In June of 2011, James Gerdsen, the President of Apollo Heating and Cooling in Cincinnati, Ohio, was published in Octane magazine. It is a magazine dedicated to new ideas and up and coming leaders. “I knew my ideas were good,” says James Gerdsen, “but I didn’t realize anyone else thought so!”

The article, titled “The Push Pull Theory of Leadership,” discusses the idea of instilling trust in employees and encouraging them to have confidence in their abilities. “I changed my thought processes a couple years ago,” James Gerdsen explains. “I was spending all my time at work and neglecting my home life. I didn’t trust any of my employees to do things the way I wanted, so I stretched myself thin trying to merge the gap of where the company was and where it should have been.”

James Gerdsen was working grueling 60-70 hour work weeks. “It had to stop,” he said. “I developed a training program to make sure all employees were held to the same standard. I started delegating tasks to employees and that really resonated with them and correlated into more independent behaviors. When the employees realized I trusted them and expected them to perform at a certain level, they began to hold themselves to those standards.” Within weeks James Gerdsen saw measurable improvements in his newly empowered employees.

The magazine praised James Gerdsen’s ability to find a balance between work and home. It is an issue many small business owners struggle with. They also rang praises on his ideas of incentives. The incentives are what really motivated the employees.

“Finding the right incentive isn’t easy,” claims James Gerdsen. “They have to be beneficial to both the company and the employee. Once you find the best form of motivation, the employees will pull the company forward. Your role as a leader will change. No longer will you walk behind your employees pushing and nagging to increase sales, now you will be at the finish line cheering them on to reach their goal. It will change the atmosphere of the entire company.” For the full article click: http://www.eonetwork.org/knowledgebase/octane/june2011/Pages/ThePushPullTheoryofLeadership.aspx