Slaves vs. Warriors

From King Leonidas in 300 "You have many slaves, Xerxes. But few warriors. It won't be long before they fear my spears more than your whips."

A wise quote from the movie. It is a good thought for leaders. Are your followers driven by fear of punishment or driven by desire for the good of society, company, co-worker, and self? History has provided countless examples of battles fought by true followers vs. slaves and/or mercenaries. Time and again, the true followers are given the title of hero while the others are forgotten.

Leadership in business, etc. is not different. Either you will lead others to greatness or you will be forgotten at best or hated at worst. Which company do you think will provide better employee engagement and pride, customer service, and loyalty?

While adding benefits is a good as a reward for a job well done, as a retention tool it fails. Benefits as a retention tool are similar to the mercenary in an army. If the employee is seeking money for the sake of money, how long will that person stay in the midst of hard times or when offered a higher wage from a competitor? Talent retention is a creeping problem, especially as boomers retire. Offering more money, more vacation, etc. will never bring a company to greatness. The highest value will be effectiveness without heart. And then the pressure is to make sure the employee is compensated highly because there will be other companies seeking that employee's talent and willing to pay more for it. Attraction and retention of talent will prevail because of the company's treatment of people, not solely pay.