The impact shook everything for blocks. Fire sucked so much oxygen out of the air around the contact zone that windows in nearby buildings blew out as the towers of the World Trade Center began to wither and then collapse. On the thirty-second floor of the World Financial Center, next to the targeted Twin Towers of the World Trade Center in lower Manhattan, the editorial and business offices of Barron's magazine were almost instantly reduced to rubble. Yet, on September 11, 2001, Barron's employees had already turned their attention to publishing the next issue of their magazine – and on time. The idea of not publishing never even came up. The Barron's workers – reporters, editors, administrators and support staff – were among the Dow Jones employees who returned to their old quarters in less than a year after the attack, having published their magazine from other locations. They, and their colleagues at The Wall Street Journal, never missed an issue.

The people at Barron's are what we call enthusiastic employees. In modern parlance, they are also called “engaged,” but the exact term does not matter. We know what they are – they care – and having employees like them is a prerequisite for long-term business success. Enthusiastic employees outproduce and outperform employees who are not motivated. They step up to do the impossible. They rally each other in tough times.

The waning of enthusiasm

Employee attitude surveys, such as those conducted by Sirota Survey Intelligence®, show clearly that almost all employees are enthusiastic when they're hired: hopeful, ready to work hard, and eager to contribute.