seated at the next table he served? Most important, who do you think were the biggest winners? Was it the waiter, who received the I LIKE … BECAUSE slips, or was it the eight individuals who wrote those notes? It doesn’t take much imagination to answer that one, does it? I’m confident you agree that those who wrote the slips were the biggest winners.

  That’s what this concept is really all about. I would like to stress that we are talking about a principle and not a tactic. The Bible itself says, “Give and it shall be given unto you.” However, if we give or do for others with the expectation of having them do something for us, then our action is a tactic and is certain to either backfire or become entirely ineffective. However, if you buy into the concept that you can have everything in life you want if you will just help enough other people get what they want, and then set about helping your people become more effective and more productive by giving them honest, sincere praise, not only will they benefit but you and your organization will also benefit tremendously. The magic thought is this: If it’s a principle, it’s a winner—if it’s a tactic, it’s a loser.

  * * *

  If it’s a principle, it’s a winner—if it’s a tactic, it’s a loser.

  * * *

  Don’t forget that William James of Harvard said a deep need in human nature is the craving to be appreciated. When you, the manager, fill that need, you have taken a mammoth step toward becoming a more effective manager.

  In 1996 I asked Krish Dhanam to become my replacement for the goal-setting segment of our two-day Born to Win seminar. I had watched him grow and felt he was ready. Later that year Krish presented me with a small old-fashioned water pump made of brass. Many of you reading this know that the old-fashioned water pump has been my symbol of persistence for over three decades. Krish had bought it in a flea market in India and had it inscribed before he gave it to me. The words inscribed on the pump say something so universal that I thought it would be appropriate to share them with you. The inscription read as follows: “Gurudakshina—To a great teacher—Krish 1996.” In Krish’s native language, Telegu, the word guru means “teacher,” and the word dakshina means “gift.” Upon further inquiry Krish revealed to me that in India it was customary for the student to give a gift of appreciation to the teacher when the teacher informed the student that he was now ready.

  By bringing me my own symbol of persistence all the way from India, Krish validated that gratitude and appreciation are universal concepts and that appreciation, love, and respect can and do cross both emotional and geographical boundaries.

  PERFORMANCE PRINCIPLES

  * * *

  Look for the good in others.

  Catch them doing something right.

  Remember that action often precedes the feeling.

  Seize the opportunity to share a sincere compliment.

  Praise in public; censure in private.

  Expect the Best

  If you want to get the best out of a man, you must look for the best that is in him.

  Bernard Haldane

  Goodfinders

  Expect the Best

  Loyalty

  The E in our GEL formula is Expect the best. In a seminar a while back I was sharing some of the ideas I’ve been explaining to you, and a man in the audience came up to me during the break and said, “This information is fantastic. I wish some of those morons back at my office could be here!”

  My question to you is this: Do you think there is a chance he missed a very important point?

  Now let’s bring it home to you. What kind of coworkers do you have? What kind of employees? What kind of children? What kind of spouse? So many times we get from others exactly what we expect! In short—the way we see them affects the way we treat them, and the way we treat them affects the way they perform.

  The Evidence

  The feelings and tone that surround us can be changed if we work to change them by sending out the kind of signal we want reflected or echoed. Comedians as well as dramatic performers succeed in creating the kind of mood or atmosphere they want to prevail by sending out the kinds of signals they want mirrored or echoed. “Once you begin laughing,” a drama coach explains, “it is easy to continue, for the action and the emotion mutually stimulate each other.”

  We all have an audience of individuals and colleagues whose day, including their moods, feelings, and dispositions, will be influenced by the way we start it. Hence, sales managers are perhaps the most important “signal generators” for field salespeople, and the expectations of those managers will profoundly affect the performance of the salespeople they lead and supervise.

  How Does It Work?

  William James, the father of American psychology, concluded that we become how we act. Alfred Adler, another well-known psychologist, later reaffirmed this notion by proving that if we make ourselves smile, we actually feel like smiling. In short, our moods match our posture, and more important, people around us tend to feel as we feel. Mood is contagious.

  B. F. Skinner, the foremost disciple of the psychological school of behaviorism, contends that our behavior is impacted by the home, school, work, and other environments and behavior is shaped by consequences. When a sales manager, for example, sends signals to his sales personnel that he regards them as highly competent, effective, capable, and mature, and that his work and theirs is meaningful, significant, and worthwhile, the sales personnel who receive his signals will respond in many instances by performing more competently and effectively. And they respond further by perceiving their work as more rewarding, gratifying, and self-fulfilling. The self-image is the key to human behavior. Change the self-image and we change the behavior. Even more than this, the self-image sets the boundaries of individual accomplishment. It defines what one can or cannot do. Expand the self-image, and we expand the area of the possible.

  Through the power of expectation, a sales manager (or any manager) can develop an adequate, realistic self-image in personnel that will imbue them with new capabilities and new talents, and literally turn failures into successes.

  A. Positive Feedback

  We have already spent a great deal of time and energy on the importance of positive feedback, and I am confident that you are sold on the importance of this vital area. Remember: Be a goodfinder!

  B. Regular Learning and Growth Opportunities

  IBM requires forty days of training per year for management personnel—eight weeks of the work year are spent in training! Too often in times of tight finances, training programs are the first area cut. This is the exact opposite of what should happen. In times of financial difficulty, training budgets should be sharply increased.

  To quote Tom Peters, “The excellent companies view extensive, pragmatic training as necessity, not as boom-time nicety … you gotta trust ’em, and train the livin’ daylights out of them.” When asked how he justified large amounts of training dollars, Peters replied, “Management from excellent companies would not ask a question like that!”

  On a personal note, the Sewell group of companies in Dallas, Texas, is legendary for their service at all of their automobile dealerships. Yet they constantly invest in the training and development of their people to get even better. Needless to say, we are grateful that part of their investment in training is with Ziglar Training Systems. Our staff members have bought many automobiles from them over the years and rave about the service they get.

  C. Activities and Information That Prove Our Efforts Are Meaningful, Productive, and Ap
preciated

  I usually make every effort to stay away from absolutes such as “never” or “always,” but in this case I am going to make an exception. Never under any circumstances at any time downplay the role of a recognition program in your organization, home, church, or any area of interest. In part 2, “The Science of Top Performance,” we will get into the specifics of developing a recognition program. However, let me emphasize right here and now that you must never overlook the importance of this vital area.

  When we look at activities and information that prove our efforts are meaningful and productive, we look at a very important area for Top Performers. This is the area in which the manager must make one of the most important “sales” ever made. Others must have a concept or a vision—an idea of what the “big picture” is all about—and how they personally fit in and contribute. The great managers regularly paint vivid word pictures showing their people exactly how this is happening now and what is in store in the months ahead.

  This is important because one of the greatest problems faced in society today is the problem of “unrealistic expectations.” In business we set unrealistic goals or expect our progress within the organization to happen much too quickly. In relationships, we expect others to do certain things for us or act in a certain manner, and if they do not, we are devastated. Now you may be saying, “Wait a second, Ziglar—a minute ago you were saying that if we expected the best, we could get the best … and now you are saying that ‘unrealistic expectations’ are a problem!” Let me finish.