Creating a healthy and successful workplace culture through joyful, compassionate, people-centered leadership as exemplified by Scrooge’s first boss, Old Fezziwig in Dicken’s classic, A Christmas Carol.

1. Leading Age New York
presents Dave Caperton with:
The Fezziwig Principles
Success through Joyful, Compassionate,
People-Centered Leadership
DNS/DSW
The Sagamore
November 14, 2012

2. The Ghost of Jacob Marley on
the Business of Business
"But you were always a good man of
business, Jacob," faltered Scrooge, who
now began to apply this to himself.
"Business!" cried the Ghost, wringing its
hands again. "Mankind was my business.
The common welfare was my business;
charity, mercy, forbearance, and
benevolence, were, all, my business. The
dealings of my trade were but a drop of
water in the comprehensive ocean of my
business!"
(Dickens, C. 1843. A Christmas Carol)

3. “A Small Matter” said the ghost...
“to make these silly people so full of gratitude.”
“Small.” echoed Scrooge.
The Spirit signed to him to listen to the two
apprentices, who were pouring out their hearts in
praise of Fezziwig: and when he had done so, said,
“Why. Is it not. He has spent but a few pounds of your
mortal money: three or four perhaps. Is that so much
that he deserves this praise.”
“It isn't that,” said Scrooge, heated by the remark, and
speaking unconsciously like his former, not his latter,
self. “It isn't that, Spirit. He has the power to render us
happy or unhappy; to make our service light or
burdensome; a pleasure or a toil. Say that his power
lies in words and looks; in things so slight and
insignificant that it is impossible to add and count
them up: what then. The happiness he gives, is quite
as great as if it cost a fortune.”

4. Lack of TRUST is
epidemic
11% of employees see consistency
between manager’s words and actions
7% trust their senior leaders to look out
for their best interests
7% trust co-workers to do so
Maritz poll, March 2010

5. The Power of Perception
How many triangles?

6. The Virtues of Fezziwig
• JOYFUL -Fun, Positively Engaged,
Celebratory
• COMPASSIONATE -Open, Caring,
Grateful
• RESPONSIBLE -Fair, Principled and
Accountable

7. The Effects of Power
When people wield power they:
Become more focused on
their own needs and wants
Become less focused on
others’ needs, wants, and
actions
Act as if unwritten rules that
others are expected to follow
don’t apply to them
Robert Sutton, HBR, June 2009

8. The Cookie Experiment
Dacher Keltner, Deborah Gruenfield,
Cameron Anderson, 2003
QuickTime™ and a
decompressor
are needed to see this picture.
Even when arbitrarily given, power over others
changes us and our awareness of other people.

9. The Toxic Tandem
Followers devote immense
energy to watching,
interpreting and worrying
about even the smallest
moves their superiors make
People tend to interpret
what they see the boss do
in a negative light

10. The Fallacy of Centrality
The assumption that
because one holds a
central position, one
automatically knows QuickTime™ and a
decompressor
are needed to see this picture.
everything necessary to
exercise effective
leadership.

11. High Powered Danger
source: Karolinska Institute and Stockholm University, 2008
10 year study of 3,100 men aged
19-70
Those with “bad” bosses had QuickTime™ and a
decompressor
are needed to see this picture.
24% increased risk of heart
disease (<4 years exposure)
Long term exposure increased to “Now that we know that
64% risk abusive bosses cause heart
(>4 years) disease, we’re taking
action. We’re putting
defibrillators in
Risk was independent of other every department.”
risk factors (smoking, etc.)

12. What Employees Want
According to Employers:
High Pay
Opportunity for
Advancement
Job Security

13. What Employees Want
According to Employees:
Recognition for the
work they do
To feel a valued part of
the organization
To know that someone
cares about them
personally

14. Why Employees Leave
From: The 7 Hidden Reasons Employees Leave, by Leigh Rivenbark, 2005
Employees quit bad
relationships more than bad
jobs
90% leave because of
issues with their job,
QuickTime™ and a
decompressor manager, culture or
environment.
are needed to see this picture.
90% of managers believe
employees stay or go mostly
for the money
Top reason for leaving:
feeling unappreciated.

15. The Recognition Gap
65% of American workers
surveyed reported that
they had experienced
NO recognition for work
in the past year
(Gallup, 2004)

16. The Cost of Disengagement
22 million workers are
extremely negative or
“actively disengaged”
QuickTime™ and a
decompressor
are needed to see this picture.
$250-300 billion a year
in lost productivity
As high as $1 trillion
with work injury, illness,
turnover, etc. or 10% 0f
GDP
-According to Gallup

17. The Power of Focus
“We found that one person,
specifically the manager in this
context, can eliminate almost
ALL of the active
disengagement in the workplace if
he or she focuses primarily on an
employee’s strengths.”
-Tom Rath, How Full Is Your Bucket?

18. We Tend to Get What We Focus On
JOY PAIN
Everything that happens in life places us somewhere
on our personal continuum between joy and pain.
Except for the relatively rare extremes of tragedy
and triumph, we get to decide what each experience
means. That’s the amazing ability of being human.

19. The Power of
Shared Laughter
Is associated with Joy
Is a Coping tool
Reduces Stress
Connects people like almost nothing else

20. The Humor Response
Smile
(the primary humor response)
Laughter
Violent Laughter
Finally …you pee

21. The workplace environment of:
In a
Value of TRUST
Strong trust Weak trust
More committed to their High levels of active
organization disengagement
4% completely satisfied
58% completely satisfied
with their job
with their job
7% would be willing to
63% happy to spend spend entire career
rest of career there
Just 3% look forward to
50% look forward to coming to work
coming to work

22. Worth a Fortune
Positive emotions are
perhaps more powerful
than negative emotions
One person’s QuickTime™ and a
happiness continues to
decompressor
are needed to see this picture.
have a significant impact
at a third degree of
separation
Fowler, J.H. & Christakis, N.A. (2008)

23. Words and Looks
Attitudes and Feelings in
Face-to-Face Communication
Words = 7%
Voice = 38%
Physical = 55%
Dr. Albert Mehrabian, UCLA

24. The Magic Ratio
A 5 to 1 ratio of positive
to negative interactions
can predict a successful
marriage
Workgroups with a 3 to 1
+ ratio were significantly
more productive
At 13 to 1, production
worsens.
John Gottman, 1992

25. The Power of P.R.A.I.S.E.
P ersonal Meaningful and specific
praise is vastly superior
R ecognition and more useful than
general and platitudinous
A ppropriate recognition. Individuals
I ndividual crave attention and
respond to it most
S pecific positively when it is
personal, specific and
E arnest sincere.

26. Compassionate Leadership

27. What it Means to be a Leader
“The first responsibility of a leader is to
define reality. The last is to say ‘Thank
you’. In between the two, the leader must
become a servant and a debtor. That sums
up the progress of an artful leader.”
-Max De Pree, Leadership Is an Art

28. The Cost of Employee Dissatisfaction
“Research [...] shows that employees who
perform better and have more training,
education and ability are the most likely to
quit if dissatisfied.”
-Anthony J. Nyberg and Charlie O. Trevor,
Harvard Business Review, June 2009

29. Herb Kelleher on the Business of Business
“The business of business is people. The
synergy in our opinion was simple: Honor,
respect, care for, protect and reward your
employees regardless of title or position. And in
turn they will treat the external customers in a
warm, caring and hospitable way. This causes
external customers to return, thus bringing joy to
the shareholders.”

30. Words and Looks
The Golden Rule
“Do Unto Others as You Would
Have Them Do Unto You”
The Platinum Rule
“Do Unto Others as THEY Would
Have You Do Unto Them”
Tony Allesandro - The Platinum Rule

31. A Short Course in Leadership
Ph.D in leadership. Short course: Make a
short list of all the things done to you that
you abhorred. Don’t do that to others.
Ever. Make another list of all the things
done to you that you loved. Do them to
others. Always.
-Dee Hock, founder of Visa

32. Things Slight and Insignificant
Whether a manager focuses on strengths, weaknesses, or nothing makes all the
difference to whether or not workers are engaged and positive.
No focus on strengths
or weaknesses = 40%
chance of A.D.
Focus on weaknesses=
22% chance of A.D.
Focuses on strengths =
1% chance of A.D.

33. Coaching as Teaching
One day we visited six or seven restaurants in South Central L.A.
These were workplaces where employees typically didn’t get a ton of
praise or thank-yous. At each one, I’d go behind the counter, get on the
food prep line and catch an employee doing something right. I’d say,
‘Great job-that’s the perfect way to portion that taco’ and then turn to
the next person down the line and ask, ‘Did you see how well this was
done?’ Or I’d stand in the middle of the restaurant and half shout, ‘Who
did the walk-in today?’ There would be silence and then someone would
say, ‘I did.’ And I’d compliment him on the job and ask the people in the
kitchen to gather around so they could see what had gone right and what
could be done even better next time.
-Julia Stewart, CEO, DineEquity

34. Leadership Models
“We’ve been looking at video of Herb Kelleher just
walking down the hallway at Love Field in Dallas and it’s
as though there were a circle of good feeling radiating
around him wherever he went. Everyone, passengers,
personnel, you know, passers-by all of a sudden light up
and beam because he was someone who engaged people,
was positive and who let you know that he was tuning into
you and was doing it with such positivity that it was
contagious.”
-Daniel Goleman, author of Emotional Intelligence and Social Intelligence

35. Fezziwig’s Inventory
1. How does your organization practice the Fezziwig principles?
2. How do you as a leader demonstrate Fezziwig’s virtues?
3. Which leader, in your view, is the clearest example of the Fezziwig
Principle and why?
4. Laughter is bonding. Share a funny story from your own experience
at work or home.
5. Brainstorm to come up with at least one concrete action, change or
initiative to make your leadership more joyful, compassionate, and
people-centered.

36. Things Slight and Insignificant
“When we think about leaders and the
variety of gifts that people bring to
institutions, we see that the art of
leadership lies in polishing and liberating
and enabling those gifts.”
-Max De Pree, Leadership Is an Art