Nothing ever happened without intention. Without making a firm decision.
We are creators and we hold exponential power within us!
Everything holds energy.
Have you ever heard 'I love your energy' and 'I felt a bad vibe' ?
Highly charged people get things done.
Low vibrational energies don't move so much.
We move between these states and often find our groove in one part of the spectrum. Then, we gravitate to others with a similar 'vibe' because, that's what we do.
Our brains like simplicity and it likes familiarity. This is why when you are on a holiday and you hear someone at the bar speaking your language you may gravitate to them and start a conversation.
People are like magnets. Like attracts like.
If your teams are stuck into a flat cycle of simply plodding along, waining with focus and offering limited value or contribution beyond the job description itself it may be time to consider your engagement strategy.
In todays world, the average phone user scrolls a whopping mile of content every single day.
That is the distance from Glasgow to Bristol scrolled every single year!
Let that sink in.
How will this change and evolve for our children?
In this digital age we are scrolling and consuming content to extreme lengths.
Constantly bombarded with a stream of information. Seeking out entertainment, connections and chasing virtual relationships with people you will probably never meet!
Yet the people right in-front of our faces, the team we work with every single day are victims of this digital age. Social media is seldom social.
Never before in the history of mankind has information been so readily available at our fingertips. A 19 year old out of his dormitory can literally start a movement so big and so massive to connect the entire globe! Yes, Mark Zuckerberg did that with Facebook.
This was arguable the start of a huge shift in not only how we communicate with each other but in how we hold conversations, how we offer support, how we show up as ourselves for ourselves, not to appease the followers you have. More on that another time!
My point is, engaging your teams into having a deep relationship and respect for their work is increasingly challenging in todays scroll and throw society.
In the 'simple' days of retail and corporate, employees would arrive to the place of work, having had a relatively easy commute free of digital distractions, they had the mental capacity to actively listen to a team brief led by a competent Manager and simply got to work with achieving the objectives.
It was inspired action born out of clear communication.
Employees had limited access to job sites, digital opportunities and couldn't access a 'way out' so easily. There were no distractions.
Is it any wonder todays workforce and future leaders are disengaged with the leadership of yesterday?
There is a stark disconnect. The square pegs are shouting at the round holes to fit in!
Is it any wonder that brands led by visionaries are thriving in all aspects?
Ben Francis at Gymshark comes to mind
He knew his customer, and defined a passion led purpose. He set an intention then went about bringing this to life. Everyone in every division at this brand works with passion and purpose filtered through every layer of the business and they joyfully share journeys across their own social channels, further spreading brand awareness and gaining millions of global brand fans.
The brand of Gymshark does not achieve this as a single entity; it is achieved through it's people.
Ben and his leadership team understand that power is in the people and my goodness do they know how to look after every single employee!
Many lessons can be learnt from this brand.
No matter what you sell or who your target market is.
Engagement starts with you
What lights up your fire?
Do you want to inspire teams and get them on side?
Take them to that next level?
Catapult results from good to great?
Start talking about the things that light you up, the things that energise you and keep you dialled in.
Too many leaders overcomplicate and talk about the things they think teams should hear.
But when you speak from a place of passion, driven from your core principles and everyday experiences, you radically enhance employee engagement.
The energy you radiate is felt to the very core. Energy then multiples!
Great leaders are not the ones who perfectly organise workflows or create the most effective operational strategies.
Great leaders inspire action and make each person feel appreciated and valued.
This is the key to unleashing all of this potential
Make your people feel valued and immediately, engagement will increase!
Do not fall into the trap of passing on the things that make YOU feel valued.
Everyone values different things, right?
Some team members will feel valued if you call them out and celebrate openly, some team members will feel valued that you ignored the mobile notifications and calls as you held your weekly meeting with them, some may feel valued by that wellness initiative you launched.
You must take the time to discover how each person feels valued to forge a deeper relationship and gain further engagement.
A great place to start is with thanks. Spread thanks like glitter!
When was the last time you privately thanked each person reporting into you? This doesn't include a thank you sign off on e-mail.
I mean, you took a moment to look that person in the eyes and said 'thank you for your work on this, you're doing great' and 'thank you for stepping in there, you really helped me out'
Put some context into the thanks.
Saying thank you alone isn't enough. Get specific. Be real with it.
Then watch the transformation of energy, the deeper engagement in meetings.
The ripples of impact will go from peer to peer.
All because you made the conscious effort to connect and engage.
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