Have a Good Life

David Long, CEO of My Employees. Started the company from
Author of Built to Lead: 7 Management R.E.W.A.R.D.S Principles for Becoming a Top 10% Manager.. This book is amazing, and I learned a ton from talking to David. He is a businessman, and not an educator, but he is really on point here.

• Top 1% in all three industries he has participated in, so topics relatable to all industries.
• Employee recognition programs.
• It’s not just plaques for employee recognition.
• It is normal to procrastinate, forget, or otherwise delay awards and recognition for employees.
• Great intentions last only 3 months.
• Recognize 2 people from each department.
• 20% or higher growth per year because of this employee recognition.
• Employee recognition is the greatest way to get people to buy into your vision for the school.
• Teachers will only be successful if the kids are successful, so we need to make our teachers and kids successful.
• Metrics for schools: Don’t want it to be a popularity contest!
• Measure what you are already using.
• Recognition has to be administered every 7–10 days.
• Employee recognition reminder chart. - Digital Version Recognize everyone 3 times a month!
• If you can’t find something to recognize them for, you’re dropping the ball as a leader.
• We do not outgrow the desire to be shown that we are significant.
• If teachers don’t feel like they are part of the team, they want to leave you.
• Two reasons people want to leave your school: 1) Not getting recognition or 2) the leader is forcing them to work with incompetent people.
• You have to show the teachers that they matter.
• People will listen to you because you care.
• You will lose good people sometimes if you focus on them
• Many employees receive no recognition for months at a time.
• Find as many metrics as you can.
• Demotivator: not using metrics to determine employee recognition, i.e., If someone comes in late and leaves early every day, and you reward that person.
• Don’t make recognition about “It’s this person’s turn.”
• 80/20 rule. Recognize top 20% of each department.
  Part 2

• Student engagement surveys for teachers. Simplistic questions: How well do you feel the teacher teaches…? How well do you feel your teacher encourages you…? (What would be good)
• Interview and assess what the kids are getting from their teachers.
• Metrics he uses: Dollar/ticket, renewal sales, how many calls they answer, answering the phones by the third ring,
• Kaizan - continuous improvement, monitoring something causes the production of it to increase by 10 percent.
• TEDxCSDTeachers - increase attendance by 10%.
• shoutoutcards.com - stubs or something to remind you of what someone did well.
• Let your people shine.
• Book clubs - teach your teachers how to improve their lives - personal development, not books related to our profession.
• Dr. Tony Zeiss - 12 Essential Rules for Becoming Indispensable
• Book clubs help teams that don’t usually work together work together.
• Side note: teach kids how to use money and have their money spent effectively.
• What can principals do? Use the recognition chart to make sure you are checking in on your teachers.
• Invest in your own education, learn how to be a better principal, teacher, speaker, etc.
• davidlong@top10manager.com
• 800–489–0230
• Buy the hardback copy, get the kindle version free by emailing Copy of workbook from the
• “You’re impacting lives every day, or you’re not!”

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