Make your staff the “Bosses” of Your Company

Observe This scenario between a business owner (CEO) and a senior manager (SM):

Does this sound familiar? These situations are happening on a daily basis across many organisations in the world today.

The ability to effectively motivate, inspire, develop and manage your team for cohesiveness, loyalty and productivity is definitely among the top critical success factors of any organisation. So, how does one achieve that? Does monetary reward still play a big part in this management effort? Can we buy loyalty with money? how much more loyalty can we get, in exchange for more empowerment and trust given? has it changed so much over the past 10 years? Do we have to do things differently, in this “cyber-world” and “self-actualisation” age?

Well, the answer is – yes and no. While monetary rewards still have strong implication in driving performance, it’s really the organisational culture that dictates the long-term sustainability and management sanity of any business. While many things have been written in the past about the importance of a strong culture, I am convinced that the key to this issue is the prevalent culture of an Entrepreneurial Mindset.

Many organisations when faced this dilemma of unproductive workforce, tend to take the defensive approach, implementing stricter policies of punctuality and leave application, never ending report submissions, stringent deadlines, all kinds of controls; virtually closing all the “leaks”, tightening all the “pipes” and funneling the “water of life” (inspiration and morale to contribute) to its pre-assigned “pool” (approach) of strictly managed resources, in hope of achieving some mode of productive output.

What happens instead is that built up (pent- up) pressure will start to create a momentum of inertia force that begins fracturing the “seams” (workgroup & departmental pillars) of the organisation. In short - we get effective results. yes. But, more often than not, for the short term only.

Science teaches us that water is fluid and fluids take the shape of the container, it is finds itself in. It adapts, it fits in, it works out the best way to find stabilisation and collective strength; ready to be at its optimum potential, wherever it’s at.

Fluids are notoriously unstable and even “reactive” when forced or aggressively moved. It’s however, is calm and manageable when managed with respect, focus and attentive intelligence. The right amount of pure water (“fluid” that leads to inspiration & morale to contribute) can also neutralize the “poison” or corrosive substance (bad influences or negative attitudes) that exists or breeds un-productivity and dissatisfaction in the organisation. Good water will always facilitate change and growth, because it takes the opportunity to adapt.

So, if you want the good “water of life” for your organisation, you need an igniting agent. This agent is called the Entrepreneurial Mindset. and this can only start, with the right amount of deliberate empowerment, trust and coaching.

Imagine your team – inspired to ownership, given the empowerment to act and driven to improve by the mindset that the business they work in, is like of their very own. The actions taken, decisions made and attention given is that of an un-relentless focus of an entrepreneur – desperate to survive, vigilant to protect and dedicated to sacrifice for the sake of the business. The employee with an entrepreneur mindset looks forwards to challenges and opportunities to drive for excellence – because it is the right thing to do.

Here are just a few of the advantages you get in encouraging the entrepreneurial culture is:

• More ownership
• Greater commitment
• Enhanced productivity
• Increased competitive advantage
• Improved savings

Many progressive companies have already adopted the entrepreneurial Mindset approach in their management style, but sadly, most only start and end with its C-Level employees (C as in Chief); be it in empowerment, recognition, rewards or even trust.

Why is it that organisations are so afraid of deploying the same entrepreneurial framework across the organisation? Could it be the lack of trust or unrealistically high expectations on maturity levels of the team or is it pure “un-readiness” of staff abilities? Well, all of them, valid reasons. But, let’s take a step back and ask ourselves this question. Does the issue of higher empowerment, really bring greater loss than the opportunity gain?

Management often fall into the issue of having to tussle between two “evils”. And then, having to choose the lesser evil among them. yet, it is exactly the type of mindset and approach that limits real innovation and growth.

The position we take in our fear of “letting go” often forms the same kind of fear in our staff of them willing to take the necessary risk to go the extra mile or to pledge their long-term allegiance to the organisational vision.

As such, the best way to drive strong results, sustainable performance and maintain competitive advantage in your marketplace is to extend the trust, empower your team and push for the entrepreneurial Mindset, across the entire organisation.

If you want to move towards an Entrepreneurial driven culture, here are just some of the basic fundamentals that need to be considered, among many others.

• Be willing to let go and give higher levels of trust to the team
• Empower your staff with greater authority to make decisions independently and quickly
• Ask for results, but remember to be willing to reward accordingly and generously
• Create a competitive environment that breeds innovation and growth
• Give equal opportunities for all levels to contribute and prosper
• Treat all your employees as you would treat your business partners
  
  

The advantages truly surpass the disadvantages. So, go ahead, take a small risk, empower your staff force, drive the entrepreneurial culture, and make every employee “bosses” of your organisation today.