The Latte Leadership Method

Over the last few months I have been periodically travelling to a country location 200 km’s south of Perth to conduct a leadership development program with a government organisation.

If you have followed my work for any length of time, you will know that I’m a huge fan of informal recognition and rewards.

During my programs I often recommend the ‘Latte Leadership Method’. 

Where I suggest to leaders that they should simply go buy somebody in their team a cup of coffee and watch the magic happen.

One program participant did exactly that.

He had a contractor that's been on site for six months and performing to a high level. 

He said to his contractor, "Let's head into town, let me buy you a coffee because the last six months you've been doing really well."

But what's interesting is that following this act of recognition, this contractor has just gone on to perform at an even much higher level!

So is it about the coffee? 

Or is it about the recognition?

Interestingly there's a number of trends happening globally, where organisations are actually putting aside their performance management system and are saying to leaders, 

"You know what, you're a professional, you know your team, just catch up with your people and have conversations to engage with them."

Because when it comes down to it, no one really likes the formality of a performance review.

Having your people genuinely feeling appreciated and valued for their efforts will drive greater levels of employee engagement and performance.  

It will also build loyalty and retention in a way that no formal process can.

So, give the ‘Latte Leadership Method’ a try and let me know your results.

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