“Take silliness seriously.  Theme days, dress-up days, contests, and even coordinated teasing of executives keeps our culture loose, fast, and fun. Pay attention to popular shows and pop culture and coordinate an event that capitalizes on what's hot out in the world. We got media coverage from the employee-driven "pirates" vs. "ninjas" competition day in our offices. It wasn't a PR stunt. It was just something that made our employees happy. Cost to the company?  Some boxes and poster paper” -- Paul Spiegelman and Lara Morrow for Inc.com

Despite the obvious ‘Pirates vs. Ninjas’ debate (to be continued...) I think the real subject matter of the article is pretty important.  I read the Inc.com write-up this morning because it was entitled “Great Company Culture Isn’t Pricey” and it really rang home.  I am all for making a working environment a fun and inspiring place to me - and I understand that each person works differently.  The quote above was taken from the seventh point of how to make a “low-to-no cost culture” where the majority of ideas cost next to nothing...it’s a pretty great read if you have a spare five minutes.

The big question for me is...if you are a senior member of staff; are you doing everything you can to make your team comfortable and happy therefore far more productive?  In my opinion, the role of a manager is to remove the road blocks and the obstacles so your team can sail smoothly through.  There are enough worries and difficulties in the world without making your team feel stressed at work.  So why not shield them from the bad things, praise them for the good things...and let them give you suggestions as to how they could be more productive.  It doesn’t cost anything to listen.

Let the Pirate vs. Ninja debate commence!

By the way...Happy National Employee Appreciation Day!

“Too often, companies hire for skills without enough consideration for spirit. When that happens, you end up with a bunch of wonks who can’t work together. There needs to be a balance between skills and spirit across the entire company.

This same balance needs to exist within individual senior managers. A VP of global marketing at an IT company recently asked me about this. He told me that one of his senior managers had great skills and was a decent leader, but he wasn’t showing any heart--he just didn’t seem to care about the company. The VP said that the manager’s bad attitude was starting to wear off on his entire team.

My reply was clear and simple. I told him that if the manager’s heart wasn’t in it, there were two options: move him into a purely technical position or let him go. Senior managers are a microcosm of your company. They are the role models for other employees. As such, they need to have both skills and spirit” -- Michelle Randall for Fast Company

I couldn’t agree more.  I truly believe that you need to match your business acumen, technical ability and leadership skills with your drive, understanding and heart.  In my opinion, there are two kinds of senior level employees - managers and leaders.  Managers, well, manage.  They may understand the business needs, but don’t necessarily care enough about the little things or the people that make up the structure.  Leaders have a ‘door open’ policy, they direct by example and take interest in the business ‘black spots’ as well as taking pride in the successes.

It is important to have leaders in a position of power; people who, as Michelle quite rightly states, are role models.  Whether you realize it or not, attitudes and are filtered down throughout teams - from Directors and business stakeholders all the way down to the junior/trainee level employees.  If you are excited and enthusiastic about the project or role in general then it will inevitably have a knock-on effect, making everyone else around you passionate about what they’re doing.

So in summation; be a positive person, be in a job you love or at the very least make the most out of the one you’ve got!