Commonsense Leadership

Chapter 7Creating a Positive Work Environment

One of the most important responsibilities of a leader is to help create a positive work environment. This may be the most critical factor in succeeding and, at the same time, one of the most neglected factors in productivity. It's also one of the most vital determinates of performance outcome, and it's a factor that leaders can influence immediately.

How many times have poorly performing athletes been traded to different teams only to become high-level performers? Several cases of this worst-to-first scenario have occurred every year in professional baseball as well as in other sports over the past 10 to 15 years. Baseball players struggling with offense have gone to another team and raised their battling average as much as 50 or 60 points. There may be some influence from different managers, coaches, and stadiums, but the determining factor is probably the change in environment.

The same thing happens in the corporate environment, where some people perform at a very average level and then, when they're moved to a different office, city, or region on the same team, they become much better performers. This is an environmental factor without question.

Look at almost any new sports stadium, and you'll find a tremendous difference in the environment provided for the home team as opposed to the one provided for the visiting team. If you've never been in the belly of a stadium, you probably don't realize this, but in most stadiums, regardless ...