ACTIONS SPEAK LOUDER
THAN WORDS IN THE OFFICE
By Kevin Chern
Managing Partner, UpRight Law / Allen Chern Law
“Actions speak louder than words” is
more than a cliché: it’s an important
reality for any professional who
wants to get the most from his
staff. The most carefully crafted
policies and job descriptions will
only take you so far. Consciously or
unconsciously, your employees will
take their cues from your behavior,
not your handbook.
A 2013 Zenger Folkman report
based on data collected from more
than 100,000 employees concluded
that “the quickest and most reliable
way of increasing employee
satisfaction and commitment is to
provide employees with a more
effective leader.”
That’s you.
Unfortunately, many professionals
unwittingly
send
the
wrong
message, inadvertently training
their
employees
to
behave
unproductively.
First and foremost, be the employee
you want others in your practice to
be. Regardless of the expectations
you spell out, few employees will
be more committed to the success
of your business and the welfare of
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your clients than they perceive you
to be.
Some of the key ways in which
your actions will impact the morale,
commitment and productivity of
your employees include:
Attitude: Any employee with a
negative attitude can adversely
affect the whole staff, and your
attitude carries the greatest weight.
If you adopt a can-do, solutionoriented outlook, for example,
your employees will follow suit.
If you’re defeatist, they’ll accept
defeat. If you tackle a busy day
with determination, your emp