“The greater the loyalty of a group toward the group, the greater is the motivation among the members to achieve the goals of the group, and the greater the probability that the group will achieve its goals.”

            Rensis Likert, American Educator and Organizational Psychologist

Rensis Likert was one of America’s pioneers in the field of organizational behavior? Chances are good he offered these words above sometime between 1940 and 1960, a good while ago. They seem to me to be as true today as ever even when you consider the changes in the basics relationship between many employees and their employers. It is commonly said these days that there is no longer any loyalty shown by employers towards employees…was there ever, really, or were we confusing paternalism with loyalty? I think loyalty in its pure form may just be lying there waiting for us to pick it up and put it to use as a tool for building sustainable performance.

There is nothing normative or judgmental in the way Rensis Likert expresses the power of loyalty here. This is pure ...