People try all sorts of things to forge group camaraderie nowadays…praise and reward-which leads to spoiling and selfishness, punishments and discipline-which leads to resent and defensiveness, speeches and social events-they’re often like energy drinks, they get you all excited at first but oftentimes you end up crashing after a while. All of these tools can be wonderfully utilized if they are done pro actively not reactively. When they are implemented later they have a stronger possibility of being shunned or overlooked. The key is to make people feel like they are a part of something greater than themselves, this distracts them from their selfish interests, and it links their success with the success of the organization. Once that is established, when people’s selfish behavior surface it is looked down upon, a group “conscience” develops.
This starts with the leader, morale must be strong from the beginning, from day one, in order for it to be effective.
