Emotional Intelligence At Work

By Kevin Dwyer

Emotional intelligence is more than 90 % of what makes the difference between one leader's success and another leader's failure. Intelligence measured by IQ is less than 20% of what makes the difference.

This is a popular refrain of Emotional Intelligence devotees. Is it true? My experiences with a group of twelve people in a hospitality organisation strongly suggest it is true.

The twelve people were part of a leadership development programme. In two groups of six, they attended face-to-face training over six months consisting of:

Leading yourself (two days)
Leading others (two days) and,
Leading change (two days)

During the three months between the face-to-face training, each team of six was required to complete a project in their own time, which would take them out of their individual comfort zones. As a team, they had never worked together before. Their backgrounds were as far apart as massage therapy, financial control, event management, kitchen and golf course maintenance.

As part of the two days on leading yourself, they completed an analysis using the Simmons EQ profile ably administered by Bob Wall.

Over the six months of training and the following three months after the training I came to a number of conclusions from observing their behaviour and relating it to their EQ profile.

The "after you" team

One of the teams had the following profile of Assertive, Tolerance, Considerate and Sociable attributes on a scale of one to ten:

Assertive: mostly unassertive - five at or below 5, one at 6.5 (10 is very unassertive)

Tolerance: very tolerant - six at 7 or higher (10 is very tolerant)

Considerate: generally not considerate of others - four below 5 and two between 5 and 7 (10 is very considerate)

Sociable: at the extremes of sociability - three at 4 or less, three at 7 or more, (10 is very sociable)

The first three months of their project meetings were depicted by no-one leading. Everyone refused to make an assertion about what they thought should happen and who should do it.

The sociable group met separately from the non-sociable group. Whilst they were not willing to assert what they believed they were coincidentally the group who were less considerate and spent much time criticising other's commitment.

They achieved little during those three months. All bar the project manager had a courage score of less than 5. Being risk averse as a group and generally unassertive, they did not want to challenge others at the property to get information to them on-time and in the manner they needed it.

Team selection was made before the EQ profiles were completed. If, however, their Emotional Intelligence could have been tested before selection, this team would not have been selected to achieve the difficult outcome they were given in their project.

At the end of three months they were required to make a report on their project progress. It was not pretty. They did poorly and the general manager let them know.

Their reaction to the feedback was dramatic. They changed both as a group and as individuals. The next three months were much more productive as they worked on improving their individual limitations, having experienced what impact they, as individuals, were having on the group.

The "Let ME do it" team

The other team had the following profile of Assertive, Tolerance, Considerate and Sociable attributes on a scale of one to ten:

Assertive: mostly very assertive - one below 5, five at 6 or higher (10 is very unassertive)

Tolerance: at extremes of tolerance - three below 5, three above 5 (10 is very tolerant)

Considerate: mostly inconsiderate of others - five below 5 including two below 2 and one above 5 (10 is very considerate)

Sociable: mostly sociable - one at less than 2, one at less than 5, four at 6 or above (10 is very sociable)

This team was expected to interact better because of the diversity of attributes and the combination of sociability, low tolerance and high assertiveness of most individuals. They did. They started with the speed and power of an express train. The very afternoon their project was explained to them, they started work contacting people, setting up appointments to get information and brainstorming ideas.

They all had high (greater than 6) change attribute scores and coped well with new ideas and changes in direction over the first three months. Their high work scores (five well above 5) and energy scores (five above 5 with two above 6.5) predicted they would work hard. They did.

Their mid-term project review was excellent. If we rated it out of ten, the score would have been seven or eight. The first team would have scored two or three.

With the positive feedback they received one might have expected them to power on. They did not. The general work environment outside the project was challenging. Time started to become difficult to set aside and fatigue was a factor. The low consideration levels kicked in and self preservation became the order of the day for four of the team.

This manifested itself in two ways. Two people withdrew, doing the minimum required to stay attached to the programme. Two people shifted their focus to where they thought the highest level of recognition lay on any one day. The other two, which included the project manager, soldiered on to complete the project as best they could, maximising their learning along the way. The project manager was the only one with a high consideration score.

The learners versus the deniers

The group of twelve as a whole can be split into:

those who learnt a lot about themselves and who are, today, better leaders,

those who learnt a little and can talk about what's needed to be a better leader and,

two who did not identify with the work required to change their profile and made no progress.

The common attributes of the two who did not learn were low consideration, very high assertiveness, low optimism, moderate work, and low detail.

When life got tough, they worked for themselves only.

Overall learning

What I learnt during this six month period was that before people can utilise their emotional skills and have the drive to improve where they are weak, they must have a sense of direction. The sense of direction must first and foremost be personal. Without a personal goal people get lost. They have nothing to calibrate their current status in life against and no creative tension to drive the formation of skills, including emotional skills.

The behaviour of people in both teams changed for the better when they had a goal to believe in and for the worse without one. The first team as a whole, improved greatly. They developed skills and improved their emotional intelligence. When they knew they had done poorly in the first report out, their goal was simply not to feel that way again.

The second team tasted too much success and praise too early. After receiving the praise most of the team had a goal of completing the project with as little disruption to their normal work hours as possible.

The project leader of the second team had a goal to learn as much as he could about financial planning, project and people management. He wanted to improve his emotional intelligence attributes where he thought it would improve his people management skills. He remained constant, learnt the most and grew the most.

What I have also learnt is that emotional intelligence does indeed have a large bearing on how people cope. Not just with day-to-day life, but more importantly in times of stress. What I also unexpectedly learnt was that The Simmons EQ profile is an accurate predictor of behaviour and competence at work.

Kevin Dwyer is the founder of Change Factory. Change Factory helps organisations who do not like their business outcomes to get better outcomes by changing people's behaviour. Businesses we help have greater clarity of purpose and ability to achieve their desired business outcomes. Visit our website to learn more or see more articles on Leadership ©2008 Change Factory

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Executive Coaching For Visionary Leaders - A Leadership Map For The Future

By Maynard Brusman

Visionary Leadership

Leaders need to create a vision for the future. It is human nature for people to want to know where the organization is headed and how they fit into the strategic plan.

I frequently consult with companies to help them develop competency models as part of their selection and succession management processes. The challenge is to change the competency models to reflect any changes in the strategy and vision so that all processes are aligned.
How well do you do as a leader in predicting the future?

Keeping up, staying up and getting ahead are now more difficult than we have previously imagined. There is no turning back, but there is turning forward. Mike Jay.

Predictions for the future can be stimulating and challenging, especially if one is a top executive in a business enterprise attempting to make strategic decisions. Our rapidly changing global environment presents problems never before encountered. No one knows what will be required of leaders in the future, but some speculation is worthy of our attention.

Predictions from experts in their fields have not always been accurate. Here are a few examples:
o In 1899 the U.S. Commissioner of Patents, Charles Duell, declared, Everything that can be invented has been invented.

o In 1905, President Grover Cleveland prophesied, Sensible and responsible women do not want to vote.

o When Fred Smith, founder of FedEx, wrote a student paper proposing an overnight delivery service, his professor wrote: The concept is interesting and well-formed, but in order to earn better than a C, the idea must be feasible.

o Even Bill Gates once mused, 640K of memory ought to be enough for anybody.

New industries are in their gestational phases. Some are already well on their way to becoming established products and services.

- Micro-robotics or miniature robots built from atomic particles that could unclog arteries

- Machine translation or devices that will provide real-time translation between people conversing in different languages

- Digital highways that will make available to any home instant access to knowledge and entertainment

- Urban underground automated distribution systems to reduce traffic congestionVirtual meeting rooms to eliminate business travel

- Bio-mimetic materials that will duplicate properties found in living organisms

- Satellite-based personal communicators that will allow instant communication to anyone anywhere in the world

-n Machines capable of emotions, inference, and learning that will interact with human beings in entirely new ways

- Bioremediation or custom-designed organisms that will help clean up the environment of the earth.

Each of these opportunities is by nature global, with no single nation or region likely to control all the technologies and skills required to turn them into reality. Any firm wishing to become a leader will have to collaborate with and learn from leading-edge customers, technology providers, and suppliers wherever they are located (Hamel & Prahalad, Competing for the Future, 1994). Working with a seasoned executive coach trained in emotional intelligence and incorporating leadership assessments such as the BarOn EQi and CPI 260 can help you become a a more inspiring and visionary leader. You can become a leader who models emotional intelligence and social intelligence, and who inspires people to become happily engaged with the strategy and vision of the company.Dr. Maynard Brusman is a consulting psychologist, executive coach and trusted advisor to senior leadership teams.

We provide strategic talent management solutions to select and develop emotionally intelligent leaders and lawyers.

The Society for Advancement of Consulting (SAC) awarded two rare "Board Approved" designations for Dr. Maynard Brusman in the specialties of Executive/Leadership Coaching and Trusted Advisor to Attorneys and Law Firms.

Subscribe to Working Resources FREE electronic newsletter at http://www.workingresources.com

Visit Maynard's Blog at http:// http://www.WorkingResourcesBlog.com

P.O. Box 471525San Francisco, California 94147-1525Tel: 415-546-1252Fax: 415-721-7322E-mail: mbrusman@workingresources.comWeb Site: http://www.workingresources.com

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What Do Leaders Do As Often As They Can?

By Darryl Mobley

They learn new things! Did you know that 5 years from now you will be exactly where you are now --- exactly the same person--- except for the people you meet, the audio programs you listen to, and the books you read.

What my company has found through our research is that super achievers habitually read and grow using audio programs, DVDs, magazines, seminars and books. They constantly push themselves to seek out the best new thinking available and apply it to their life and to the way they operate. They engage in an ongoing process of development for continual improvement.

The fact of the matter is that information is doubling every four years in the United States, and communication is increasing in speed daily. If you are not engaged in an ongoing process of learning, you will quickly fall behind and become obsolete and irrelevant. We cannot afford to fall behind in the race for information. We must engage in the process of continual improvement and expanding our minds. People who are not expandable are expendable.

Expand Your Mind

It does no good to read things that do not cause you to expand your mind. Lazy reading material and constant TV viewing leads to a lazy mind. Read about the great thinkers. Read about the great leaders, read about the people who have achieved great stature and great personal power. Personally, I love reading about inventors. As you read about them the way they operate will literally become embedded in your mind and you will start to replicate the good things, the positive things that they have done. Study the super achievers.

You must put into your head things that cause you to grow and expand. It was the great educator Booker T. Washington who said, "There is no great education which is equal to that which can be gotten from contact with great men and women." You can get into contact with great men and women through both audio programs and books.

If you spend your time absorbing lazy mindless slop or watching mindless TV you will develop a lazy, good for nothing mind. It is the same with your brain and body as with computers: crap in equals crap out. You must engage in a process of continual learning.

Become A Well-Known Expert

Another tip, read a book a week. It is not really that difficult to do, if you put your mind to it. Do you know that if you read a book a week in the subject area of your choosing that at the end of two years you will be one the foremost authorities in the world on that subject? You will be able to write your own ticket. Yes, through weekly reading or listening to audio programs or viewing DVDs or going to seminars for the next two years, you will be one of the foremost authorities and you will never want for income or job opportunities.

People who are the experts are always in high demand. A reporter once asked Malcolm X, "What's your alma matter?" Malcolm X told him books. Malcolm X goes further to say you will never catch me with a free 15 minutes in which I am not studying something I feel might be able to help people.

On a day to day level you will find that your ability to quote relevant sources as you talk to your associates gives you much more personal power. People who use quotations well show that they are involved in the pursuit of relevant information and therefore worthy of being listened to and followed.

© 2008 Darryl L. Mobley

Want To Use This Article In Your E-Zine, Magazine Or Web Site? You can, as long as you include this complete short blurb with it: For nearly 25 years, super-achievers have praised "Life Acceleration Coach" Darryl Mobley. Darryl Mobley is brilliant when it comes to the strategies and action steps that lead to living a better life. Darryl Mobley teaches people How To Create The Life Of Their Dreams - personally and professionally - with more happiness, more income, better relationships and more success with his How To Create A Life Worth Living™ system. To get FREE tips on "Living a Life Fantastic" go to http://a1.successsubscription.com

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Can You Do Everything?

By Margaret Meloni

Can you do everything? If you can, please stop reading and start writing. Start writing your secret now, I know the rest of us would benefit from your expertise.

But just in case none of you respond, let's talk about asking for help.

Do you mind when someone asks you for help? If a co-worker is overwhelmed or needs assistance, would you rather watch them freak out from stress or would you rather help? Most of us do not mind being asked for help and in fact even like it. And yet, many times we hesitate to ask others for help. Why? Fear.

Fear of looking weak. Fear of looking ignorant or unintelligent. Fear of rejection. Fear of embarrassment and maybe even fear of sharing success. These fears are playing on our insecurities and our ego. Yet we know logically, that we like it when others ask for our help. But remember, we are discussing a fear, which is an emotion and not bound by logic.

What would it look like if we forgot about the fear?

We could be role models for others, by showing leadership through reaching out for assistance. It takes more strength to be vulnerable than it does to lead by ego. We could draw others closer to us by admitting that we do not know everything. By requesting help we may become more approachable and instead of rejection, we might experience acceptance. When we are smart enough to recognize that we need help, we prove that we are not ignorant.

Still not convinced?

What if we learned something new? What if our working relationships became stronger and our network of trusted associates grew? That sounds good. Maybe some of us would stop applying self-imposed pressure to excel, mistakenly assuming that we must do so completely on our own. And just maybe we would experience less stress and more joy.

So remember, recognize when you need help, someone is just waiting for you to ask.

Margaret Meloni helps professionals create career strategies that bring them success and enhance theirwork experiences. She helps her clients focus on the importance of professional brand and reputation management.

Margaret is a people oriented leader with over eighteen years experience in Information Technology.

She holds a B.S. in Business Administration and an M.B.A. from California State University, Long Beach. She is also a certified Project Management Professional (PMP) through the Project Management Institute and an instructor at the University of California Los Angeles.

A dynamic speaker who combines inspiration, common sense and a dash of humor; Margaret has spoken at technology conferences and events hosted by the Association of Information Technology Professionals; The Project Management Institute and The International Institute of Business Analysis.

This same style keeps her UCLA and UC Irvine students and seminar attendees actively engaged during their learning experience.

To learn more please visit: http://www.melonicoaching.com

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5 Essential Attributes in Leading Others

By Duncan Brodie

Leading others brings new demands on individuals and requires them to have or develop new competencies and attributes. People are often promoted into posts where they are required to lead others because they were high performers at doing a task orientated job. Yet leading others does require different skills from doing something yourself. So what are 5 essential attributes in successfully leading others?

Providing feedback

The first essential attribute in leading others is to learn how to provide feedback. People in organisations are looking for feedback, praise and recognition for what they are doing to help you get results. A large proportion of our life is spent at work and we all like to feel valued. If you had to rate yourself on a scale of 1-10 in terms of providing feedback (10 being excellent) what score would you give yourself? Providing feedback takes little or no time, costs nothing and is one of the biggest contributors to a happy workforce and staff retention levels.

Listening and involving

An autocratic style where people were told what to do and get on with it will not work in the modern business world. People want to be involved in contributing to key decisions and feel that their points of view have been heard. As the leader, you clearly need to take the final decision. Chances are that not everyone will agree with the decision but if you have taken the time to listen to and involve others in the decision process, they are more likely to get behind the decision you reach.

Getting the balance right

One of the challenges in leading others is getting the balance right between delegating to others and keeping track on progress. Too much involvement could result in the other person or team thinking that you don't trust them. Too little involvement could mean that you find out too late that things are off track and deadlines are going to be missed. Making the time at the outset to brief others, check their understanding and agree review points is a simple but effective way of getting the balance right.

Setting objectives

In leading others, it is vitally important to set clear objectives. Leaders sometimes fall into the trap of believing that a long job description with lots of detail about what the employee is required to do serve that purpose. In addition to this, make a point of setting around 6 key objectives for each person. These objectives should be specific, measurable, achievable, results orientated and time limited.

Training and developing

When leading others you need to make the time and give the commitment to training people. So often employers put in a lot of effort when it comes to employing people but make no investment of time and/or money in training and developing people. As a leader, you need to make the time to help people grow and get better at what they do.

Successfully leading others is vital to the success of an organisation. You may already be performing outstandingly in this area. If you are the challenge is to keep yourself at this high performance level. If you are still developing as a leader, where do you need to focus on to move towards outstanding performance?

Duncan Brodie of Goals and Achievements (G&A) works with professionals and progressive public and private sector organisations who want to develop their management and leadership capability in order to achieve more success. With 25 years business experience in a range of sectors, he understands first hand the real challenges of managing and leading in the demanding business world.

You can learn more about Duncan, Goals and Achievements services and products and sign up for his free e-course and monthly newsletter at http://www.goalsandachievements.co.uk/

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Leadership Lessons from the Great Pyramids - PART 2 of 2

By Arthur F Carmazzi

...While "attitude" was enough to build the smaller Pyramids (like that of King Sneferu), the largest, grandest, and the only of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient world still standing, with a height of 450 feet and 756 feet square: The Great Pyramid of Khufu, needed more than just a great attitude.

True greatness lies in self-actualization through work

When work becomes choice, it no longer manifests itself as work. It is the convergence of personal desire and the actions we gladly take.

As it turned out from the discovery of a Workers Cemetery, building Pyramids was a dangerous business. Even with a great attitude, that's a real bummer. So why would anyone choose to put in their whole hearted effort and risk their lives in the process. Was it Bak, or feeling special, or was it more?

Harvard's George Reisner found workers graffiti created by "Building Teams" that called themselves names like "Friends of Khufu" and "Drunkards of Menkaure".

These findings and ancient Scrolls suggest that these teams were made up of many classes of people on a rotating basis. This means that the managers, architects, and even the priests would take part in building.

Did Pharaoh himself go down and carve bricks? Only Ra would know.

But in today's context when nurturing the psychology of a superior workforce, a Hands-on CEO often commands greater respect.

Why?

Because he/she leads for others and not for a personal ego trip.

The term "Hands on" should be qualified here: a CEO that gets into other peoples job because of frustration or tries to do everything themselves is counterproductive. The hands on type I'm talking about is an individual who takes the time to have assist his personnel by supportively guiding them. And, who lets his subordinates teach him what and how they are doing in order to have a greater understanding of even the least significant function. This would be a Leader who may see a mop and proceed to clean the floor while the janitor's on his break, then ask the janitor if he did it right when he comes back. Or, who may go to the source when a manager is having difficulty with equipment and assist him in solving the problem as the manager takes charge. These of course must be taken in context of time requirements, but a great leader will have more time because they would be more effective in assisting people to achieve greater and faster results.

In these teams people were equals and as equals established unique identities within the masses. Each of these teams was divided into 5 smaller teams where more cohesiveness amongst team members could be formed.

With individual group identities, leaders were able to establish the groups as an essential part of the same vision. They were part of something greater than the individual, they had ownership in it. It was a higher purpose. As a part of these select teams they had strength that no individual could ever have, they were greater than themselves and even Pharaoh.

This became a way for the average person to have real power, to feel an equal to royalty. The Pyramid became the achievement that no one but them could achieve, a part of history that they could tell there children about. A physical manifestation of owning a part of something no one else could do.

This higher purpose bred cooperation and efficiency; there was pride in Daily accomplishments. And each team celebrated with other teams after each completed step of the process. These people didn't work as individuals, not even as groups, but as an extension of the organization.

To achieve self actualization in a workforce, a modern company must ask "Why?"

Why would someone feel powerful working in your organization?

Why would they be proud to be a part it?

What is your "Pyramid", the greater purpose your staff could be a part of?

Each person has their own values they must equate and align with the organizations vision to achieve self actualization. To lead self actualized individuals, a leader doesn't direct or even guide; at this stage a leader collaborates with his people as equals, empowering them as entrepreneurs and not employees. Self actualization stems from personal power. When you feel power in and of your actions, when you feel like YOU matter in the grand plan of those actions, then you reach the pinnacle of your success.

There are 4 steps to achieve this:

1. Create mixed rank teams that maintain equality

2. Allow the teams to develop unique identities that align their own values with those of the organization

3. Assist teams in finding their own greater purpose

4. Measure success on a daily basis to maximize sense of achievement

Secrets of a motivated, dedicated, and well organized Organization
When Pharaoh set out to build the greatest of the great Pyramids, he assembled his greatest and wisest people and encrypted the writings below as a path to greatness:

Secrete writings of the mysterious code hidden in the Pyramids that illuminates the force of superior management.

Source: The Carmazzi Scrolls -

The Pinnacle of greatness comes when individuals see their work as their purpose. To cultivate this, leaders must Collaborate as equals with their people. There must be a greater purpose to the work, something greater than the individual, or the group. When working on the plane of " SELF ACTUALIZATION, people work at the level of "Organization"
The Core of building greatness is formed through Attitude. To develop this attribute for success, leaders must Guide their people, cause emotions of significance that couldn't be inspired alone. Leaders develop reciprocity by creating an environment of personal growth that is far superior to the standard. When working on the plane of "ATTITUDE", people work at the level "Group"

The Foundations of building greatness should be based on skill. Leaders should Direct and teach individuals until those individuals have mastered the required skill. When working on the plane of "SKILL" people work at the level of "Individual"

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Much of this article is based on the Directive Communication Psychology developed by Arthur F Carmazzi. For more information and articles, visit the Directive Communication website or, Email Arthur at: afc@carmazzi.net

Leadership Lessons from the Great Pyramids - PART 1 of 2

By Arthur F Carmazzi

Evidence uncovered by Faunal experts Redding and Lehner prove it...
It was not slaves who built the great pyramids. It was gangs of motivated, dedicated, and well organized individuals who had a purpose...
...And over 4500 years later, when viewing the astonishing accomplishments of the great pyramid builders through modern Directive Communication psychology, we find patterns. And the pyramids themselves conceal a mysterious code that illuminates the force of superior leadership.

The illuminating wealth of this systematic leadership proficiency was developed over centuries. It took hundreds of years to perfect, but only one dynasty to destroy.

The first pyramids were built inside mountains or were crude structures that withered with time, the skill had not yet been developed to erect the timeless monuments which still stand today.

Yet, as architects and planners came up with new ideas for better structures, the skill to implement these ideas had to be cultivated. And so it was.

The foundations of Pyramid building was founded in skill

Yet, as theses skills developed, stronger structures were built. But, they took a long time to construct and were not very significant. They had a good appearance, but lacked in function and durability. They had no where near the prominence of the great pyramids. They were mediocre.

One of the more important Pyramid Failures can give an insight to organizational breakdown in a structural metaphor. This was the Pyramid at Meidum built for Pharaoh Seneferu. Today it lays in ruins and toppled blocks. This early attempt failed because of one simple factor that skilled stonework had not yet foreseen. Each of the carved stones were laid as individual blocks, with one piled on top of the other. These gave way to earthquakes and strong weather conditions over time and the structure fell apart.

Since Skill was the foundation of progress, it needed to be further developed. So leaders and architects directed and supervised the development of the structures.

It wasn't till later that the Egyptians learned that by slanting the stones inward toward the center of the structure that things changed. The structure supported itself.

So the architects knew this must have been a sign from Amenhotep (the Egyptian god of architecture and construction) and it was revealed to them that skill was not enough. The teams of people who built these structures needed more, they needed to support each other and not work as a collection of individuals, but as a group with a purpose.

The discovery that skill was not enough

With skill, people were working as individuals. And as individuals, were primarily driven by personal motives, the payment they would receive, how much time they needed to work, how many days off they would get, what was going on at home while they were working. To develop the cohesive structure the Pyramid needed to be, they needed to develop a cohesive workforce first. They needed to develop the cohesive "Attitude"

So the Pharaoh's planners and architects set out to cultivate this "Attitude" that was a message from the heavens.

According to Lehner, Egyptian society maintained a Social order that required everybody, no matter what rank, to owe service to the people above them. This was known as "Bak".

Today's employees owe service to their organization because they receive a salary. It doesn't guarantee they will do a good job. In the same light, "Bak" was only a means to recruit people for construction, not for the formation of a superior workforce with mind-set to create an edifice that will last thousands of years.

Think about it, it's a project that's only used when your boss is dead. And then, as long as it's standing while you're still alive, it looks like you and your colleges have done a great job.

So why put in the extra effort?

A modern study at Stanford University took the most successful people in various vocations and made a startling discovery. Across 100 of the studied vocations, it seemed that most successful people in those professions attributed only about 20% of their success to skill. The study quoted "the primary reason for extraordinary success is due to Attitude, not skill". The top sales people recognized only 14% of their success was due to skill, the rest was attitude. The top structural engineers, in a very skill based profession, indicated that only 22% was skill, the rest was attitude.

So how did the Egyptians cultivate the attitudes required to manifest the great pyramids?

The secret lies in expectation and reciprocity.

Bak was expected from everybody. The reward for Bak was that someone below you would give you back some Bak (and even the lowest ranks had "someone" below them at one point). Just like a job, you are expected to work and your reward is a paycheck. So when people started to feel they got something extra, more than was expected, their psychology changed. They WANTED to do a better job, they wanted to "Reciprocate" the extra value they were getting.

There were the normal actions like defrayed taxes (there was no money system at the time) and extra free time for segments of the population that could not spend in their homes or farms due to the annual flooding of the Nile. But that wasn't enough.

The leaders looked at the situation and came up with a solution - Food.

Pharaoh deemed massive amounts of clover fed cattle to be cultivated for the purpose of feeding the workers the tastiest, finest beef to be found on the continent. Workers were fed like royalty.

This served two purposes:

1. It gave the workers a sense of importance and significance. They ate only the best and felt appreciated in the process

2. It provided a superior source of protein to make the workers stronger which in turn provided better performance. And they also felt better about themselves and their increased ability

In the context of today's organizations, this is NOT the equivalent of giving more money or increasing salary. Back then it was physical strength that created a "better man". Today it's the mental strength that is most precious. The opportunity for individuals to develop their talents and intellectual ability.
What was superior beef in Ancient Egypt, is now Superior Training or Personal development in today's business environment.

An important thing to consider: if the workers were feed the normal, not so tender beef, the effect wouldn't have been the same. Why? - because it WASN'T SPECIAL!

So if management decides to engage average trainers to save money, they will actual be getting less psychological value for money. It is also essential to reinforce the extra value.

For example a church in Singapore has risen to a parish of over 18,000 members within a reasonably short time partially because they often invite special preachers from other countries to came and speak. They are quite upfront that they pay these guests about S$20,000 for their contribution, and the turnouts are tremendous. But that's not all, more people get the message and act on it, and it grows the church at an exponential rate. If the workforce knows the lengths, efforts, and even expense the company goes through for the benefit of making them "Special" or "The Best", there will be a greater interest and achievement for those efforts.

The result is an attitude that cultivates people working together as groups with a strong sense of self worth. Leaders do not need to direct or supervise; they need only to give guidance (usually in the form of questions).

But...

...While this attitude was enough to build the smaller Pyramids (like that of King Sneferu), the largest, grandest, and the only of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient world still standing, with a height of 450 feet and 756 feet square: The Great Pyramid of Khufu, needed more than just a great attitude.
Read more on PART 2

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Much of this article is based on the Directive Communication Psychology developed by Arthur F Carmazzi. For more information and articles, visit the Directive Communication website or Email Arthur at: afc@carmazzi.net