Yesterday’s Advisor presented the six symptoms of destructive management from Switch & Shift CEO and founder Shawn Murphy. Today, we present some of Murphy’s strategies for working towards a cure for these management woes.
Murphy has 20 years’ experience working to cultivate optimism in workplace climates as both a Fortune 100 company insider and an advisor to forward-thinking government agencies. When not consulting, he can often be found teaching in the classroom, speaking to audiences, or interviewing top thought leaders on his Work That Matters podcast.
Here are some of the critical strategies he recommends managers learn and deploy:
- The team is more important than any individual. It’s a fact of neuroscience: our brains are wired to think about the thoughts, feelings, and goals of other people. Working as a team to achieve desired outcomes makes people feel good about work. For optimism to be strong, a cohesive team is vital. Managers and leaders need to avoid relying on the usual suspects, the same few superstars, to handle high-profile projects.
- There’s value to experiencing joy at work. Joy can open brains to better see connections and various options to solve work problems. In a joyful workplace, people are more likely to contribute their best. Expressing joy is simple. Give a proud smile when a team member does great work. Celebrate reaching key project milestones or momentous occasions in an employee’s life—buying a new house or having a baby, for example.
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- Doing good is good for business. It’s not just about philanthropy. When leaders adopt business practices that contribute to improving employees’ lives, business prospers. Do something crazy—have an antiworkaholic policy. When team members have time to pursue personal interests, they are more productive and satisfied at work. Implement a policy banning team members from e-mailing others about business on weekends.
- Relationships with employees need to be richer. Relationships are central to cooperation, collaboration, and successful outcomes. Take, for instance, the remarkable 2014 events at Market Basket, a 73-store grocery chain based in Massachusetts. When the board of directors ousted the company’s CEO and steward, Arthur T. Demoulas, in favor of his bottom-line driven cousin, Arthur S. Demoulas, employees responded by orchestrating a massive boycott. Strong relationships between employees, suppliers, and customers resulted in a collaborative effort that restored a beloved CEO and saved a company.
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- Work should align with purpose and meaning. Why does work matter to your team members? For workplace optimism to thrive, organizational leaders must strive to find the answer to that question and then continually invest in making sure that work remains meaningful. A focus on financial motivators blinds leaders from helping employees do work that matters.
- Leaders need to actualize human potential. Luck Companies, an aggregate business headquartered just outside of Richmond, Virginia, believes, to quote CEO Charlie Luck, that “all human beings have extraordinary potential to make a positive difference in the world.” For Luck, this belief shapes how its leaders treat one another, develop their associates, and spread the message globally. Actualizing human potential puts the spirit into workplace optimism, inspiring business leaders to put this belief into action.
For more information on how to achieve an optimistic workplace, visit theoptimisticworkplace.com.