July-August 2004

Enchantment in the workplace? Hey, this is business! "Should you care if your employees care about your brand?"

The word enchantment in the same sentence with "business"? Yes, hear me out.

We're all human beings--whether we're the hard-nosed, driven kind of business owner/executive, or simply the hard-working guy or gal who shows up faithfully to work each day. Whatever part of that world you inhabit, you judge and are judged mostly by statistics and goals achieved.

But dramatic performance improvement isn't always about just driving harder. The fact is, if you’re like most of us, you don't make major changes or powerful commitments just because somebody raised your quota. In fact, that often has the opposite effect--even damping down your motivation. But what can work is helping your employees feel enchanted about their work. And your brand can play a big role in that.

To "enchant" means to charm, delight, or captivate someone...to cast a magic spell. Sounds like new-age-mumbo-jumbo, right? Well, if the Cleveland Clinic can add Reiki (energy work) treatments as an option for those with certain kinds of cancers, can enchantment in the workplace be far behind?

Let me tell you a story…

Once upon a time a visitor was wandering around the Sacred City. He saw a huge construction site and walked closer. To the first stonemason he saw he said, “What are you doing, good sir?”

“Why, I’m setting stones into mortar, can’t you see that?” muttered the workman as he slopped another trowelful of mud over the cut stone and wiped his hands on his pants leg.

“Ah,” said the visitor and walked on. He walked along the long wall, and at the end he turned the corner and saw another stonemason. “What work are you doing, good sir?” he inquired politely.

“My boss told us we’re building a church of some sort,” the worker said.

“I see,” said the visitor. “Thank you.” And he walked on along that wall. At the far end of it was another workman, apparently doing the same work. This time the visitor hesitated, but decided to ask once more. “Sir, what is it you are doing today?”

The stonemason stopped his work and turned to regard the visitor. He smiled and said, “I am proud to be one of a Company of Stonemasons that was invited to help build the greatest cathedral the Sacred City has ever seen. It will rise higher than any other, be made of highest-grade stone and marble, and house many of the finest treasures in the world. It will shelter many holy clerics, and those who enter its doors will be awed by its grandeur and cannot fail to understand the greatness of the Deity to whom it is dedicated.”

I ask you: which of those guys do you want slopping your mortar? Do you think that third guy's a little nuts--or does he sound like you'd like your employees to sound? Somebody convinced him—and keeps reassuring him—that the work he's doing is an important part of a much greater goal. That his contribution was critical, and that the rest of the world would look with respect on the institution of which he was a part.

Are your employees filing papers, or helping your company become world-renowned? Are they plugging metal pieces into other metal pieces, or are they building the best damn widgets that any widget-user ever latched onto? If

Sincerely,
Barbara

Some of what’s going on at ReallyGoodFreelanceWriter.com:

• Proudly took possession of the first-run copies of the new best-selling book I co-authored with business gurus from around the world. Check it out here: "Create the Business Breakthrough You Want"


• Had my book-editing skills listed by U-Publish.com during a national broadcast of "Ask Heloise" on August 15. Listen to how easy it is to publish your book.


• Presented tips on writing for the web and on blogging for 75 Lake County Professional Communicators--(they gave me the cutest replica of a microphone!)