Adrian Gostick

A fun starred review of our new book The Orange Revolution in Booklist, published by the American Library Association.

Our brand’s color is orange, and when I speak I always wear an orange tie or an orange wristband. But my writing partner Chester Elton goes much, much further. He wears an orange shirt, orange watch and even orange socks. He has more orange on than any human being, with the possible exception of Carrot Top or the Syracuse University mascot.

This week Chester was in town as we recorded the audio version of our new book, The Orange Revolution. He was riding the elevator in a downtown hotel when a businessman asked, “Okay, what’s with all the orange.” The man turned out to be president of a large Texas hospital, and the simple question led to a great discussion about recognition, appreciation and need to engage your employees. Said Chester, “It was a chance to use our elevator speech, literally.”

Long story short, the president asked for more information on the Carrot Culture. Now, who knows where this elevator conversation will lead, but it’s a good reminder that we are living embodiments of our brand every day. Chester was going to be in a recording studio all day, he didn’t need to dress in orange, but he wore his brand and that caught the eye of a potential business partner. No matter what our brand is, we need to remember people are watching us to see if we live it.

I’ve just received a manuscript to endorse from authors Michael Burchell and Jennifer Robin, leaders at the Great Place to Work Institute (the folks who create the Fortune 100 Best Companies to Work For list). The Great Workplace is going to be an important book, and while I would never give away the secrets of their work early, I’ll just pick out one very small statement that caught my eye early from these Ph.Ds. This is a comment given to them from an employee in a great workplace:

“If you are a boss, you realize it’s not about you. It’s about empowering your people. And your voice doesn’t carry any more weight than anyone else’s. The only way this (management style) will work is by nurturing and nudging and helping set some vision.”

What a glorious comment, one that will take a complete mind shift for many leaders who believe that being a manager means being a taskmaster, setting schedules, driving results, disciplining, and so on. Instead, in an Orange team, it takes only the lightest touch by a leader to maintain success. Now, here’s what we found in our research. Leaders of breakthrough teams:

• Ensure the right people join. Great managers insist on finding the necessary personnel and help the team consider candidates for their technical skills, integrity, empathy, personality, and, of course, for their ability to work well with the rest of the team.
• Translate corporate goals. By helping employees understand the big picture and their collective role in furthering the Cause, managers help lead the team toward goals with the most impact.
• Facilitate rule setting. Effective managers help pave the revolutionary road by gathering their teams to establish a collective code of conduct that will become the blueprint for all decisions and interactions.
• Promote a culture of appreciation. Not only do great leaders recognize above-and-beyond achievements, they also facilitate peer-to-peer recognition and make their teams visible to those around the organization. Learn more on Sept. 20 when we release The Orange Revolution: How one great team can transform an entire organization.

If you don’t think HR has played an important role in our society, consider this: just a few decades ago managers could pretty much say whatever they wanted to employees, sexual harassment was rampant, it was commonplace for women to be paid less for the same job than men, and leaders could hire and promote anyone they wanted with little consideration to qualifications.

Things really are better today than in the “good old days.” And yet some employees still do see inequity in every action: Why did so and so get promoted over me; why does that other department get so much funding and resources and we don’t; why does the boss like him more than me; why, why, why?

We’ve all had people who see life this way on our teams, those who see inequity in every action, those who go to other departments seeking allies, those who undermine their bosses and teammates with their cries of “What about me?”

Here’s the deal: Great employees and great leaders don’t whine and blame their bosses. Have you ever respected a whiner? Want to be great? Then be confident, keep learning, and make your own luck.