Chuck Terry’s Blog

In part one of the series on building company morale I discussed the importance of putting the right people in the right place with the right manager. For part two I will address a simple, yet all too frequently overlooked, method of building morale by sharing the credit for what goes right, as well as sharing praise with teammates whenever the opportunity presents itself.

As I began the process of selecting topics for this series I asked my wife (a former professional salesperson in the media) what had helped build and/or damage morale in the large companies she had worked for. Without hesitation her reply was that bosses who took the credit for everything were the worst, and bosses that shared the credit were the best levers of company morale at her former employers. Being somewhat surprised by both her answer, and her passion around it, I decided to ask some additional professional associates of mine if they had experienced anything similar.  The answer wasn’t just “yes” but “heck yes!” Obviously a nerve had been struck with quite a few people around the subject of sharing credit. If you doubt the passion around this topic try performing a Google search on a phrase such as “taking credit for others work” and read a few postings. This is clearly a hot topic!

With the people I interviewed the main culprits for accolade deprivation were managers who took credit for closing deals where such acclaim was largely undeserved. It seems that quite a few sales people REALLY don’t appreciate managers that let them do all the hard work associated with developing a new customer from a prospect all the way through to a final presentation, only to be joined on the call by the manager who promptly takes credit for the deal. What a surprise, huh? The flip side of the same coin is the manager who ALWAYS cedes the credit for closing sales to others. Giving away the credit for closing deals, even when it isn’t completely deserved, scores BIG on the morale score card. 

The root cause behind what causes someone to claim credit for the work of others is really pretty simple to understand. It is either ego, insecurity, or a toxic combination of the two. If you suspect that you are guilty of such behavior don’t be offended, just try to recognize the behavior as nothing more than what it is. It is just a non-productive behavior that will help you improve results if you change it. Sharing, or completely assigning, the credit for wins to those around you will go a long way towards drastically improving company morale.

I am going to expand the topic of sharing the credit for what goes right to also include just sharing praise for a job well done. These two acts of selflessness seem to work quite well together from my experience. While I like to think I am pretty good about sharing the credit, I am still very much a work in progress for consistently sharing praise.

Giving praise to others is a little bit like watering flowers in your garden. You might get enough rain to keep the flowers alive, but if you want to have a truly beautiful garden you must also take it upon yourself to regularly water the flowers.  Nothing lifts spirits and morale quite like a healthy dose of public praise for a job well done. Take the time to set yourself a daily minimum goal for catching others doing things right and then publically sharing the praise.

I have shared with you two powerful behavioral tools that will help improve morale in any company. Share, or give away, the credit for what goes well and set minimum daily goals for public praising.  As long as you are sincere in your efforts, these behaviors will have an immediate and positive impact upon company morale.

Chuck Terry is the Executive Vice President and CSO of Carew International and is regular contributor to Carew’s blog – Executive Insights

Carew International is a leader in sales training and leadership development; specializing in comprehensive, proven training programs for sales, sales management and customer service excellence. For over 30 years, Carew has earned its reputation of delivering increased productivity and profitability to our valued clients world wide.