Thursday, November 12, 2009

Engage Your Team

Picture three bricklayers building a church. Each picks up a brick, spreads mortar on it, and sets in place.

A little boy sees them working and ask each bricklayer what they are doing.

The first bricklayer replies, "I'm putting one brick on top of another. Isn't it obvious?"

The second says "I'm building a wall for the west side of the church."

The third bricklayer says "I'm creating a cathedral. It will stand for centuries and inspire people to do great deeds."

Which of the bricklayers is looking at his watch waiting for quitting time? Which one knows only about her task? Which one is truly engaged, focused on the outcome - motivated to make the church as good as it can be?

It's a simple story. But one that shows how powerful true engagement can be. It demonstrates why it's worthwhile for you to care about engaging employees, and why you should be investing time in employees - and helping them see and be part of the end goal. Unfortunately, I did not make this analogy up myself. I've borrowed it from the Art of Engagement by Jim Haudan. I've just started reading but I'm excited to dig in more. Stay tuned.

Which bricklayer would you want on your team? What do you do now to get the right type of bricklayer?

No comments:

Post a Comment