In August I posted my top three “Favorite July Improvement Points”

Here are two comments left by visitors:

“The challenge that I see as one of the ‘masses’ is there is a huge disconnect between what some leaders say and what they actually do. With the healthcare worker shortage now is the time to start inviting nurses and other front line workers to be part of the solution. This is not happening often enough on a consistent basis and many of my colleagues are leaving for organizations that have ‘chosen’ to listen to them.”

“Active listening is the route to successful relationships especially with younger employees…”

I couldn’t agree more! These comments seemed to stem from one of the Improvement Points that dealt with the demoralization – especially the line “People feel criticized, ignored, unappreciated, and even used. They feel like a piece of equipment or just so many ‘human assets with skin wrapped around them.’”

Here are three articles from the Passion and Commitment section of our web site excerpted from The Leader’s Digest that expand on these key leadership behaviors. They show that a growing body of research clearly points to involvement and partnering as key to increased effectiveness. Click on the title to read the full article.

Beyond Manipulating and Motivating to Leading and Inspiring
When confronting morale problems, managers will often succumb to the Victimitis virus and blame the declining work ethic, or any number of societal factors. But these factors are more imagined than real. Studies show that people’s real needs are much less mercenary than most managers believe.

Engagement is an Inside Job
Building partnerships through involvement and participation results in strong leadership that leads to high performance.

Retaining Top People
Retention and engagement are critical to an organization’s success, but attracting and retaining talented people is a growing challenge for many organizations.