By Charles Garcia

After months of economic tough times, a glimmer of light is starting to appear at the end of the proverbial tunnel. Rather than being harbingers of doom, economic news stories are now starting to look ever so slightly brighter.

This improved economic forecast will likely have many company leaders looking for ways to motivate their employees to keep up the hard work necessary for navigating their companies into calmer waters. Unfortunately, despite the recent economic uptick, most company leaders still can’t offer what they view as their greatest motivational bargaining chip with their employees—the almighty dollar.

Fear not. Money isn’t the only way to rally your troops and boost morale during this crucial time. In fact, positive, strong leadership can often garner far greater results than offering money or other perks ever could.

More money not the only route to motivation
Too often businesses assume that offering more money is the only way to motivate employees. The reality is that employees value having strong leaders, who motivate them to do their best, just as much if not more. And there’s no greater defense against a tough economy than a workforce motivated to do their absolute best.

As an alum of the White House Fellowship program, one of the most prestigious leadership programs in the country, I know the value of quality leadership.

There’s never been a more appropriate time for the rest of us to look to great leaders for inspiration. The lessons that can be learned from the White House Fellows mentors are universal and absolutely invaluable to any business leader smart enough to heed them.

Remember, all the money in the world won’t keep a hardworking but unhappy employee with your company. But follow the leadership principles that help you better motivate and encourage that employee and she will be just as invested in making your company a success as you are.

Using insightful, firsthand accounts from past program participants, Garcia’s new book, Leadership Lessons of the White House Fellows: Learn How to Inspire Others, Achieve Greatness, and Find Success in Any Organization (McGraw-Hill, 2009, ISBN: 978-0-07-159848-4, $24.95), explores the leadership lessons that former White House Fellows said they took away from their year working under some of the best of the best in Washington, D.C.

TechJournal South will be running a number of the leadership lessons from Garcia’s book.

Here’s Leadership Lesson Number 1:

LEADERSHIP LESSON #1: Energize your people. Your employees have just helped you pull your company through one of the nation’s worst economic periods. They’ve been constantly bombarded with bad news in their own lives and in their work lives.

It’s time they had a source of positive energy. Who better for them to turn to for that kind of encouragement than you, their leader? Instead of being the type of leader who sucks the energy away from others, resolve to be the kind of leader who strives to bring passion and positive energy to the workplace every day.

THE STORY BEHIND THE LESSON: John Patrick Gallagher

U.S. Major John Patrick Gallagher (WHF 07-08) learned about leadership from General David Petraeus. General Petraeus was a colonel in the 82nd Airborne Division at the same time Gallagher was assigned to the division as a second lieutenant.

One day Petraeus called his brigade together and asked them who could tell him the number one leadership priority of the brigade. The answers ranged from integrity to professional and tactical competence to marksmanship until finally someone hit the nail on the head. The answer? Physical fitness.

“We all thought he was kidding, and we couldn’t for the life of us figure out how that could be the number one priority in the brigade,” recalled Gallagher. “But we learned later that he was right. Self-discipline and being able to perform under pressure and exist outside our comfort zone would be the key that unlocked our success.”

Petraeus began leading his troops through seventy-five minutes of intense exercise every morning. And with every pull-up, push-up, and sprint, the brigade became more alert, had more physical and mental energy, and more individual and team pride.

“All those other things we wanted to do well got better, whether it was marksmanship or vehicle maintenance or soldiers going on leave and not getting arrested for DUI,” Gallagher said. “All these other indicators went up when Petraeus created this climate of self-discipline.

He boiled down his leadership approach to this: Am I giving my subordinates energy or am I taking it away? Put another way, am I leading in a way that causes my subordinates to be more enthusiastic and creative about doing their jobs—to believe more deeply in what they are doing and why they are doing it—or am I leading in such a way that it is stifling growth and enthusiasm?

If the latter is true, the job may still get done by the sheer force of your legitimacy or presence, but it doesn’t get done as well and it doesn’t last after you’re gone. Petraeus knows how to lead in such a way that it gives his subordinates energy. That’s an incredibly powerful leadership tool.”

Since leaving his Fellowship, Gallagher has been using that tool daily in his role as Director for the War of Ideas and Strategic Communications at the National Security Council’s Office of Iraq and Afghanistan Affairs.

For more information about Charles Garcia, see: www.charlespgarcia.com