MOTIVATING PEOPLE: 1 TO 10

READING ROOM:

100 WAYS TO MOTIVATE OTHERS

(REVISED EDITION)

STEVE CHANDLER & SCOTT RICHARDSON

(226 PAGES)

Belief is never the way to succeed.  Practice is the way. Examine the result.

 

Motivating people by downloading own anxiety onto them doesn’t work.  Its will only make everybody tense and anxious.  It doesn’t motivate them to do what you really want them to do.  It doesn’t help them get the best out of themselves.

The first step in motivating other is to realize that ‘if there’s a problem, I’m the problem’.  You can inspire your people by letting them watch you grow.  Letting them see a “before” and “after” picture of you as you master more and more skills of excellent leadership.

100 WAYS	NOTES
1	KNOW WHERE MOTIVATION COMES FROM Leadership is the art of getting someone else to do something you want done because he wants to do it - Dwight D. Eisenhower - Manager can’t really directly control their people. Motivation always comes from within your employees, not form you. Get people to motivate themselves by managing agreements, not people.  When you try to manage the behaviour and emotions of other people, your life will be full of stress and disappointment. Motivation come from the inside, not the outside.
2	TEACH SELF DISCIPLINE Discipline is remembering what you want - David Campbell,Founder, Saks Fifth Avenue - Self-Discipline is like a language.  It can be learned.  We all “have” self- discipline.  It’s just that some people just hasn’t chosen to use it yet. If a person truly understood that self-discipline is something one uses, not something one has, then that person could use it to accomplish virtually any goal they ever set. Enlightened leaders get more out of their people because ·         They know their people already has everything it takes to be successful ·         They don’t buy the excuses, the apologies, and the sad fatalism.
3	TUNE IN BEFORE YOU TURN ON Don’t tell people how to do things, tell then what to do and let them surprise you with their result - George S. Patton - You can’t motivate someone who can’t hear you.  No matter how good you are at saying it, it will bounce off their psychological armour. Your people have to hear you it be moved by you.  Your employees must first appreciate that you are on their wavelength and understand their thinking. It’s best to listen, and listen well especially on life in the organization and what would they like to change.
4	BE THE CAUSE, NOT THE EFFECT Shallow people believe in luck. Wise and strong people believe in cause and effect - Ralph Waldo Emerson - Choosing to be a producer who causes things to happen will set you apart from most other people.
5	STOP CRITICIZING UPPER MANAGEMENT Two things are bad for the heart – running uphill and running down people - Benard Gimbel - Have courage to represent upper management and use the word ‘we’ more often than ‘they’.
6	DO THE ONE THING Management is during things right; leadership is doing the right things - Peter F. Drucker - The greatest source of stress in the workplace is the mind’s attempt to carry many thoughts, many tasks, many future scenarios, many cares, many worries and many concerns at once. The mind can only carry one thing at a time. Motivation requires a calm, centred leader, focused on one thing, and only one thing.
7	KEEP GIVING FEEDBACK The failure of giving appropriate and timely feedback is the most extremely cruelty that we can inflict on any human being -Charles Coonradt, Management consultant- Human being crave feedback.  Any feedback, even negative feedback is better than no feedback. The cruelest form of punishment is solitary confinement. When people are cut off from feedback their minds will manufacture their own feedback, quite often based on their worst fears. Human being crave real feedback. Manager who have trouble motivating their people are the ones who are not giving feedback. Achievement requires continuous feedback.  If you want to get the most out of your people, it’s imperative that you are the one who is the most up because motivators do their homework.
8	GET INPUT FROM YOUR PEOPLE I not only use all the brains I have but all I can borrow - Woodrow Wilson - Good leader continue to seek creative input from their direct reports.  This practice is highly motivational. The quality of our motivational skill is directly related to the quality of our questions. A great leader will ask question that leads to great ideas.
9	ACCELERATE CHANGE Every Organization must be prepared to abandon everything it does to survive in the future - Peter F Drucker - A leader’s role is to always keep the people cheered–up, optimistic, and ready to play full-out in the face of change. In the face of change, it’s important to anticipate the psychological reaction to change in the employees.  Learn how to manage the change cycle. Objective (This can’t be good) Reduced consciousness (I really don’t want to deal with this) Exploration (How can I make this change work for me?) Buy-in (I have figured out how I can make this work for me and for others). It’s human nature to resist change.  Sometimes, the first three stages in the cycle may take a long, long time for people to pass through.  To overcome: ·         Prepare to communicate the change in most enthusiastic and positive way possible. ·         Educate and inform own self about the change.
10	KNOW YOUR OWNERS AND VICTIMS Those who follow the part of themselves that is great will become great. Those who follow the part that is small will become small. - Mencius - People you motivate tend to divide themselves into two categories: owner and victims. Owner are people who take full responsibility for their happiness, and victims are always lost in their unfortunate stories. Difference Victims owner Blame others Blame circumstances Hard to deal with Blame situation Own their own morale Own their response to any situation Handling Try getting them excited when they are not victims. Try pointing out their ownership action Try acknowledging them when they are proactive and self-responsible. Be patient with them. Hear their feeling out empathetically Empathize without buying in to their victims viewpoint Show them other view Live if for them. Appreciate them There is no magic prescription.  There is only commitment.  People who are committed to having a team of self-responsible, creative, upbeat people will get exactly that. The basic thing you can do : Reward ownership wherever you see it. Be an owner yourself Take full responsibility for your staff’s morale and performance. To be a true leader, just be realistic, honest, and upbeat.  Focus on opportunities and possibilities.  Focus on the true and realistic upside.  Don’t gossip or run down other people.  Ownership can be encouraged, nourished and rewarded.