BY BENNIE L. CRANE
Supervisors are responsible for motivating the people on their staff, and in that pursuit the most effective leaders generally follow five steps. Because effective parenting skills overlap effective leadership skills in many areas, these five steps can be employed equally as well in the home setting to motivate children.
FIVE STEPS FOR MOTIVATING PEOPLE
• Tell people what is expected of them. Sometimes supervisors may fail to communicate (either orally or in writing) their expectations, exactly what task or tasks they expect their subordinates to carry out. Supervisors may simply assume that their expectations are obvious or “understood,” but such assumptions are unfair and counterproductive. If you expect a particular task to be performed or specific goals to be accomplished, then you should enumerate them. Be clear and be specific. And just as important, be sure to tell workers why these tasks need to be done. If the reasons for the tasks are known and accepted, then methods for completing the tasks can be agreed on.
• Make sure that people know how to complete their tasks. Supervisors must recognize training as one of the most important elements of their jobs. Without appropriate skills, knowledge, and support, workers will be unable to achieve the objectives set for them. Giving an employee responsibility without instruction is an unfair burden and a risky proposition. It is always important to make the effort to get involved and to teach employees how to carry out their work successfully. Providing strong direction and guidance in the beginning usually leads to confident and independent performers in the end.
The value and mutual benefits of supervisors’ taking an active role in training subordinates was clearly impressed on me after a situation involving a company officer and a firefighter unfolded in the fire department. The officer told his chief that one of his firefighters would not do his job correctly and asked for the chief’s advice. The chief asked the officer if the firefighter had been properly trained for the particular job. The officer in fact did not know the answer to the chief’s question but said that since the firefighter was a veteran of the department, he would certainly assume that the firefighter would know how to do the job. The fire chief responded, “Never assume anything. Some people may have had 30 years of experience; others may have had only one experience, repeatedly, for 30 years.”
The chief directed the officer to train and work with his company’s members to make sure that they knew how to perform their job tasks and responsibilities properly. Getting involved in the training reestablished the officer as the company leader. He commanded renewed respect as well as admiration and trust. The firefighters were eager to master new skills and to apply them to the job. The company officer now had a solid crew with all the expertise necessary to handle the job at hand successfully and smoothly. Also, the new training program provided a fair basis for assessing job performance. If a firefighter did not carry out his on-the-job tasks up to departmental standards, the company officer was able to evaluate the problem more accurately and discipline the firefighter accordingly.
• Let them complete their tasks. After firefighters or other task providers have demonstrated that they have the appropriate skills, get out of their way and allow them to do their jobs.
• Let people know that their input is important and that they have control over their participation. Chiefs and officers need to be able to delegate responsibilities. In doing so, they must relinquish control over the details of how tasks are to be carried out. The accountability for the success or failure of the project remains with the manager. Proper staff training results in competent workers who can be trusted with making decisions.
• Provide people with timely feedback. The feedback must be objective, honest, and timely. Positive feedback is just as important as corrective feedback.
Effective leadership should
-Make people feel strong and help them feel that they can influence their environment.
-Build trust in the leader. Officers should be open, be honest, and share information on how the company fits into the overall picture of the department.
-Make sure members know how to do the task before delegating duties.
-Structure cooperative rather than competitive relationships.
-Resolve conflicts by confronting issues together rather than avoiding or forcing a particular solution.
-Stimulate and promote goal-oriented thinking and behavior.
PROBLEM SOLVING AND MANAGEMENT TECHNIQUES
“Getting People to Want to Do What You Have to Get Them to Do” is the title of a leadership workshop I conducted for several years as a field instructor for the University of Illinois Fire Service Institute. To ensure that I addressed their concerns, I always asked the fire service leaders participating in the workshop to describe one of the problem situations they were currently faced with at work. What follows is a sampling of those situations, along with my recommendations to the leaders based on some of the skill models discussed earlier.
Managing increasing workloads in limited time frames.
A captain told the group that he had more work to do than time to do it in. While his time constraints had remained constant, his workload had steadily increased. When someone suggested that he delegate some of the work, he said he did not have time to train anyone.
While acknowledging the initial difficulty of adding the training function to an already unmanageable workload, I emphasized that time spent on training is a worthwhile investment-one that pays off both in the short run and in the long run. By teaching his company members how to carry out job tasks that he did not have the time to do, the captain would get the help he so badly needed to meet the demands and objectives of his department. I have found that holding the company members accountable for their delegated responsibilities has been very fruitful in overall productivity, individual accomplishments, and teamwork.
Another benefit of the training function is that the captain would be able to interact closely with his company members in the process. Opportunities for such healthy and positive interaction should not be passed up. Officers and firefighters working together toward a common goal will help to foster trust and loyalty between them. This type of interaction also gives company members a sense of the importance of their role within the department, and it allows supervisors to give workers the recognition for which they strive. When chiefs and officers acknowledge their department members’ achievements, it helps to fulfill the members’ needs for self-worth and self-esteem. The need for positive self-esteem is one of the five basic human needs. The satisfaction of this need for recognition results in positive behaviors in the workplace and contributes to high morale.
Providing leadership when leadership at the top is lacking.
A lieutenant described the frustration he was feeling because he did not believe that his supervisors possessed the skills necessary to handle their authority. It is not uncommon for subordinates to feel that the bosses are not as smart as they are. However, they are the bosses. In addition to that, they are people, and as human beings they are capable of learning and changing.
I asked the lieutenant to identify any particular skills he believed would help his bosses improve as leaders. I suggested that he put together a program that would help them appear to be more effective leaders. The lieutenant would have to be willing to allow his supervisors to take the credit for the program; his own benefit would simply be in knowing that the common good would be served. If his personal agenda objectives were to promote the common good, then he would be comfortable with this tact.
After discussing the lieutenant’s specific case, I asked the workshop members to reflect on why they went through all the work and effort they did to become supervisors. I asked them to think about what the driving force was behind their quest for advancement in the fire service and about why they really wanted to be a boss. Albert Einstein said: “Boys/children want power so they can be somebody. Men/adults want power so they can serve somebody.” Our reasons for desiring power affect the way we use power. People trying to “be somebody” tend to create defensiveness in those with whom they interact, because people resent being used solely for the purpose of advancing someone else’s selfish agenda. On the contrary, people who use power to try to serve somebody usually reduce tension in the people around them and promote positive attitudes as well as feelings of openness and comfort. The key to getting others to want to do what you need them to do is to tie a personal value for them to your objective. They need to have a stake in the success or failure of the project. This is just as true for your supervisors as it is for your subordinates.
Getting cooperation from and improving communication with newer employees.
A battalion chief said his department was having problems with the younger recruits. He went on to say that when they are directed to do something, they always ask why. To the chief it seemed as if the recruits had a problem following orders and that they questioned his authority. He thought that perhaps the young recruits’ lack of military training was at the root of what he considered their inappropriate behavior.
Certainly, military veterans would bring a different set of experiences to the job-and probably a different attitude as well-than would younger people with no military experience. But I asked the chief to consider for a moment the possibility that the recruits may be asking why something needs to be done not out of insolence or arrogance but to feel more comfortable with the task.
In general, if the people doing the work know the reason a given task is to be done in a particular way, they are more likely to feel better about their participation in the project. Is it asking too much of supervisors to tell task providers why something should be done, and how? I don’t think so. It is one way of aligning the perceptions of everyone involved so that all parties approach the project from the same perspective. As I have said many times in my workshops, “Where the why is known, any how is possible.”
The ideal time to provide the answer to any “why” question is during a training session on the procedure or subject. But if a “why” question comes up outside of a training session in a nonemergency situation, the question should be answered at the time it is asked. In emergency situations, however, the subordinate should carry out the order first and then ask the question when the crisis has passed and the supervisor has a reasonable opportunity to answer it.
As I said in the first part of this article, training is indeed one of the supervisor’s most important functions. Subordinates cannot be expected to take on responsibilities and duties for which they have not been fully and professionally prepared, including subordinates who have been on the job for many years. Even long-term employees may not have been exposed to all areas of a department or have had involvement in all aspects of service. So, it is a good practice for supervisors to discuss assignments with their subordinates ahead of time and to assess what kind of training will be required before the tasks can be performed.
When employees are given work to do without adequate instruction, they often feel resentful toward their supervisors for putting them in the position of having to perform a task they are not adequately prepared to perform. Proper training helps to build healthy relationships between subordinates and supervisors, and it ensures that the job at hand will be carried out satisfactorily.
Dealing with system abusers.
One of the supervisors in the group explained that he was having a problem with members of his department taking undue advantage of the department’s employee benefits program-e.g., excessive sick days. One of the other supervisors attending the workshop reminded us that we all must be careful not to deny employees the benefits they are rightfully entitled to under the department’s plan. All employees must be treated equally at all times, and caution must be used when addressing specific issues of benefit entitlements to individual employees.
I suggested to the supervisor that a thorough review of benefit procedures for all applicants might be a good place to start correcting his problem situation. As is true with all regulations and procedures, evenhanded enforcement is essential to the integrity of the system.
In addition to having a thorough understanding of department rules and regulations, it is absolutely necessary for chiefs and company officers to have a thorough knowledge and understanding of the labor contract. I have found labor contracts to be an invaluable tool for addressing system abuse issues. Many times I have had to inform members that they were violating their own contract. In such cases I would inform the member that the labor contract prohibits me from permitting them the benefits in question and refer them to their labor representatives. Fair and consistent enforcement of department policies and the labor contract-well-thought-out and clearly written regulations-will usually identify and deal effectively with system abusers.
Addressing apathy within an organization.
One of the workshop participants asked how to reverse what seemed to be a trend toward apathy and sluggishness within his department. It is not uncommon for an organization to have these occasional flat spots with low energy levels. The up and down swings of a company are not unlike those fluctuations we experience as individuals. When we feel unhappy, out of balance, or stagnated in our personal lives, we must reexamine our personal agenda and make the changes necessary to recapture and refocus our energy. Similarly, when the energy and motivation of an organization’s members are flagging, the leadership must review the organization’s mission statement.
Reviewing the mission statement can serve as a clear reminder of why a company’s members should work hard at what they do and that the goals they are striving to achieve are worth the effort. Providing a fresh new look at the mission statement can go a long way toward reigniting the motivation and passion of a company’s workers and its leadership.
Sometimes, however, a review of the statement does not inspire renewed commitment but rather reveals the need for revision. Leaders should look at the organization’s stated objectives and then assess what progress has been made and what changes are needed. The mission statement may simply be outdated. The stated goals or objectives may indeed have been met already, in which case feelings of apathy and lack of motivation among workers would not be surprising. The department mission statement, like the personal agenda, is subject to change as the reality changes around us. Supervisors can also stimulate renewed interest and enthusiasm throughout the organization by including all members in the revision process. By seeking and welcoming each person’s input, supervisors can give subordinates some of the recognition we all, as human beings, need. All of us need to be appreciated and given the opportunity to contribute.
A few of the workshop participants told the group that they thought that the apathy and low morale within their departments was caused by the lack of any kind of a mission statement at all. When individuals have no personal agenda, they have no focal point; when an organization has no mission statement, its members have no standards to hold to and no direction to follow.
By first identifying the areas of responsibilities for the organization and, second, describing how these responsibilities are to be met, one can begin to create a basic mission statement. In doing so, each supervisor would have to include as many of their subordinates in the process as possible, making sure that all employees have opportunities to gain some positive recognition. Although the process is open and all employees are encouraged to contribute, the leadership can use the power of veto when conflicts arise or when otherwise prudent.
Certainly, the creation of a mission statement provides a focal point toward which members of an organization can direct their commitment, energy, and ingenuity. And the leadership within the organization has the responsibility to urge the members to create opportunities to fulfill those commitments and bring their ideas to fruition. Because of the different elements that contribute to each situation, however, there is no single magic solution to all apathy problems. But the skill models presented here should result in reduced apathy and increased motivation within an organization.
Let me state in the clearest manner possible that the most important tools a leader has at his disposal are the department’s rules, regulations, practices, procedures, and labor contract. These are legal instruments that all members, from the chief down to the newest member, are accountable to in legal proceedings. After all, we are a nation of laws. ■
■ BENNIE L. CRANE retired from the Chicago (IL) Fire Department as a district chief after 34 years. He has been training emergency service personnel for 32 years, serving as the assistant director of training for the Chicago Fire Department and as an instructor with the University of Illinois Fire Service Institute and the Northwestern University Center for Public Safety. He is a member of the FDIC Educational Advisory Board and the author of Personal Empowerment: Achieving Individual and Departmental Excellence (Fire Engineering, 2002) and the training video Empowerment vs. Entrapment (Fire Engineering, 2000).
