Putting Drive to Work: Getting more of what you want
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If you're a boss, one of your challenges is to get more of the behavior you want. How do you do it?
In his book, The Greatest Management Principle in the World, Michael LeBoeuf says that "The things that get rewarded get done."
Aubrey Daniels puts says the same thing with an important difference: "You don’t always get more of the behavior you reward, but you always get more of any behavior that is reinforced."
That's because some rewards, like promotions, are often too far off and uncertain to have much impact. Other rewards, like money, can have the opposite effect that you intend.
So what do you have left? How do you reinforce behavior you want? You may find the answer by looking at how a great police sergeant supervises.
When I say this to audiences I often get skeptical looks. People have an idea that supervision is somehow easier if you have a uniform. Not true.
Police sergeants work in a world where they lack some of the positive tools that their private sector brothers and sisters take for granted. There are no bonus payments for excellent work. Promotion is handled through a testing/assessment center system.
What the great sergeants use to get more of what they want is praise. And they do it in a specific way. Here's what you can learn from them.
Praise soon. Catch them doing something right and don't wait to tell them it's good.
Only praise actions and results that are praiseworthy. As one sergeant told me: "Never fake it. If they're good enough to keep, they're good enough to catch on."
Make your praise specific. Tell your team member what they did and why it's praiseworthy.
Do not praise intelligence, talent, or capacity. Carol Dweck has shown convincingly that this can have the effect of making your team member less willing to try new things.
Boss's Bottom Line
Praise is your ultimate tool for reinforcing behavior that you want. Use it liberally, but always correctly.
Check out:
My review of Dan Pink's book, Drive
The post "Putting Drive to Work: Intrinsic Motivation"
The Post "Putting Drive to Work: Getting less of what you don't want"
More on my Working Supervisor's Support Kit
Wally's Working Supervisor's Support Kit is a collection of information and tools to help working supervisors do a better job. It's based on what Wally's learned in over twenty years of supervisory skills training. Click here to check it out.
Categories: Supervision,Management,Leadership
Tags: Supervision Management Leadership
Yes, so very true; praise works well as behavior reinforcement but has to be done correctly. I have been working on incorporating praise to engender motivation in my consultants (and my kids) and finding decent success. The "praise soon", so the association will be made, seems to be the most important component.
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Thanks for adding to the conversation, Brett. The hard one for me was not praising talent or intelligence. It just kept slipping in. I think we've each got our own set of challenges here, but it we can get it right, there are many, many benefits.
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I couldn't agree more. See my post on "What Teachers Make."
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Thanks for sharing the link to your thoughtful article.
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If more managers believed this, our nation's productivity would soar above other countries! Thanks for the great reminders.
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Thanks for adding that connection to productivity, Julie. Great workplaces are the ones that have both high productivity and high morale.
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Excellent, Wally. As I like to say, the most effective praise is Specific, Authentic and Actionable.
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Thanks, Derek
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Wally,
You are right on with this blog. Praise of a supervisor is such a powerful tool. In these tough economic times, when so much is being asked of employees, managers should make a point to acknowledge superior effort.
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Thanks, David. You're absolutely right. When times are hard, praise can be one of the few places that your team members are getting positive messages. But, really, praise is important all the time.
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