Carrots and Sticks Don't Work: Build a Culture of Employee Engagement with the Principles of RESPECT

CHAPTER 8Partnering

“In the past a leader was a boss. Today’s leaders must be partners with their people.”

—Ken Blanchard

The concept of partnering transcends teamwork and implies a degree of autonomy, discretion, equality, openness, power, and ownership that blurs traditional management-employee boundaries. Partners are not simply loyal team members; they are co-stewards of the organization’s mission and vision, and they must readily take responsibility for its vitality. Building collaborative working relationships with employees creates the ultimate engaged employee—the employee who treats the business as though he or she owns it. In addition to partnerships among team members and their supervisor, such relations can bridge across departments ...