SALT LAKE CITY--(BUSINESS WIRE)--When you need high performance as a founder or leader, what behaviors do you fall back on? Zenger Folkman has found that most people tend to push harder and “Drive for Results.” But there is a different way of getting high performance, which has exactly the same goal. Zenger Folkman describes it as the opposite of pushing; it is the “pull,” or the ability to “Inspire and Motivate Others.”
Joe Folkman, president of Zenger Folkman, explained that recently when speaking to a group in Massachusetts he asked, “How many of you know how to push?” Everyone raised their hands. But then he asked, “How many of you know how to pull?” He found that most people are not exactly sure what they would do to pull.
A study conducted by Zenger Folkman tracking discretionary effort from employees found that the ability to inspire has big payoffs. The study showed that leaders who were not good at driving for results or inspiring had employees in the 25 percentile for discretionary effort. Those leaders that were good at just driving for result had employees in the 40 percentile. The largest increase in the percentage of highly committed employees came from leaders who were in the top quartile on both competencies. In the case a full 63% of employees were willing to go the extra mile to achieve goals.
In another study of 46,237 leaders, Zenger Folkman found that the ability to inspire actually decreased with age. Joe Folkman explained: “Age and gender do not control a person’s ability to inspire. We believe that any person who is willing to work on improvement can be more inspiring. The reality is that it takes more effort and energy to be inspiring. It is easier, of course, to just tell other people what to do and then expect you will get fantastic results.”
These studies show that the ability to inspire is a critical skill that needs to be developed and can benefit every organization. To learn more about how to develop this skill, Zenger Folkman will be hosting a webinar, Unlocking the Secrets of Inspiring Leaders, with Jack Zenger and Joe Folkman on Wednesday, November 18th.
“Employees need to be pushed, but they equally need to be pulled,” said Jack Zenger, CEO of Zenger Folkman. “It takes more time, energy and more effort. But the results will be worth it.”
A whitepaper of this research is also available for download at http://zengerfolkman.force.com/theinspiringleader.
About:
Zenger Folkman delivers measurable business results. Using global data, we provide a proven, cross-training approach for developing leadership strengths. The end result is more effective leaders at every level of the organization.
