Important people doing
business with important people
In … organizations, regardless of size or purpose, there is general
agreement that some degree of pride, sense of accomplishment
and value among co-workers is crucial to continued long-term success.
By William T. “Doc” Hold, Ph.D., CIC, CPCU, CLU
In the course of a business day, few things are more important than communication with a client. Whether that communication is a text message, email, or phone call, the client sending it believes that he or she is important and that so is his or her communication.
In addition, that client wants to deal with an “important person,” not some recorded list of phone numbers, a chatbot, or “your message is being recorded for security/quality control purposes.”
In some instances, communication is made more difficult by “remote working” and the vagaries involving work schedules and internal business systems.
The inverse law of communication—mutual exchanges of ignorance
While rarely memorialized in written form, there is what can be called the “inverse law of communication.” In essence, the law reveals that as the number, methods, varieties, and technologies underlying communication continue to make it far easier and faster to communicate or transfer information to large audiences, clarity and accuracy will be degraded.
An important consequence of all of this is a far greater opportunity to hide or suppress the identity of those providing information and providing inaccurate, misleading, and intentionally deceptive information.
Deeply embedded in the concept of “communication” is understanding, which at the very least, requires clarity. This, in turn, presumes some knowledge on the part of those involved. Without understanding, clarity, and knowledge, the “alleged communication” is nothing more than a “mutual exchange of ignorance,” which in many cases results in a lack of trust and a lost client.
Sadly, there’s an additional consequence: Co-workers who lose a degree of self-confidence begin to believe they are not really part of the team and wish they understood “before” what they “now” know after losing an account.
In the real world of organizations, regardless of size or purpose, there is general agreement that some degree of pride, sense of accomplishment and value among co-workers is crucial to continued long-term success. The process of “building prestige for fellow workers” will differ among organizations depending on size, purpose, organizational structure and record of success. Generally agreed actions or policies can be implemented, but in the “real world” there are significant roadblocks.
The tyranny of the urgent—the piercing cries of the transaction
In the sharply divided, fast paced, and “success now” environment in which we live and operate, it is frequently very difficult to initiate new processes and systems. It is even more difficult to sustain continuing and focused efforts over a period of several years. Much like the cries or pleadings of a baby or toddler wanting recognition, today’s environment demands attention and action now. This can and will overwhelm the time and the will to focus on continuing processes including those necessary to building and sustaining fellow worker prestige.
Building prestige—the voice of a co-worker
In this summary example you are the supervisor, manager, or CEO and you ask a long-time co-worker about what building prestige means to them. I did just that with Laura Hughston, executive assistant at the Risk & Insurance Education Alliance, and here’s what she said:
“Building prestige of a co-worker means spreading your prestige out to include them. Sometimes this may be unearned prestige which is built upon as relationships develop and grow. By building prestige among your co-workers, they are made to feel important and integral to the day-to-day functioning of the business.
“This builds their confidence, builds their inner ego, and they will be encouraged both inwardly and outwardly to take on more and more responsibility.
“It is almost like a mentorship—working together and learning as you go. You know you have your co-worker’s full support because when you succeed, they succeed as well. And through this empowerment you provide a service to them by taking on more responsibility which allows them to focus on even more important work.”
Elements of building prestige—building the partnership
Understand your business and leadership position; it is very difficult to help a co-worker develop and gain confidence if the supervising person doesn’t have a good grasp of business or the role of the co-worker. This is akin to “the blind leading the deaf.” Effective communication and mutual respect cannot be built on foundations of ignorance.
As one of the most important elements of building prestige, mutual respect has many facets. A crucial facet is taking action to place your co-worker in a winning position and never being embarrassed because they don’t know. This encompasses many simple things, including advising your co-worker of your schedule, important calls, or information that will need attention including “unhappy clients or other co-workers.”
Understanding your co-worker’s strengths and weaknesses is another facet. Prestige is not strengthened by unrealistic work requirements including timelines and skills that the co-worker may not currently possess.
The importance of listening cannot be overemphasized. There are few greater compliments to a co-worker than really listening and acknowledging their views and suggestions.
Positive support can be generated by simple actions, including meaningful titles, recognition of achievement inside and outside of the business environment, and materials such as business cards or other resources recognizing the co-worker’s position.
On a broader scale, provide a co-worker with some vision of their future within the organization. Provide realistic answers to questions including what is my future here, where am I going, and how do I get there? Listening to what the co-worker thinks and envisions for their future may be the most important action of all.
Hands—what goes around comes around and sometimes sticks around
The human hand, an exceedingly complex mechanism and invaluable part of the human body has been used for centuries to pioneer management theory and explain world economic theory: Adam Smith in the mid-1700s in economics (the invisible hand) and Henri Fayol in the mid-1800s in management theory (hand of management). The work of both of these men and their co-workers literally changed the world and the impact of their work remains today.
They used the hand to explain and demonstrate complicated interrelationships in business and economics and the importance of coordination and success for all.
As the hand has five fingers with separate and distinct functions and that can function independently, the hand is far more powerful when all fingers are working together under the guidance of a strong and consistent “management system.” All the fingers are important and need to function properly if there is to be a “winning hand” and strong body.
A winning and steady hand to ward off “the tyranny of the urgent” and the “cries of the transaction” maintains the will and the focus to continually “build the prestige of your fellow worker.”
The author
William T. “Doc” Hold, Ph.D., CIC, CPCU, CLU, is chairman emeritus of The Risk & Insurance Education Alliance, which he co-founded in 1969 as The Society of CIC. Under his leadership, The Alliance has grown to become one of the most prestigious insurance education organizations in the world. In this column Doc shares his personal insights and opinions, which are not necessarily those of The Alliance or its board members.
