"You must identify with the values of the company and its products!" proclaims the leader. Often quoted. Easy to say. Hard to achieve. The question is: How does identification arise? Does the company have to impose itself on its employees in such a way that identification can even become infection without their involvement? Or is identification a debt that must be collected? Every company wants employees who identify with their workplace, their managers, the products, the customers, and the company's purpose. But hardly any of them systematically address this core issue.
The responsibility the obligation to pick up and drop off can be understood by looking at a blended family. How do I learn to love (identify with) a child who does not share my genes (someone else's goal)? The key: by engaging with the child. The more I open up to them and devote myself to them, the more I grow fond of them (identification). But if the child does not engage with me, it will not work either. The will of both parties is therefore necessary. Applied to business life, this means that both sides must make an effort—guided by the leader.
Dealing with change
How does that work? Give your employees space and time to engage with new ideas, products, and changes. But also demand that they engage. It's interesting to note that some management teams retreat to Mount Sinai at the end of a discovery phase to commit themselves to change. When they return from the mountain, the employees are expected to immediately go along with the change, even though they were not given the time to "engage with it at length." It is obvious that this will lead to resistance. Giving yourself time, but not giving it to others: how is that supposed to work? It only works if the employees are treated like immature slaves.
Identification with a person also arises according to a clear system. Be consistent! With your strengths and your weaknesses. You will be respected for your strengths and loved for your weaknesses! But please be honest about your weaknesses, not weaknesses that are supposed to be disguised strengths, such as impatience. Only when you show who you really are can your employees find out for themselves what they find admirable about you. Today, people don't need a superman (idealism) for guidance, but honesty (realism).
Actively strive
Let them have a say and help shape things without letting them interfere in everything. This creates space for identification. But employees must also want to identify with the company. Make this clear and demand it! Actively striving for identification is a sign of wisdom. This allows everyone to create their own source of motivation and makes them less dependent on external factors.
Products are also sources of identification! An Opel employee who drives a Golf sends out the wrong message. If a few Opel employees drive a Golf, that's okay. But if the majority do, then something is wrong with the brand's internal core. If it's not right internally, it's only a matter of time before it becomes apparent externally (to customers). That's why you need great products, and you need employees who are happy to engage with those great products.
Identification as an enormous source of strength
Only those who can engage more deeply with tasks, ideas, and values will experience fulfillment and mature happiness—both privately and professionally. This is not about total overlap, but rather a suitable, harmonious intersection. leader provide the space for this, and employees should gratefully accept this invitation. This is wise and smart. On the other hand, it is foolish to demand too much from the company or too much from the employee. Easy to say. Hard to implement. Only when both sides constantly engage in this responsibility will a high degree of identification be achieved, creating a self-sustaining source of strength. Allow me to ask a question: How much space for identification do you allow each day?
That's why you're not really happy.
Why success and fulfillment have nothing to do with each other.
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