Treating People Well Is Good for Business

I hear a lot about what is going on behind the scenes in businesses over the last 20 years of coaching.
 
One thing that surprises me is that many leaders in business don’t necessarily correlate business success with treating employees respectfully which creates a safe, learning environment. I've heard of public shaming, swearing, gossip, passive aggressive behavior and more.

When employees are in fear (for instance, they feel blamed, they fear losing their job if they make a mistake or speak up, or they feel a need to defend themselves), you won’t get great performance.
 
They will be in survival and self protection mode which gives them the options of a) fight, b) flight or c) freeze. They lose any access to their creativity and productivity – and they are no longer focusing on the business.
 
That can't help business results.
 
The trick is to keep employees out of fear. How do you do that?

• Have clear values and principles that are actually alive in your organization and have your own actions and practices line up with those values and principles.
• Stay out of blame and finger pointing. If you have something happen in your business that upsets you, don’t react while you're upset. Get out of the reaction before addressing the situation, if possible (Don’t take long to get out of reaction!). If you communicate when you’re in a reaction, you create a reaction in your employees because they’ll be scared that you're upset.
• And this is probably the toughest one because it’s a bit of a tightrope – 1) Know that your employees are always doing their best. They get out of bed in the morning to be successful and to have the company be successful, and 2) Give straight, direct feedback without blame or an emotional reaction. Be committed to your employees' success and their careers when you're giving this feedback.

This all takes practice. We all get in a reaction multiple times a day. To have the self-awareness to notice that we’re in a reaction is the first step. Then calm yourself down so you can address what happened proactively (with curiosity, respect, lots of questions re: "What happened?") vs. reactively (ie "What were you thinking? I can't believe you . . . " etc.).
 
Your business will be more and more successful if you keep practicing this. Your employees will step up in ways you never thought possible.
 
To your success and fulfillment,

Kerry

P.S. I'm offering a course to Coaches and Consultants: Selling Your Services Through Authentic Connection. Find more details here. Please share this email with coaches you know. This course will easily pay for itself