Sitting inside a very large corporation, it's hard to feel in charge of your own fate. Corporate politics are distracting and enervating. So you have to focus on those areas where you can achieve tangible progress. When Jon Sichel worked in AOL's music division, he quickly realized that there wasn't anything he could do about the sea of troubles that surrounded the company earlier this decade. "A lot of us decided to put our heads down, ignore the news stories, and just focus on work. We all got sick of being scared, so we concentrated on areas where we could be successful. We couldn't do anything about the SEC but we could close a deal." Sichel stopped speculating about things he had no influence over and instead set himself goals that could make a difference. He went from inertia to progress.
Alignment between corporate goals and personal development has never been more critical. The more unpredictable the outside world, the more urgent the personal quest for self-determination.
For Sichel's team, closing deals was a morale builder for two reasons: They knew that the deals mattered to the business, but they also knew that each deal added to their own career portfolio. There was a substantial and rational alignment between what was required for the company to succeed and what was required for the executives to succeed. Alignment between corporate goals and personal development has never been more critical. The more unpredictable the outside world, the more urgent the personal quest for self-determination. What employees look for in leadership is a sense that their personal journey and the company journey are part of the same story.
When these goals aren't aligned, employees tend to whine with others, eager to share their sense of anger and injustice, polluting morale. The only way to combat this and get back on track is proper feedback. I remember a painful conversation from my days as a television documentarian in which I spelled out for Kevin, a trainee, all the mistakes he'd made in his first show. I think we both hated it -- and, for a time, each other. But Kevin went on to win awards for excellent programs. He'd been given tools to influence his own fate.
No company or team ever enjoys consistently high morale. This is because emotional peaks and troughs are inevitable in the business cycle. Vallone sees this every time WebCT ships a new product: "We had a company meeting and I said, 'Okay, how many have experienced having a baby? It hurts like hell. You are cursing everybody that got you here. And when it's over, you totally forgot that it happened and are ready to do another one. So let's all acknowledge that we're in a very painful experience right now and you're probably mad at everybody.' What I was trying to say is: This is natural." Vallone doesn't try to change the mood. She inspires others by demonstrating that she understands and isn't afraid.
Keeping morale high is like being on a diet: It requires consistent effort and is never over. But it can't consume you. Just as we're often exhorted to work more hours, to the exclusion of all other interests and commitments, in reality it's those very interests and commitments that keep everyone fresh, alert, and aware. New ideas, stimuli, and motivation come from all around you. It's the larger life, after all, that gives purpose to the climb.
Margaret Heffernan is a columnist for Fastcompany.com and the author of The Naked Truth (Jossey-Bass, 2004).
Email
Digg
StumbleUpon
Facebook
Buzz Up!
LinkedIn
