Chris Alexander has been described as “the type of guy that buys the John Madden football game just to build the teams.” He has spent his entire professional career in...
New England Patriots head coach Bill Belichick motivates his players week in and week out by pointing out their mistakes - however few there may be - on film after each game, highlighting how each and every one of them can improve in some aspect.
Though some might find this to be an extreme case of firing up your employees, the players who have spent much of their careers with the Patriots have bought into the system, recognizing that it is never acceptable to feel satisfied. This approach has translated into three Super Bowl championships and two other appearances in the last decade or so. Pretty good.
If you're a manager of a group of workers at a company, much can be learned from Belichick's success as a football coach. Creating a passionate, motivated workforce can lead to instant success for the business, as staff members are constantly looking to improve and move up the ladder, rather than seek greener pastures.
Once you recruit the right people, the object becomes to keep them, and the best way to do this is to foster a corporate culture of passion where everyone on the team actually wants to see the business achieve overall success.
A recent Fast Company column highlighted some of the best strategies for cultivating this kind of work environment, specifically pointing to communication between supervisors and their staff members.
"Once you have the right people, you need to sit down regularly with them and discuss what is going well and what isn’t," Paul Alofs, CEO of the Princess Margaret Hospital Foundation in Toronto, wrote in the piece. "It’s critical to take note of your victories, but it’s just as important to analyze your losses. A fertile culture is one that recognizes when things don’t work and adjusts to rectify the problem. As well, people need to feel safe and trusted, to understand that they can speak freely without fear of repercussion."
Practice a work hard, play hard philosophy as well, rewarding employees for those extra long weeks when deadlines are tight by taking them out after work or giving them other recognition.
Looking to other companies that have successfully established a strong corporate culture can also be quite beneficial. Apple, for one, has created a "winning culture," according to Forbes. Though these corporations may have significantly more resources than yours, study their early years and determine just how it is they built such a successful enterprise.