I have just read an article which said self-engagement is more powerful than having a great manager.
Sometimes you just disagree with something and can’t quite put your finger on why…
First I should say that I don’t disagree with the statement self-engagement is more powerful than having a great manager. When it comes to happiness, success etc then self-belief and confidence is probably more important than anything else.
However I don’t think you can sustain self-engagement in an environment that doesn’t support you in some way – not without some negative impact on your performance, health or wellbeing anyway!
The author asks if all employees have the same manager, job and work environment, what explains the differences in their engagement, motivation and inspiration? The answer of course is their personality or as they describe it ‘outlook on life’.
And here’s perhaps where I start to disagree…
The article suggests that when increasing engagement companies focus on ‘turning bosses into better managers’ (actually I disagree with this bit too) when they should actually be teaching employees how to better engage themselves.
It’s this bit that doesn’t make sense to me.
Your personality (in simple terms) is a product of genetics (nature), environment (nurture) and your life experience. All combine and evolve over time to determine how you think, feel, and behave – your personality. Some personalities have evolved traits that enable them to (better) self-engage than others.
If we want to teach/learn the traits that will help us self-engage then the manager is key to creating the environment and experiences that will enable that to happen. Giving feedback and recognition; encouraging and supporting people to try new things; creating opportunities; providing (emotional) support and guidance and being a role model – these are behaviours that make managers effective as both teachers and motivators. The majority of people benefit from these kinds of behaviours to some degree or another – even if they have a personality that enables them to self-engage.
Yes helping people change ‘outlooks’ would be a great benefit to employers. But it’s not an either, or situation in my opinion – when you focus on creating an environment that encourages and supports people to be more engaged you are also creating an environment that will encourage and support people to self-engage. I don’t see how you could be successful without helping managers (and the whole business) become more effective at the behaviours that will support that to happen.
Engagement is about connecting with people, about understanding them as individuals their likes, dislikes and motivations etc. so I also want to remind us, as employers, to celebrate and embrace all these different personality traits because they are a conduit for innovation and creativity, because they reflect our customers and the real world, because its morally right and because they make life (and work) more interesting.
If you haven’t already please read the article yourself and tell me what you think This One Factor Is Better For Employee Engagement Than Having A Great Manager