There are two words which I have begun to realise are the essence of organisational success:

Discretionary effort

It is a strange world when we all know from experience that productivity is really down to how much our people want to do a good job …. we all know it, yet many organisations still see staff satisfaction as a cost not an investment. None of us do our best unless we want to, the art of leadership surely is to free everyone in the workplace to want to do their best? The simple question from leadership to our people is “what do we have to do so we get the best out of you?”. I imagine the fear of many senior managers is that staff will exploit the situation by asking for unreasonable things (such as a slide in the lobby which I have seen in a tech company). Actually, collectively common-sense reigns and our people can nail very quickly how management can help release more discretionary effort. The questions is, are our leaders listening?

This brings us to the ‘push’ and ‘pull’ leadership idea. The trend now is to suggest we should move from push to pull. However, in my personal experience of working with senior managers and their teams, discretionary effort comes from someone you respect enough to accept both push and pull when it is required. For example, a first requirement for example is often phrased as ‘direction’. That is very much a strength of the ‘push’ style. So gaining discretionary effort from our people doesn’t just mean being nice, it means giving our people  a leadership they believe in, and a strong ‘push’ element can be hugely respected when it is needed.

In summary, Productivity comes from the positivity of the team even more than the positivity of the leader. I sometimes think we try to hard to get our leadership style right, and miss the simple question “tell me how to get the best out of you”. From then we negotiate with “OK if I do what you ask, will you provide what you promise?”. As a leader never be afraid to negotiate with our teams instead of simply acquiescing. And of course, having agreed, deliver then celebrate. The celebration, even if a simple round of “thank you’s” is a great way to cement that discretionary effort and pump up productivity.

Mark Miller – Director Goodfoot