For Immediate Release
How Successful Leaders Utilize Employee Engagement to Drive Profits "The most successful leaders never do it alone: they are supported by dedicated and loyal employees," says leadership development expert Stephen Balzac, president of
7 Steps Ahead and author of
The 36-Hour Course in Organizational Development. "The secret to successful leadership is knowing how to lead with emotion. There's a reason people don't follow Mr. Spock!"
"The key to utilizing employee engagement to drive profits is to use emotion-based leadership. Success goes to those leaders who can inspire their companies and convince their followers that they can overcome any challenge. Emotion-based leadership is knowing which emotions to build and which emotions to avoid," says Balzac.
Most leaders rely too heavily on logic or focus on fear to drive employees forward, the very opposite of emotion-based leadership. If you're in the back pushing, you're not leading! If nothing happens when you're not in the office, you're pushing, not leading. Success goes to the leaders who lead, not the ones who push.
"If you want to dramatically increase your revenues, you need to recognize that every employee is a salesman, even if they never deal with a client directly. Their excitement will show in the quality of their work and the speed with which it gets done," explains Balzac.
No one comes to work wanting to do a bad job, at least at the start. But business after business complains of having unmotivated employees or of having to constantly push people to work hard.
"The problem is lack of real leadership," says Balzac. "Leaders who yell or threaten or even who just promise rewards are not leading. They're buying mercenaries. Mercenaries may be quite useful in some situations, but they don't have your interests at heart. Knowing which emotions to appeal to and how to appeal to those emotions is the secret to transforming mercenaries into loyal employees who will willingly make that extra effort for the company."
About Steve Balzac Stephen R. Balzac, "
The Business Sensei," is an author, consultant, and professional speaker. He is the president of
7 Steps Ahead, LLC, a consulting firm specializing in helping businesses increase revenue and build their client base.
Steve's background in engineering, management, psychology, martial arts, and competitive sports makes him a popular speaker on topics ranging from leadership, motivation, team building, interviewing skills, and sport performance to computer game design. He was a guest lecturer at MIT and WPI. His
articles have appeared in a number of journals, including
The Journal of Interactive Drama, The IBM Systems Journal, Mass High Tech, Enterprise Management Quarterly, The CEO Refresher, The Journal of Corporate Recruiting Leadership, Analog SF/F and the Worcester Business Journal. A recognized thought leader, Steve regularly conducts webinars through
ExecSense on topics including, "
How to Become an Expert Negotiator as a CEO," "
The Best Ways to Position Yourself for Your Company's Management Team," "What You Would Learn From Reading the Top Ten Business Books of All Time and How To Apply the Concepts Today." Steve is a contributing author to
Ethics and Game Design: Teaching Values Through Play and the author of the
36-Hour Course in Organizational Development published by McGraw-Hill. He is a frequent guest on
radio shows including Motivational Minds and Leadership Radio, and is frequently
quoted in a variety of publications including
IndustryWeek Magazine, The Philadelphia Inquirer and the
Boston Business Journal.
He also holds an appointment as an adjunct professor of Industrial/Organizational Psychology.
For further information or to arrange an interview, contact: