A520.4.3.RB_RuggerioSteven

Money Isn't Everything

In Arc of Ambition, Champy & Nohria (2000) said, “People who reach exceptional heights may differ from each other, but one thing they all share is a clear goal born of some organizing purpose that summons their talents, aims their efforts, and steers them in the right direction.  A compelling purpose is the ambitious person’s true north, keeping him or her on course” (p. 115).  In short, “the need for meaning drives achievement.”

In a private meeting, Pierre Hessler demonstrated what it means to be a coach, a mentor, and a leader, when he told Andy Mulholland to be careful about making decisions solely for money.  He challenged him to consider three other motivators when moving forward into one’s destiny and purpose.  Sometimes it takes another person to shake us loose from the allure of money.  Caught by the windfall and an imagination run amok, we can easily find ourselves shaking hands and agreeing for a larger piece of the pie only to find later that we’ve sold our souls for a higher salary.  Mulholland’s three motivators are grounding and help provide a perspective to minimize future regret.

First, Mulholland proclaimed that we should, “Do interesting work.”  Whetten & Cameron (2011) identified “What motivates workers?” and found, “While research results highlight differences in what organizational members tend to see as highly motivating aspects of their work, on average, employees placed the highest value on “interesting work” (p. 346).  This scored higher than job security, good wages, and even good working conditions.

Secondly, Mulholland identified, “To expand skill set.”  Growth is a natural by-product of a successful venture.  If something is alive, it grows.  If it isn’t, it dies; and sometimes, slowly and painfully.  Mulholland’s point on “expanding skills” ties into the growth potential of individuals.  Stagnancy and complacency drain the life out of a person’s purpose.  When companies provide opportunities for employees to grow and expand their abilities, they receive an inherent benefit that is much more rewarding than a scheduled paycheck.  Growth is life.  When leaders stretch and enhance a follower’s skill set, they connect to the inner drive and motivation in a way that money can’t.

Lastly, Mulholland identified the most important aspect of motivation, “To be recognized and valued.”  Recognition and affirmation are powerful motivating tools when used authentically and correctly.  I realized the positive and negative effects of affirmation versus pay when I was studying for promotion in the Air Force.  Regardless of the number of “weighted” factors that were involved in the promotion system, if one did not study the material, they would fail to get promoted.  Therefore, I studied diligently for 2-3 hours each day over a period of six months. 

Hoping to motivate me, my wife calculated the pay increase if I got promoted.  Knowing there would be early mornings and long nights; she identified the financial increase and posted it on my desk as a motivator.  However, regardless of the pay increase, when I would get tired and dreary from the long hours of studying, the potential pay increase did not shake me from my slumber.  Rather, what worked without fail was an exercise I conducted in my imagination.

When an individual is promoted, the squadron senior leaders (to include the commander) file into the promotee’s office and congratulate him or her while handing them their new stripe.  The other “non-promotees” are bypassed and ignored with a “better luck next year” pat-on-the-back.  I was one of the non-promotee and the sting of the failure was greater than the joy of promotion.  When I would get tired and distracted from studying, I would remember the feeling of being “bypassed” and the accompanying pain of defeat.  That “office” moment motivated me much more than a few hundred dollars a month.

In True North, Bill George (2007) said, “Many leaders turn down higher-paying jobs early in their career decisions in order to pursue roles they would enjoy.  They came out ahead in the end—in both satisfaction and compensation—because they were successful in doing what they loved” (p. 110). 

My personal motivations include Mulholland’s three key elements of interesting work, professional growth, and making a valuable contribution.  In addition to those, I am also motivated by personal growth, helping others develop, and being true to my beliefs. 

Mulholland highlighted the importance of expanding one’s skills and the external and intrinsic rewards that accompany professional growth.  In a similar fashion, I am motivated by a deep desire for personal growth.  There is no better time in the history of the world to be a leader than today.  My daily decisions are designed to strengthen my integrity, fortify my character, and enrich my gratitude.  Rather than leave these qualities to chance, I intentionally pursue opportunities that will enhance my personal development as a husband, father, and leader.

The best avenue to develop these attributes is by “helping others grow.”  By focusing on other people and facilitating their personal development, everyone becomes stronger.  Witnessing follower’s growth and development motivates me to be even better.  By pouring my life into others, I realize that my legacy will outlive me.  With half of my life behind me, I find great fulfillment in knowing that today’s investment into other people will still be making a difference long after I am gone.

And lastly, the most important motivating factor for me is to be true to my beliefs.  Without core convictions and a foundation of faith, I am nothing more than a few catch phrases surrounding the power of positive thinking.  By living according to principles greater than me, I am able to avoid destructive pride and selfish motivations.  Holding fast to my faith and a belief in servant leadership, forgiveness, love, and mercy, I will demonstrate that money, power, and success is not the pinnacle of a life well lived.  Rather, by living according to my beliefs and caring more about others than my own comfort, I hope I encourage others to do the same.  I’ve found that modeling behavior is much more inspiring than mere demands or instructions.

Finally, to quote Bill George again, “Discovering your True North takes a lifetime of commitment and learning.  Each day, as you are tested in the world, you yearn to look at yourself in the mirror and respect the person you see and the life you have chosen to lead.  Some days will be better than others, but as long as you are true to who you are, you can cope with the most difficult circumstances that life presents” (p. xxiii).

My True North is a great combination of Mulholland’s interesting work, professional growth, and lasting value integrated with my personal development, an authentic care for others, and a foundation of faith and principles.   

Steve

References:

Champy, J., & Nohria, N. (2000). The arc of ambition. Cambridge, MA: Basic Books.

George, B. (2007). True north. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.

Whetten, D.A., & Cameron, K.S. (2011). Developing management skills. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson.

A631.3.4.RB_RuggerioSteven

Goals and Feedback: The Pairing of Success

If you do not set goals you will always achieve them.  Meaning, if I hope for nothing I can expect nothing.  Goals bring commitment and clarity to my character.  My goals tell the world something about me.  For instance, there is a great difference between the person whose goal is to make their first million before the age of thirty and the person whose goal is to build wells for those living without water in a poverty-stricken country.  

Goals are visions of what could be and feedback is the reality that tests our resolve.  Kouzes & Posner (2007) said, “Feedback and goals keep people engaged” (p. 288).  Expanding on their comment, they said, “People need to know if they’re making progress toward the goal or simply marking time.  Having goals helps to serve that function, but that is not enough.  People’s motivation to increase productivity on a task increases only when they have a challenging goal and receive feedback on their progress; goals without feedback, or feedback without goals, have little effect on motivation” (p. 288).

Twenty years in the Air Force taught me a great deal about goals, feedback, teamwork, and personal growth.  After I retired, my understanding continued to grow through a decade-plus of men’s ministry and marriage counseling.  Too often, many people wander aimlessly through life being carried by the wind of other’s dreams and visions.  Handicapped by fear and insecurity, the mass of society esteems the courageous who dare to be different—those men and women with the faith to dream and the tenacity to persevere.

  

John Maxwell said, “The growth and development of people is the highest calling of leadership.” The beauty of leadership lies in its ability to change both leader and follower.  Through interaction and unity, through genuine relationships and experience, and especially by helping each other improve, we learn to create, build, launch, and heal.  The most important aspect of a goal is that there is one.  One of the critical natures of feedback is in the heart of the one who administers it.  Leaders give feedback from a passion to improve others.  In the same manner, leaders should receive feedback from the same position: to improve.

What are your thoughts regarding Brown's contention that there are generational differences in the amount of feedback desired by employees?

Every Wednesday I have lunch with my twenty-year old son.  Today I asked him, “What are you willing to fight for? What are you passionate about?”  I challenged him to examine his heart.  I’ve often asked him about his goals.  I think parents too often overlay their goals onto their children like a transparency sheet on an overhead projector.  Rather than tell my son his goals, I want him to find them; to mine them.  I want my feedback to encourage.  This is a parental challenge in its own right.  For instance, I slightly bemoaned, “You want to work on cars?”  At nearly fifty-years of age, I’ve changed my oil less than five times. “Mechanic? Really?”

I think you get the picture.

Brown (2011) said “There’s a difference between the generations in how to provide feedback. Gen Y (those born after 1980) wanted a lot of feedback—from their immediate bosses and anyone else” (p. 323).  Moreover, he shares that “a survey of Ernst & Young employees found that 65 percent of younger workers said that providing detailed guidance in their daily work was moderately or extremely important. This compared to 39 percent for older workers” (p.323).

My feedback toward my son is meant to guide, direct, and maybe even help him avoid some pitfalls and minefields along the way.   We spend time together and through conversation I’ll add my thoughts in hopes that he’ll grab ahold of a few of them.  Brown also said, “The combination of goal setting with feedback on individual performance has a positive effect on performance.”  That combination helps my son find his way through the challenges of school, girlfriend, his truck, a part-time job, and an uncertain future.  

How much feedback do you generally give and receive?

The terms feedback and advice have been associated with such derogatory context that simply mentioning them can cause people to cringe.  There is a difference between official feedback and unofficial feedback.  For instance, in the Air Force, they have an “official” system referred to as Enlisted Evaluation System (EES).  Among many things, the EES provides meaningful feedback to individuals on what is expected of them, advice on how well they are meeting expectations, and advice on how to better meet the expectations.  The Air Force defines performance feedback as, “private, formal communication a rater uses to tell a rate what is expected regarding duty performance and how well the rate is meeting expectations (DAF, 2003).

While there is a place for official feedback—especially in helping employees achieve their personal and professional goals—the most important and effective type of feedback is the unofficial feedback that occurs when people “do life together.”

By establishing trusting relationships, I’ve learned that the best way to give feedback is from a place of compassion and care.  It’s the old adage, “People don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care.”  As I’ve learned to develop trust with someone, it gives me authority and access into their lives.  It’s there that I can address inappropriate and selfish behaviors.  Feedback ranges from telling an airmen that they will need to iron their uniform to telling a friend he is disrespecting his wife.

Leading men’s ministry provides me ample opportunity to offer advice about the choices men are making.  Likewise, I’ve told them it is not wise for them to listen to me if I am not listening to someone.  In other words, “don’t submit your life to a mentor or coach who hasn’t submitted their life to another.”  With that said, I have a handful of people in my life that ask me hard questions and provide feedback on my answers.  I can honestly say the feedback given and received is offered in the spirit of love and compassion.  One of the greatest forms of goal setting and feedback occurs in the context of mentoring relationships. Mentoring is a relationship in which a more experienced manager helps a less experienced protégé (Yukl, 2010).

I’m a firm believer in goals and self-development.  Hughes, Ginnett, & Curphy (2002) said, “It is difficult to ask employees to make wise decisions if they do not know where the company is headed.  Employees should know what the company and work unit are trying to accomplish and how these accomplishments will be measured, and they should be given regular feedback on progress” (p. 539). Without goals, feedback is useless.   Without feedback, goals can be elusive.

Have you found that for you personally, having specific goals and receiving targeted feedback has led to more engagement, higher performance, or any other benefits (or drawbacks)?

Brown (2011) said, “To achieve specific goals, employees may require training or additional resources, such as new equipment or information. Managers may need to work with employees in developing action plans. Finally, managers should provide timely and objective feedback when the goal is completed” (p. 324).  Personally, I’ve discovered the more specific a goal, the greater the accountability.  Merely stating, “I want to be a better husband” can be as arbitrary as taking out the trash without being asked.  Rather, stating, “I want to be a better husband by romancing my wife and taking her on a date twice a month” is altogether different.  Lack of specificity leaves room for compromise and rationalization.  Specificity also encourages feedback.

In view of feedback, Dr. Gary Collins (2002) said, “This [feedback] is one form of encouragement, but it involves more.  Feedback is most effective when it deals with specific issues, includes affirmation, and points to ways in which there might be further action or improvement” (p. 111). 

As I began to step into the pastorate and give my time to people in need, I required mentorship and feedback from those who have been doing it longer than I had.  They taught me to guard my time and protect my boundaries.  As a result, I’ve learned to keep other people’s issue in proper perspective and to ensure they remained “their issues” and not mine.

John Maxwell (1995) said, “Feedback is a crucial part of the process of developing people.  I always give them some kind of evaluation.  I’m honest, and I do my homework to make sure I’m accurate.  I give constructive criticism. This lets them know how they’re doing, corrects problems, encourages improvements, and speeds the work” (p. 103).  Having a pastoral mentor walk with me as I grew in church leadership helped me understand the ins-and-outs of church business and relationship management.

What are the implications of your reflection?

John Maxwell (1995) said, “People need clear objectives set before them if they are to achieve anything of value. Success never comes instantaneously. It comes from taking many small steps. A set of goals becomes a map a potential leader can follow in order to grow.”

My growth as a leader has materialized from achieving both short-term goals and long term goals.  Feedback has guided my behavior in accomplishing both.  I’ve learned that if you cannot successfully attain short term goals, then you will be unable to reach long term goals.  Start small.  Jesus said, “He who can be trusted with little can be trusted with much” (NIV, Luke 16:10).  Feedback from 2000 years ago still rings true today.

This assignment reminded me of the importance of specific goals and honest, regular feedback.

Steve

References:

Brown, D.R. (2011). Organizational development. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education,

            Inc.

Collins, G. R. (2002). Christian coaching. Colorado Springs, CO: People Helper’s International,

            Inc.

Department of the Air Force. (2003). Promotion Fitness Examination. Air Force Pamphlet 36-

            2241, Volume 1.

Hughes, R.L., Ginnett, R.C., & Curphy, G.J. (2002). Leadership: enhancing the lessons of

experience. New York, NY: The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.

Kouzes, J.M., & Posner, B.Z. (2007). The leadership challenge. San Francisco, CA: John Wiley

& Sons, Inc.

Maxwell, J.C. (1995). Developing the leaders around you. Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson, Inc.

Maxwell, J.C. (2001). The 17 indisputable laws of teamwork. Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson,

            Inc.

Yukl, G. (2010). Leadership in organizations. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education, Inc.