The Dream Manager Blog

I was reminded by a friend this week that hours put in does not equal Commitment. Commitment is measured by passion and energy. Do you expect your people to put in tons of face time? Or, do you expect them to bring the kind of passion and energy that produce results?

Too often if someone leaves at 4 p.m. to see their child play soccer they are seen as weak and uncommitted. Let's abolish that backward thinking as soon as possible. Lets stop managing face time and start managing results.

This is the key to success, personal fulfillment, being a great manager and being a great employee. Exceed Expectations. Exceed the expectations of your spouse, your boss, your direct reports, your customers. Make a habit of exceeding people's expectations.

What is the edge that the best companies have over the rest? It is not products and services, though theirs do tend to be better than the rest. It is not customer intimacy or industry knowledge or creative ideas, though they certainly do not lag behind the competition in these things. The edge is people. I was giving a full day seminar at a Fortune 500 company last week and one of their people stood up and said, "The thing I most like about our company is the people. I just like working with the people here." And that is priceless. It cannot be measured, but it adds to the bottom line in every way imaginable.

It is people who generate and deliver products, services, industry knowledge, innovation, customer intimacy and everything else that makes our businesses thrive. What have you done for your people lately?