One of the greatest ways to motivate and engage your employees is to invest in them personally. One company I’ve worked with where the labor market is tight invited me to speak to some of its top managers each quarter on life purpose. After facilitating a one-hour group presentation, I conducted one on one coaching sessions to discuss personal objectives and success. Many of those coaching sessions dealt with issues unrelated to the company. This CEO believed, however, that the well-being of his employees would lead to a successful company. The last few years of incredible growth have proved his point. He cares deeply about his people and has already shared with me how at least one person was willing to take a pay cut to come and work for him.

John Maxwell talks about five levels of leadership development. The first level is rights-based; people follow you because of your position or title. If you remain at this level, however, you’ll experience low morale and high turnover. Next is leading at a relationships level. People follow you because they want to; they’ll go beyond your stated authority because they like you. Staying at this level too long, however, causes highly motivated people to eventually go elsewhere. Hence the need to enter the third level where it’s based on results and production. People follow you because of what you have done for the organization. You’re accomplishing something significant and they want to be a part of it. John Maxwell takes it to the fourth level where people development is the focus and reproduction is the result. He notes that people follow you because of what you have done for them personally. At this level, long-range growth occurs and an organization can scale up or expand exponentially. The final level is reserved for leaders who have spent years growing and developing people. Maxwell refers to this as Personhood. People continue to follow you even when you no longer have a position because they respect you. Your influence has far-reaching impact beyond position, title, and authority.

Motivating and engaging people takes seriously a commitment to their personal development and growth. Invest in them and they will invest in what you care about.