Putting Others First: Never Doubt the Power of Deep Knee Bends

If you had told me that putting others first at my company might have meant deep knee bends and alternating kicks to a rousing Israeli folk song, I wouldn’t have believed you. But when my staff challenged my colleague and me to a friendly dance-off at our annual holiday party years ago, I realize now that I was happy to oblige because this amusing gesture was symbolic of something greater.

As I held the arm of my fellow co-worker, our company’s general counsel, we began to bend and kick at a friendly pace. If you’re familiar with Hava Nagila, this song of celebration speeds up as it progresses, and we found ourselves squatting lower and lower while kicking forward to the beat. It felt like a game of limbo because we were wondering who could go the lowest without falling over.

On the surface, we were all laughing and enjoying the moment as the song reached an exhausting pace. Below the surface, something equally wonderful was happening. Our staff was experiencing our light-hearted and approachable side. They were seeing us as humble performers and human beings. When human beings lead a company, the staff will go to great lengths to perform and surpass expectations.

Forming a people-first culture means putting an emphasis on the people who work for your organization in a variety of ways. It’s been years since I thought of this dance-off and what later became a tradition, but an article I read about “10 Most-Loved Tech CEOs” triggered the memory.

When I took a mental tally of the reasons why people loved their CEO, nine out of ten cited reasons like, “The leadership values the individual; they create a fun culture; they’re caring, respectful and put people first; the leaders are dedicated to employees’ futures; they offer advancement and support, mentorship and educational assistance.”

Certainly, some of these efforts require a budget, but not all great cultures have to spend a lot of money to put people first. For example, every summer when I was CEO at Prologis, the management team used to serve lunch outdoors to our employees. The staff got a kick out of preparations, especially a promotional flyer featuring our headshots with chef hats. But our light-hearted event had a genuine message: We were happy to serve our employees and show how much we appreciated them.

Scott Scherr is the CEO of Ultimate Software and is on the 10 Most-Loved CEO List. He has a company blog about putting people first. I’d like to close with a great quote from Sabrina Baker, Founder of Acacia HR Solutions, who was featured in one of their posts. Baker explains that, “Putting people first means leaders spend more time creating and cultivating relationships with employees than they do anything else. It means focusing on employee development more than product development. In a people-first environment, leaders understand that, by focusing on employees first, the innovation, efficiency, and productivity will follow.”

Putting people first can take on the form of something simple, formalized or downright spontaneous. The important thing is to remember why you’re doing it. When you ask yourself why, you’ll quickly realize the answers far outweigh any gesture on your part. A sure sign that everyone wins when you show your employees how much they matter.

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