Reward-Sharing
Part Nine of “The Intangibles: They Make You or They Break You”
By David Drury
Perhaps no intangible is less present in a resume or
interview than this one. In fact, in a
resume someone almost always merely touts their own accomplishments. They don’t’ say, “I couldn’t have accomplished
this without the great team around me.”
And in an interview you’re often looking for that person’s individual accomplishments
and skills—what they themselves bring to the team. However, after the person is on the team
sometimes they continue to act like they are interviewing for their own job—as if
every e-mail or memo they send out is an extension of their resume. This person doesn’t know how to share the
rewards of success.
When you share the reward:
A team member that shares the rewards of success is
wonderful to work with. When a
department does well or growth is felt in an area, they make sure everyone gets
credit for their contribution. They may
even send out an e-mail to the staff to list who did what and to praise their
efforts. When complimented on their
success they often defer the compliment to the rest of their team, their
assistant, or their partners in the project.
When given a tangible reward (a day off, a bonus, a public honor) they
ask that the others who were involved also receive the same or more. They point out to their superiors when one of
their direct-reports deserves a reward for their efforts. When the battle is done on some significant
project or task they make sure the spoils are shared. This kind of leader is obviously a favorite
on the team. Those that work for them
feel appreciated and valued. Those that
partner with them want to work with them again, and their superiors want to
trust them again. Everyone knows that
their own advancement is not their goal—it’s the advancement of the mission and
the people around them. And what’s more,
when you share the reward people want to reward you all the more.
When you don’t share the reward:
But when you don’t share the reward the effect is
opposite. This kind of team member is
often seen as a “glory hog.” When a
project is done they’re sure to point out their own success. When someone compliments their work they “aw-shucks”
accept it in false modesty, never mentioning anyone else’s name. When they are given a tangible reward, they
might even ask for more. They ask for a
bonus for themselves but never request one for their direct-reports. Instead of sending out a memo sharing the
credit, they send out an e-mail reminding everyone of their own success. When giving a speech, they forget to mention
their assistant or their team members who helped them get to where they
are. When the battle is done instead of
sharing the spoils of war they hoard it like a pirate treasure. Obviously this kind of person is unliked by
everyone on the team. In fact, this kind
of behavior is so insidious that it’s almost impossible to go about it long…
arrogance is a costly character flaw quick to destroy your likeability. Often someone who can’t develop this intangible
covers it up by quietly hoarding the credit.
But those that don’t go out of their way to thank and reward others definitely
lack this and are still eventually under suspicion of being an under-cover
glory-hog.
How to start sharing
the rewards:
The great thing is it’s easy to begin developing this
intangible. Ask yourself these questions
and take action to counter it if you’ve got any “no” answers:
-
Have
you sent out any thank you notes to team members in the last month for their
hard work?
-
In
the last two months have you publicly rewarded anyone for their contribution to
your area?
-
When
your superiors mention your success do you respond with some information about
your team members that helped your success along?
-
Do
you let people know who you rely most on or do you exude an air of complete
independence—an all-star going it alone?
-
In
the last year have you asked your superiors for a raise or extra day off for
one of your direct reports?
-
When
you’re publicly thanked do you share the praise?
How to spot &
reward someone who shares the reward:
This is the tricky part for someone who shares the
reward. They may be easy to spot… but it’s
actually hard to reward them. They’re so
quick to thank others and share the reward that they can become
ingratiating. Sometimes you’ll feel like
they aren’t even accepting your thanks or your praise in front of the
team. There are two ways to still ensure
these people are rewarded for their intangible or tangible abilities brought to
bear on the organization’s success:
- Follow-up
their public reward-sharing with something like this: yes, we realize that
many people helped you pull this off and we appreciate you pointing that
out… but I have to stress again that without you we would never have made
this happen. We thank everyone for
what happened that contributed to it—but we want to thank you for it
especially. Way to go.” Then have everyone give them a hand.
- Another
way to go is to simply go entirely private in your rewarding of this team
member. Often they are particularly
sensitive to not hogging the glory in public—which is great. But privately you and stress to them
your appreciation, and even come by their office with a gift or a bonus
check or even just a thank you note that you read to them directly.
Whatever the case be sure to reward these reward-sharers in
public and private. The nice thing is
they actually multiple the rewards for the organization… they’re an “x-factor”
that multiplies the good culture you’re trying to build. Which is so much better than a team member
that is a black-hole of reward—when it seems like the light of day itself is
sucked down into their own over-eating ego.
Stop feeding it through them and start spreading it through those who
share the reward in your organization.
Click here
to respond to this article at the response blog.
Or email David@DruryWriting.com
_________
This is part nine of The Intangibles. Come back for more on each intangible. Click here
for the introduction to this series.
© 2007 by David Drury
Publishing
information:
To inquire
about publishing this or other copyrighted pieces at this web-site simply
contact David Drury at David@DruryWriting.com. All rights reserved.
David Drury Bio