You’ve got to have skin in the game!

I heard a story the other day which struck me as brilliant.

A husband and wife with three children were going out for the evening.  The oldest had been lobbying to be the sitter and earn some money.  The parents agreed to pay each child an hourly babysitting rate on a sliding scale (the youngest received 25¢ per hour).  The catch was, if for any reason they got a call while they were out for anything other than an emergency, no one would receive any money.

Off the couple went to dinner.  Not long after they sat down the phone call came – someone would not give the other one the remote.  “We’re coming home right now” was the answer to the complainant, “No” the complainant pleaded.  Despite the protest, the couple went home immediately.    No one received any money that evening.  The next time the couple went out, the arrangement was tried again.  This time all was fine – the kids learned to work things out together, they followed the rules of the house and everyone earned their wage.  The couple enjoyed a wonderful evening out.

There are so many lessons from this small story it’s hard to know where to begin.

Lesson one:  Skin in the game.  Make sure your incentives and compensation are clear, meaningful and come with rules.  Ensure the entire team has a stake in the outcome.  Compensation is earned, not an entitlement.  When someone or the team misses the mark, they don’t earn the incentive.  When the incentive is tied to the behavior of the team – you’re more likely to get a team that works together.

Lesson two:  Take a chance.  Give someone in your organization a chance to prove themselves.  With new responsibilities, some employees will rise to the occasion and some may not.  More often than not, they will surprise you with what they can handle.

Lesson three:  Behavior.  Complainers who want you to “fix” the problem are not problem solvers.  Ensure there are consequences when a team doesn’t work together.  Employees, and children, may test you to see if your rules are in fact rules.  Consistency in applying the rules will produce the behavior and results you want.

Lesson four:  Leave your employees alone.  Once the rules are set and your expectations are crystal clear, let your employees succeed or fail.  Answer questions as they come up, assist when appropriate, back off and let employees do their work.  Helicopter supervisors are mostly frustrated and exhausted.

Lesson five:  Follow through.  If you say you’re going to do something, do it, even if it might inconvenience you.  This is especially true when it comes to discipline.   Everyone is watching and some will even test you.  Your actions can make or break an entire team’s behavior.

Lesson six:  Second chance.  With anything new, there may be kinks to work out and lessons to learn.  Whether it’s a new program or a new employee, there may be a learning curve.  Give your team or employee a second chance to shine.

Did I miss any lessons?  Anything you’d like to add?  What has been your experience?  Leave a comment below to share with others so we can all learn from you.

To print this or any other post, click the first icon in Share the Knowledge below.