Avionics News April 2013 - 80

BUSINESS BASICS

Continued from page 79

rewards to flesh out their talents.
While cookies inspire some dogs
to learn nearly any trick, others
rarely bother with such silliness,
regardless of the treat. Good dog
trainers recognize the difference.
Depending on their style and what
they’re teaching, they will use a
variety of strategies and tools. But
one thing doesn’t change – you
must be more interesting than any
distractions.
Obviously, humans vary in their
preferred motivations, too, and
according to McKinsey and Co.,
cash treats aren’t always king.
Some nonfinancial rewards are
more effective in building longterm employee engagement. It’s up
to managers to know their people
and their preferred treats.
According to Linda A. Hill,
a professor at Harvard Business
School, people are motivated when
given compelling reasons to fully
commit. This includes knowing
the purpose for their work, having
challenging goals they can strive
toward, and clearly understanding
roles and responsibilities.
4. Potty training works better with a mentor. No kidding:
Murphy, my German shepherd,
potty-trained Stella. I mostly got in
the way while he herded her to the
back door at the critical moment.
Considering he was the only one
who had been through this before,
Murphy’s insight during this
onboarding step was invaluable.
In your avionics shop, mentoring
also offers a wide range of ben80

avionics news

•

april

2013

efits, according to E. Wayne Hart,
author of Seven Keys to Successful
Mentoring. Young employees gather valuable feedback on their work,
insight into company culture and
institutional knowledge when they
follow the lead of senior guides.
They also get validation, which
leads to greater job satisfaction and
tenure because someone’s looking
out for them. Mentoring connects
them to a professional network,
helps them choose assignments and
opportunities, and keeps an ear to
the ground for potential problems.
For young employees in particular, mentoring helps them become
more engaged in their work and
wise to their professional development, which ensures your training
investment pays off.
5. If you’re not in charge,
they will be. Puppy school isn’t
just about teaching the dog; it’s
also about teaching the person at
the end of the leash to hold the
animal accountable to rules. In
the absence of these, dogs come
up with their own rules, and
you’re not going to like them.
Left unchecked, dogs even react
to different leaders to see if these
humans really are in charge – like
a kid going to the other parent.
For this reason, everyone who
takes the leash has to be on the
same page so that there’s discipline, which is far different than
punishment.
According to Mike Myatt, author
of Leadership Matters: The CEO
Survival Manual, leadership failure usually has a greater toll than
misbehavior: business failure. Top
lapses include a lack of character,

vision and execution. All of this
destroys trust among the ranks and
causes someone lower on the food
chain to take charge. Poor management allows toxic cultures to
build, poor hires to be made and an
innovation to die. The best leaders
have a bias toward action, and they
take charge to keep their business
relevant.
6. It helps to know an expert
or two. My professional dog
trainers answered any and every
stupid question I could think to
ask; they even threw in remedial
owner training when they thought
I needed it. From there, I picked
up books, magazines, videos, and
eventually, advanced classes and
competition. The work had become
fun.
I’ve never met a trainer who
wasn’t willing to offer advice. But
part of learning involves figuring
out when to be wary of so-called
experts. I’m always careful to pick
quality over quacks.
Yet continual learning is important. It prevents us from sliding
back into lazy habits. According
to Myatt, no one person is knowledgeable or wise enough to operate
in a vacuum, and business leaders need to seek quality advice to
make the best decisions.
Additionally, learning helps us
to continually improve; managers need razor-sharp skills in such
tasks as motivating performance,
goal setting, conducting tough
conversations and dealing with
conflict. Chosen wisely, books,
classes, mentoring programs, busiContinued on page 82
Avionics News April 2013

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