Adrian Gostick

I met a fellow last week who’s in charge of culture change and safety at a large oil drilling company. His goal with employees from Brazil to Africa to the Gulf of Mexico is to have them act safely on their offshore rigs. Safety is even more important than performance goals, he said. That should be an easy enough message to get across, right? Hardly. Years ago I had the chance to visit a few oil rigs, and they certainly didn’t seem like safe places—what with the grease, pipe and machinery whirling everywhere. But this executive felt he could almost eliminate workplace accidents if he could just get his managers to reward safe behaviors and his workers to internalize the safety message.

So far accidents on his watch are down significantly, and he’s doing it by asking employees not to remember how important safety is to the company or their customers, but asking employees to consider what matters most outside of work. He quoted an international study that found the three most important things in people’s lives are typically: Their god, their health and their family. (I’ve seen similar studies, including this one from 2001. )

So, for instance, if you can constantly help people remember that being safe keeps them with their loved ones, they’ll be more likely to act in the ways you want them to. The message becomes, “Your daughter/wife/mom don’t want to go to your funeral, so follow procedure.” Those types of missives have much more impact than, “Remember to put safety first!”

It’s a great concept. By thinking about the outside motivating needs of our employees, we can better position our communication of corporate values. While religion is probably off limits, is there a way today to think about how you can link your employee communication efforts to your workers’ family or health?

Larry O’Donnell just may make you tear up—but in a good way. A few weeks ago the president and COO of Waste Management went undercover in his own firm for the NBC television show Undercover Boss. Larry posed as a new hire and rode along on a garbage truck, worked in a landfill, and struggled to keep up at a recycling center. It was one of the most touching television experiences in a long while as this boss saw firsthand how hard his people work, and how the decisions he makes in the corporate offices affects those on the front lines.

Here’s a link to the show.

If you can make through the reveals at the end without getting a little misty eyed, you are tougher than me.

Larry’s candor during his week in the field—showing the good and the bad—intrigued the business media as well. Last week my colleague Tom Mayer gave me a heads up that Larry was going to be on CNN. Larry had this to say about his employees: “They want to feel appreciated when they do a good job. They want to be recognized and they want to have a voice. And if you can create the type of culture and environment where people want to be there, it`s more than just showing up for a paycheck, it can be very powerful, not only for the company, but you can create a work environment where people want to be a part of the team.”

Amen Larry. As we illustrated with the 200,000-person study in our book The Carrot Principle, organizations that effectively recognize great work are up to three times more profitable than those that are ineffective. Seems like Larry O’Donnell and Waste Management are on their way to building a stronger culture, and strategic recognition and employee engagement are going to be keys to their success.

We just sent out the March newsletter with some great tips on developing team spirit—actually, Olympic-sized team spirit. There are many great examples of courage and strength and leadership that come from each Olympic Games and this year’s Games didn’t disappoint. We have a great story that can teach us all how to work better together to bring home our own medal.

Read on for the featured story or check out the entire issue here.

Every business leader wants to build team spirit—getting their department, organization or culture to rally around a unified cause. But it’s easier said than done.

So what can the Olympic Winter Games and a small town in Nebraska teach us about coaching more spirit and energy into your team? It’s a remarkable story:

To show our support for the Games, our parent organization O.C. Tanner granted the first ever Inspiration Awards. Athletes nominated individuals who had been their behind-the-scenes support and strength—the people who “participated” but not in the spotlight. Olympians nominated their coaches, teachers, spouses, and of course, parents. After more than 870,000 votes, skeleton athlete Noelle Pikus-Pace, snowboarder Nick Baumgartner, and Gold medalist bobsledder Curt Tomasevicz earned the opportunity to honor those who inspired them along their Olympic journey with a 14k gold ring (learn more about the stories on the Facebook page).

While all three stories are amazing, it was Curt’s story that made us perk up as leadership authors. The bobsledder said:

“I’m so fortunate to have the support of an entire town, Shelby, Nebraska. And though it might be a small place on the map, their encouragement is enormous. Many hometowns are proud of their athletes, but Shelby has given me the support I needed to make it to the Olympics.

A meager population raised nearly $25,000. They honor my accomplishments with celebration—hosting block parties, golf tournaments and street dances for the entire town to celebrate together. I receive hundreds of emails of encouragement, of love, of admiration and support—emails that bring a smile to my face and make me work hard on their behalf. A Facebook page was created to sell shirts; proceeds [sent] my parents to the Games. Without this family of 690 behind me, I would not be here.“

Consider for a moment the magnitude of Curt’s words—an entire community sharing in a single dream. This is a story business leaders and managers around the globe yearn to emulate. So let’s take some cues from this small town that produced a mighty giant. Here are three ways to develop more spirit in your team:

Root. Curt received email after email from his neighbors and friends and community leaders. He knew peers and leaders were rooting for him and that kept him going. No matter where your team is in relation to the goal, they want to know their co-workers and their manager care and support their daily efforts. Share the great things that happen every day at team meetings and through team emails. Make an attempt to give specific credit in casual settings, as well. Talk up a great team member at the lunch table today—it shows you are paying attention and you are proud of their great work.

Rally around each another. Be aware when a team member needs support to reach a goal or even overcome a difficulty at home. This small town of modest means raised tens of thousands of dollars (during a recession) to keep a hometown hero going. Recognize what challenges each of your employees are facing. If they’re buried in orders at the end of a busy week, step in and organize a rescue party, which includes you helping too. We recently found ourselves in our basement storage room after a pipe burst and flooded our supplies. Now BobAnn Hall and Christy Chatelain led the effort and did the bulk of the work, but our entire team spent time working together to dry out training workbooks and toolkits. A minor disaster brought everyone closer together (and became the source of many new inside jokes).

Celebrate the victories. The neighborhood block parties Curt describes are the equivalent of the corporate team gathering (there really isn’t a corporate equivalent for street dances!). When your team reaches a goal, small or large, celebrate. Winning teams make merry often, it’s that simple. Block out a meeting room for a few hours and have everyone bring their favorite potluck dish. Get ‘em all mingling together with some food and music. Congratulate each team member on their specific contributions and remind them of all the great things they’re doing.

Curt was part of the gold medal-winning four-man bobsled team, an honor the U.S. hasn’t had in more than 60 years. This small town in Nebraska really has cause to celebrate—a home town medal winner and a hometown full of the champions who helped him get there. “They definitely deserve part of my medal,“ Curt added. “I hope through this [Inspiration Award] they will know what they mean to me.“

And that leads us to one last tidbit of advice:

You can’t do it on your own. Look around today. You are surrounded by a potential Shelby, Nebraska. It’s your job to give your team a cause and inspire them to achieve gold-medal performances.

Twenty years of research and innumerable case studies show that recognition done right can bring huge results. But now and then, even the best intentions can go awry. I’ve heard from a few of you recently on the dumbest awards you’ve ever received. They fall into three categories:

Dumb Idea: Awards should be aligned to what matters most in your organization and should recognize great work. However, some awards just miss the mark. A classic wrong move is the “most improved” award, a staple in schools. One fellow said he was named his high school football team’s most-improved defensive lineman, “I basically took it as, ‘you sucked, but now you are slightly better. Congrats.’” A woman admitted she was the recipient of her class’ most-improved writer award. She said, “I had no idea I needed improvement. I thought I was really good at writing. Little did I know.”

Dumb Item: Next, an award’s value should be commensurate with an achievement, unlike this example: Kathe Farris began working for a bank near the bottom of the corporate ladder, answering phones. During a promotion to cross-sell mutual funds, she was able to bring a whopping $1.2 million into the bank. “So what did they give me?” asked Kathe. “A mug. Do you think I—or anyone who worked around me—ever sold mutual funds again? Of course not.”

Dumb Presentation: At a trucking company that shall remain nameless to protect the guilty, Paul was the employee of the year and won the Chairman’s Award. He was to receive a solid gold Presidential Rolex watch. And while you might be thinking that nothing could mess that up, you’d be wrong. The award was presented not by the chairman or Paul’s boss, but was dropped off by UPS. And to make matters even worse, after opening the box, Paul noticed an envelope. It was a 1099 form stating that the company had not paid the taxes on the watch and Paul – their number one employee – owed more than $5,000 in income taxes. A few months later, Paul tendered his resignation.

A sincere, strategic show of public appreciation could have made these people feel great. And yet dumb ideas, items or presentations leave your most valuable employees feeling slighted. Let’s all commit to staying out of the dumb award trifecta.

Yesterday: I am half way through a 90-minute presentation to a senior leadership team when the CEO makes a dash for the door. I was just getting to a really interesting part, and I’m about to make fun of his head of HR, when he bolts. But wait. Only a minute passes and the CEO is back. He reaches up to the stage with a bottle of water. He’d noticed that I was getting parched, prattling on and on, and so he’d dashed to the lobby to find me a drink. Seriously.

I’ve been doing this for a long time. Let’s count the number of times this has happened … um, never.

That’s the kind of guy Bobby Kutteh is.

In Good to Great, Jim Collins talked about the Level 5 leader. He said leaders of the best companies are humble. Bobby Kutteh is indeed humble; he’s sincere, he’s a servant to his people, and he’s loved. Yep, loved. Just about everyone who was in the audience that day would walk through fire for this guy.

As background, Bobby is CEO of Crothall Services. With 30,000 employees, it’s one of the largest and fastest growing companies you’ve probably never heard of. Crothall cleans hospitals and offices, maintains facilities, transports patients, processes linens, and so on. It’s not sexy stuff, but every five years they double in size. At less than 20 years old, they have annual revenue in excess of a billion dollars. Bobby and his team left “good” behind a long time ago and are certainly in the “great” realm.

What’s the point? It’s in how Bobby manages. Before I spoke, Bobby talked for 45 minutes to kick off the meeting. He addressed the audience without notes and with just a lavaliere microphone, pacing back and forth, outlining the strategy for the future, cracking jokes, thanking his leaders, and subtly asking everyone to walk just a little taller. For instance, he told the managers that they needed to take even better care of their employees. “People will always remember how you make them feel,” he said. “A little stroke of kindness to your employees can go a long way.” And when he was done, every one of the 230 leaders jumped to their feet and gave him a standing ovation. It was a fantastic moment.

So how does Bobby engender such loyalty? It’s not by his brilliance (though he is very smart). When I spoke with VP Bart Kaericher, he said it’s something simpler, “It’s because Bobby knows all of us individually. He knows if you have a kid just starting junior high. He knows if you are going through a tough time. He cares. It’s not an act. It’s who he is.”

Humility. I’m hearing more CEO’s mention this as a core leadership attribute they are seeking in themselves and their fellow executives. It seems the beatitude has application in the work world too: the meek truly shall inherit the earth.