The Mary Kay Way: Make People Feel Important

As the title of her book suggests, The Mary Kay Way: Timeless Principles From America's Greatest Woman Entrepreneur (2008), Mary Kay Ash was a great entrepreneur. Indeed, an academic study by Baylor University declared her the "Greatest Female Entrepreneur in American History" (p. xv). How did she become so successful?

She made her employees feel important, she boosted their confidence, and she made their jobs fun. Mary Kay believed that "You Build With People" and that "A Company is Only as Good as its People" (p. 15). Mary Kay also believed that

Every person is special! I sincerely believe this. Each of us wants to feel good about himself or herself, but to me it is just as important to make others feel the same way. Whenever I meet someone, I try to imagine him or her wearing an invisible sign that says: MAKE ME FEEL IMPORTANT! I respond to this sign immediately, and it works wonders. (p. 21)

People would tell Mary Kay that she didn't need to make her employees feel important - after all, she was paying them. But she thought they were wrong and said, "Making people feel important is precisely what a leader is paid for - because making people feel important motivates them to do better work" (Ash, 2008, p. 23).

You've probably walked by cosmetic counters at department stores and seen bored looking clerks behind the counters. Maybe you've even seen anxious and uncertain customers trying on the products - would their friends and family members like the way the makeup made them look? Mary Kay found a way to make selling cosmetics an egolifting, fun experience for both employees and customers. Her Beauty Consultants would host classes on skin care and other cosmetic issues, and after each class, the Beauty Consultants would encourage the guests to comment on each others' improvement - naturally everyone would praise each other. The fun atmosphere and fulsome praise would even motivate many of the customers to join the Mary Kay sales force.

Mary Kay realized that people especially need praise when learning new skills. She believed that leaders need to praise people to success and that "little successes pave the way to bigger successes" (Ash, 2008, p. 31). Mary Kay also believed that tangible rewards - like bonuses and gifts - are most effective when given with praise, recognition, and public applause. She would hold parties and large-scale celebrations to recognize her top sales people. At these events, she would give away jewelry, trips, and her famous Pink Cadillacs to recognize and reward top performers.

1. When was the last time (a) your manager, and/or (b) a coworker praised you and made you feel important?

2. How much does praise and recognition improve motivation (if any)?

3. How often do managers need to give praise?

4. Besides monetary rewards, how should managers give praise and recognition to employees?

Source: Ash, M. K. (2008). The Mary Kay way: Timeless principles from America's greatest woman entrepreneur. Hoboken, NJ: Wiley.