Bang a saucepan for your ordinary heroes

03 Apr Bang a saucepan for your ordinary heroes

Reading Time: 2 minutes

On a Thursday evening in April 2020 the sounds of banging pots and pans, claps and cheers echoed around empty streets across the United Kingdom. On doorsteps and leaning out windows people acknowledged the health workers and others on the frontlines of the pandemic. Recognising that by doing their jobs, they were doing something both ordinary and heroic.

I think there are ordinary heroes in every organisation and job. And we shouldn’t need a pandemic to see them. Another name for them might be ‘unheroes’. Those who do necessary, unheralded work. Otherwise known as the lion’s share of what makes an enterprise function. They are the trusted team players. Unrestrainedly moderate, they mint confidence, always show up on time, prepared and ready to contribute what’s needed.

Ordinary heroes aren’t the superstars who get kudos and awards for ‘going above and beyond’ (more on awards later). Nor are they anti-heroes. What’s an anti-hero?

Forget the renegades or mavericks of business lore. Today’s workplace anti-heroes are stubborn underminers, firmly focused “on their personal motives first and foremost, with everything else secondary.*”

Sound familiar? They stymie progress with their relentless entitlement. Push their personal agenda. Disregarding the most basic expectations of having a job—one they chose to take. And beyond disengaged, they blame everyone but themselves for how they feel. While treating your organisation like their personal Hotel California. Checked out, they never leave.

Based on years observing organisations, my guesstimate is that roughly 20% of workers will be anti-heroes with their arms crossed. 20% will do cartwheels for what you care about. And both garner too much attention. Leaving 60% in the unheroic middle waiting for you to acknowledge their day-to-day efforts. Waiting for you to bang a few pans for them.

So, beyond claps and cheers from the doorstep, what’s the best way to acknowledge your ordinary heroes? For the love of everything unheroic. Do. Not. Create. Another. Award (hero or otherwise).

Yes. Acknowledge people’s work. But when you add sparklers and a crown, you signal to everyone that extraordinary effort is what gets noticed. And before you can say organisational hunger games, you’ve got a culture competing for places at the expense of the everyday thing done well for the thousandth time.

Look instead for ways to bake day-to-day acknowledgement into how people work together.

Notice out loud when they do something right. Say a quiet thank you in person for their efforts. Leave a cup of coffee on your co-worker’s desk (or a meme of one in their Teams chat) the morning after a long night. Take a few minutes to share how people have contributed to progress before diving into the meeting agenda.

And while that might not sound like much compared to the grand gestures of culture theatre. Small stuff done on repeat will compound far more quickly, and to greater effect, than you expect.

Organisations that embrace and appreciate unheroic work often overflow with a basic warmth born of honest intent. Absent glory hounds and drama magnets, what’s left is the sustenance of working alongside others who share in the value of work done well. As its own award.

So next time you’re hiring. Instead of asking when someone saved the day. Tease out their favourite memory of a gesture that has stuck with them. Or what day-to-day aspect of their last role felt most rewarding. Look for people who are fuelled by the unheroic.

Look for more ordinary heroes.