So how can managers engage more of their employees and boost performance? We asked Curt Coffman, Gallup's Global Practice Leader for Workplace and Customer Management, for insights from the world's greatest managers.

GMJ: In Follow This Path, you talk about the "emotional economy." Define that.

Coffman: Traditionally, organizations have been inclined to approach employees as if they were walking computers who take in and analyze data to make rational decisions. But that's not true. Instead, people are emotional first and rational second. A person's decisions and behaviors are dictated, to a great extent, by his emotional filters. If you think about the reasons why an employee leaves a company -- or why an employee stays with a company but "retires" on the job psychologically -- it's usually due to emotional rather than rational reasons.

In the work we do with clients, we see that the best managers use six "close-to-the-action" strategies to manage the emotional dimensions of the teams they lead. First, great managers maintain strong, caring relationships with every individual on their teams.

GMJ: Tell me more about that.

Coffman: Great managers realize that the only way they can manage emotions is through relationships. The old, "rational" approach to managing emotions is to try to get people to change how they feel. For example, a manager who takes a rational approach might talk with an employee about a problem, but she will only attempt to get the employee to change his emotional view and see it her (the manager's) way.

This approach almost never works. Great managers use a caring approach instead. They realize that the level of trust between a manager and employee will determine how that employee deals with problems. So great managers stay close to every individual on their teams, and they manage through those relationships.

GMJ: Give me an example.

Coffman: At some point in every employee's career, a serious problem will arise. Great managers don't shy away from these problems. They believe that they can use those critical moments with employees to help clarify their focus, their impact, or their possibilities. The caring relationship with each employee enables great managers to use those moments to provide constructive direction to that employee.

This leads us to the second strategy: communication. Great managers clearly define and consistently communicate goals and objectives to their team members -- and they individualize that communication to unleash each person's potential for performance. More importantly, that communication is never one-way. Great managers are always soliciting ideas and feedback from their team members. And when a team member has a problem, a great manager will keep the communication open, honest, and direct, even when communicating a difficult message.

GMJ: What other strategies can managers use to engage their employees emotionally?

Coffman: They can help employees see their connection to customers. Employees drive a customer's attachment to an organization, so every employee has a crucial role to play in helping his organization serve its customers.

It's like a chain reaction: There are connections from every employee's role to the organization's customers, and managers must help each employee see those connections, especially if an employee doesn't interact directly with customers. They must set high standards for customer service by tying those standards directly to the employee's job function. They don't compromise on important behaviors or standards that affect customers. And they must reinforce the company's values when it comes to superior customer service and engagement.

GMJ: Let's say an employee works in accounting and processes payroll, and she never interacts directly with customers. How could a manager show a connection between her work and the company's customers?

Coffman: By focusing on the "chain reaction" that leads from her to the customer. Her manager can help her see how her work significantly affects the company's employees and how that ultimately affects the company's customers. When employees see that there is a purpose for what they do -- that it's more than a mundane task -- they bring more passion and emotion to their work. They become engaged employees.

Next, great managers reinforce those connections to customers -- and the importance of each employee's role -- through recognition. For them, recognizing employees isn't a "feel-good" issue; it's how the organization communicates its values to employees. The best recognition is local, real-time, close to the action, and sincere. And most importantly, it relates directly to the desired outcomes of an employee's role -- because that tells the employee that her work matters to the company, to customers, and to her fellow employees.

Great managers understand that different people must be recognized in different ways. They help their employees own their own thirst about what type of recognition they crave -- whether written or verbal, public or private -- and most importantly, whom they crave recognition from.

GMJ: Why does that matter?

Coffman: Because we value recognition more if it comes from the right person. For example, if someone who has no clue what I do every day gives me an award, it's less meaningful to me than if someone I admire and respect recognizes my accomplishments. If it's done right, recognition is the fuel that propels employees to even greater achievements -- it helps them bring more passion and zest to their work.

GMJ: What is the next strategy?

Coffman: Simply, it's freedom to act. Great managers maintain a strong presence in the workplace, but that intensity doesn't come from a hierarchical power over their employees; it emanates from their own competence. They have a strong set of values, and they communicate them clearly to their employees. They define the right outcomes, then step aside and let each employee find his own way toward meeting those expectations. The best managers are like stage directors: They set the outcomes, they give the employees their directions, and then -- if everyone does what they're supposed to do at just the right time -- "the show" runs perfectly.

GMJ: But in real life -- as in plays, for that matter -- things don't always go as planned.

Coffman: And that's when you see the true colors of a manager's presence and influence. Bad managers will start threatening, micromanaging, or exerting power. But great managers will stay flexible and involve employees in the changes that must be made. They'll focus on reaching desired outcomes in a productive way. In fact, great managers use these moments to activate their sixth strategy: focusing on the development of the individual and the team. They use workplace challenges to help their employees grow, because each employee's growth is crucial to increasing the team's value in the organization.

Great managers push employees to achieve, often beyond what their employees thought they were capable of accomplishing. The bottom-line difference between a great manager and a poor manager is that a great manager says to his employees, "Be good at what you do -- in fact, be better than me, because I get a kick out of your growth and development." A bad manager, in contrast, would say, "Be good, but not too good -- don't ever be better than me." And that really limits an employee's -- and an organization's -- ability to grow.

-- Interviewed by Barb Sanford