Our family took Jack, our new 1 ½ year old Lab, to the dog park this weekend. There were dogs that were wearing flag bandanas and it prompted me to reflect on the importance of Memorial Day. I would like to take a moment to recognize the soldiers and their families that have served or are currently serving our country.
My husband served in Operation Enduring Freedom with the Ohio National Guard and was deployed to Southeast Asia in 2008, so I understand the sacrifices they make for our freedom. Thank you to all the families and soldiers for your service. Deployments are extremely challenging, but they can also be an excellent time for personal growth. Over Memorial Day weekend in 2008, 30+ military wives and families participated in a 5K run/walk event in Columbus, Ohio. They had special t-shirts created to recognize their soldiers. Concurrently (plus or minus a few hours), the soldiers ran a 5K race over in the Southeast Asian desert. Despite the daily struggles related to a deployment, the spirit of the family members remained strong, they were able to successfully overcome challenges they faced. They had a passion to succeed and fires in their belly so to speak.
As leaders, isn’t that what we want for our business? Employees with a passion to succeed and the expertise to overcome challenges. How do we get there? The dog park provides much wisdom on techniques to motivate employees.
1. Provide an environment of fun and play
As leaders, we should look for simple opportunities to create fun and play in our day to day work. Laughter is a terrific antidote for stress. It is a direct path to joyfulness. Employees who are working in the “joy zone” will achieve greater creativity, innovation, and productivity. There are numerous instances of play at the dog park. Some dogs are playing fetch, others are resting quietly in the shade, and some are lying happily in a puddle next to the water fountain. Their natural talents and abilities emerge when they are playing.
2. Create a continuous learning environment
Leaders should foster a company culture in which employees are encouraged to be innovative. It’s human nature to view problems in a negative light. Our framework for viewing them needs to be realigned. Underneath every problem lies a solution. Frequently there are multiple solutions. We need the wisdom to select the best one for our business. Learning opportunities reside within those problems. Those learning opportunities represent new products and services that could drive your business forward. As business owners, we have to encourage innovation from our core and embrace the learning opportunities we uncover.
We were teaching my dog to play Frisbee at the dog park. Unfortunately, he couldn’t get the knack of catching the Frisbee in his mouth and missed it. We decided to switch to tennis balls. We quickly found out that Jack was an expert at catching/retrieving the tennis balls. As a matter of fact, he was probably the best tennis ball catcher in the park that day. By taking a step back, recognizing his strengths and creating a game that fully utilized them, he was able to productive in his role and we were a joyful family.
Creating a culture of joy, playfulness and continuous learning will unleash employee motivation and passion for your business.
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Chrissann Ruehle is Co-Founder of Black Lab Ventures, LLC. A human resources management consulting business, Black Lab Ventures focuses on on-boarding, training & development, performance management, and health & wellness initiatives. Our signature service, called Culture Branding, is a form of employer branding designed to help companies attract top talent and retain employees they already have. For small businesses, we offer our HR Start-Up Kits – a simple and affordable method to achieve an HR presence. We also offer full service packages for mid and large-sized companies, and function as a complement to their HR departments so they can focus on their core business.
For more information, please visit our website at http://www.blacklabventures.com/ or feel free to call us at 513-443-2365.
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