Enthusiasm, Engagement, Excitement

When employees talk about the best leader they have ever worked for, they often talk about the enthusiasm and excitement the person brought to the job, to the team.  And, close on the heals of those comments, employees talk about engagement - from three perspectives.  How engaged the leader was in the individual's success.  How engaged the leader was in the team's success.  And, how much the leader was engaged personally.  That the leader's personal enthusiasm was not only contagious - but that it kept everyone in the game, in the moment, and dedicated.  These leaders delivered and everyone was a part of the success story.

Gustavo Dudamel

If you ever need a great example of enthusiasm in action, check out any of the You Tube videos of Gustavo Dudamel.  In the last week, I have heard an interview with him on NPR and have seen a video of him during a leadership presentation.  He, obviously, was the example of leading with passion.

He is the Conductor of the L.A. Philharmonic and not yet 30 years old.  Here are some excerpts from the October 8, 2009 NPR article: Dudamel Leads L.A. Philharmonic In Concert

...Dudamel is a toddler compared with his colleagues at major orchestras around the world. But that doesn't mean he lacks experience. Dudamel started conducting at age 12; he was playing in a kids orchestra and picked up the baton one afternoon when the director arrived late for a rehearsal. And at 18, he became the music director of the Simon Bolivar Youth Orchestra — the top ensemble in Venezuela's "El Sistema" network of more than 125 youth orchestras...

...Before Dudamel landed the L.A. Philharmonic job, orchestra president Deborah Borda followed him around for two years and watched him work with orchestras across Europe. 

"Really, it wasn't a risk," she says about hiring Dudamel. "What does a conductor do? He must seduce the orchestra, he must inspire the orchestra, he must lead and convince the orchestra." Those are things, Borda says, that Dudamel does with ease.

His story is amazing and his passion for his work is undeniable. 

 
When you watch him conducting, whether with the L.A. Philharmonic or the high school musicians from Venezuela, you see how he invites musicians to play flawlessly and to have fun - individually, together, and with him.  What a powerful and enjoyable combination.

En-guage-ment

"Employee engagement is a complex equation that reflects each individual’s unique, personal relationship with work."

- From a 2008 Employee Engagement Report by Blessing White

The research on employee engagement prompted me the wonder - are the points on our guages calibrated consistently? Is the standard of measurement the same for all employees, for all managers, and for all executives?

Sure, the engagement surveys define what leadership is, what alignment is, what communication is - to give consistency to these eye-of-the-beholder concepts. And, that is very important.  But, as we progress through the questions, do we maintain that defined perspective or move to our own standards?

Then an even more basic question occurred to me: do we know what we are looking for when it comes to optimal work engagement? Or, to optimal friendship engagement? Or, to any engagement with others?

How do we gauge success?

* is it according to what we invest or what we get?

* is it defined by how well others understand us or by what we learn by seeking to understand others?

* is it based on how we think we are treated or on how we think others are     

  treated?

* is it from being heard or being listened to?

* is it from what we know or what we learn?

There have been many studies over the years about significant learning events.  In the work context, leaders often say they learn the most from:

* failures

* stretch assignments

* mentors

* turnaround projects

* totally new area of responsibility (where they did not have experience or

   expertise)

And, the common reason these examples surfaced was - these situations (or mentors) helped them see things differently.  In order to be successful they had to operate differently; they learned new perspectives; they needed to recalibrate what effective leadership meant for them; the ah-ha moments came from an appreciation of how their leadership impacted others. 

What can we recalibrate in the present and learn from in the moment?  Are we setting aside time to reflect on our impact and to reassess the measure points on our guages?