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Want to learn more? Take a deep dive…

Huhman, H. R. (2013, January 23). 3 Essential rules to workplace honesty. Business Insider.
Marks, S. (2013, May 8). 7 Ways to build trust in a team. Recruiter.com.

10. Not engaged yourself? Get committed. It’s hard to drive levels of engagement that are higher than
your own. If you’re lacking commitment, it shows in your face. It’s apparent in the way you hold
yourself. It affects your pace, your demeanor, even the way you communicate. If your “get up and go”
has “got up and gone,” people will see right through you. So get your own house in order. What’s
turning you off? Turn it back on. Lost interest? Figure out what will excite you again and get involved.
Something niggling away at you? Confront it. Bring it out into the open and get it resolved.
Frustrated? Talk to the person who can make a difference in the situation. Find your commitment
again and bring people with you.

11. Tend to see the gloomy side? Develop and project a can-do attitude. If you look on the
downside, before you know it, you’re surrounded by people agreeing with your point of view. That’s
the bad news. The good news is that while negativity is infectious, so is positivity. But it needs to be
sincere. If you feel downcast about something but try to sell the fact you feel great about it, people will
see right through you. So get your own head in order first. If you’re disengaged about something,
what’s causing you to feel that way? What don’t you understand? Find out who has more information.
Don’t see how something can be done? Talk to those who do. Been there, done it, and it failed? Find
out what’s different this time. Once you believe in it, you can bring others on board too.

Want to learn more? Take a deep dive…

Biro, M. M. (2012, October 14). Your employees are engaged…REALLY? Forbes.
Roth, T. (2013, January 18). Engagement starts with your leaders. Training Magazine.

12. Not getting the most out of people? Show confidence in their abilities by empowering them.
The proverb gets it right: Give a person a fish and they will eat for a day. Teach a person to fish and
they will eat for a lifetime. The trick with empowerment is framing it so it’s not interpreted as,
“Fantastic…more work to do at the same salary.” The team member who truly experiences the
positive effects of empowerment (1) believes they can accomplish the task, (2) believes the task will
result in a positive outcome (i.e., it will work), and (3) believes that the extra responsibilities that come
along with the task are personally “worth it.” When empowering others, focus on developing and
cultivating the three elements above. If any of the three are missing, the person is not ready to take
ownership of something by themselves.

13. Known for being a tough taskmaster? Remove the fear of failure. Failures are going to occur—
the very thought of failure, however, can be crippling to many individuals. Frame failure as an
expected part of the larger picture of progress. We tend to learn more from our failures than our
successes—innovation and experimentation will be best realized if people are allowed to fail. They
won’t feel comfortable with short-term setbacks if you do not communicate that such setbacks are
expected and provide long-term benefits. Share a failure that you experienced and what you
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