Bringing Out the Best in People

1. Expect the Best from People You Lead

·        A motivator is someone who finds goals that will be good for all involved, and then develops a high achieving, high morale partnership.  A manipulator is one who tries to persuade people to do something that is not in their best interests but is in theirs.

·        A leader’s challenge is not to take lazy people and transform then into industrious workers.  The challenge is to take existing energies and channel them into worthwhile endeavors.

·        The higher you go up the corporate ladder, the less important technical skills become and the more important people skills become.

2. Make a Thorough Study of the Other Person’s Needs

·        Find out what others want and help them get it!

·        Before you can motivate, you have to find out what those around you believe in, value and want in life. 

·        Listen before judging

·        Study those you lead.

3. Establish High Standards of Excellence

·        Simple Suggestions for Reprimanding:

§         Do it immediately.

§         Before going further, confirm the facts.  Be sure your information is correct.

§         Be very specific in telling them what is wrong.  Try to criticize their behavior, not their motives.

§         Show your feelings:  anger, annoyance, and frustration.

·        “I hold it more important to have the player’s confidence than their affection.”  Lombardi

4. Create An Enviroment Were Failure Is Not Fatal

·        Let your staff see you fail…and be sure to handle your failure well.

·        “The only man who never makes a mistake is the man who never does anything.”  Theodore Roosevelt

·        Help your staff stare down failure, learn from their mistakes and go on with perseverance.

·        Abraham Lincoln…faced multiple failure before Presidency in 1860.

5. If They Are Going Anywhere Near Where You Want To Go, Climb On Other  People’s Bandwagons

·        Encourage people to pursue as many of their goals as possible.

·        Under pressure, always use teaching aides.

§         How would you like to change?

§         What would it take to make you happy?

§         In what ways do you want to modify your behavior?

·        Asking questions says:  1) I care about you and what you want, 2) You should be thinking ahead, 3) We are building a team where everyone can pursue their goals.

·        People have a way of becoming what you encourage them to be, not what you nag them to be.

6. Employ Models to Encourage Success

·        Great leaders are great storytellers…use success stories to build confidence.

·        Jim Valvano and his 83 NC State team.

·        Best way to motivate is to show people how others just like them are succeeding and overcoming their problems.

7. Recognize and Applaud Achievement

·        Take time to thank those who help you.

·        We all have the need to be appreciated

·        The Art of the Compliment

§         Hand out commendations in public.

§         Use every success as an excuse for celebration.

§         Employ some gesture to give weight to your commendation.

§         Put your compliment in writing.

§         Be very specific in your praise.

·        Verbal commendations more powerful and long lasting then reward and punishment techniques.

·        Be on the lookout for positive change.

·        Don’t let you staff focus on failure, leave them focusing on success.

·        You can never give too much self-confidence.

8. Employ a Mixture of Positive and Negative Reinforcement

·        Wooden’s use of negative reinforcement:

§         Be certain that you’re teaching them to avoid certain behavior, not to avoid you.

§         Follow the undesired behavior with immediate correction.

§         Establish a way to halt the negative stimulus as soon as the behavior stops.

§         If negative stimulus control doesn’t seem to be working, try shaping the absence of the behavior.

·        People are changed by routine interaction in which our approval or disapproval are conveyed through word, tone, gesture, and expression.

·        Guilt should not be used as a motivator when it is faked or contrived.

·        Your aim is not to control people but rather to point out consequences and give choices to people.

·        Praise to scolding ratio.

9. Appeal Sparingly to the Competitive Urge

·        Too much competition can lead to manipulation and resentfulness.

·        Don’t put others down by comparing them to people directly.

·        Anger can be a healthy motivator as long as it is not spiteful and derogatory.

·        Having a common enemy can unite a group.

10. Place a Premium on Collaboration

·        Being in a group hardens your resolve and helps you face obstacles.

·        Good leaders encourage people to hold each other accountable for excellence.

·        Build a group wide appreciation for excellence and then let the group maintain it.

·        “No man can become rich without himself enriching others.”  Andrew Carnegie.

·        Care for your people deeply.

·        Be fair.  Have no favorites in terms of discipline.

·        Keep promises.

·        Encourage your people to have fun with what they do.

·        Techniques to use to enhance team spirit:

§         Reward cooperation

§         Assign responsibility for group morale to the group itself.

§         Plan occasions when people can be away together.

§         Assign a high value to communication.

·        Remember your contract:  Support one another.

11. Build Into the Group An Allowance for Storms

·        Your aim is to grow leaders…which leads to free thinkers and inevitable conflicts.  Yes-men never become leaders.

·        Being a leader means you must serve as an outlet for people to ventilate their problems to.

·        You can’t automatically dismiss quarrels.  Sometimes you have to serve as the moderator, offering a compromise, then supporting the compromise.

·        Dealing with the perpetual troublemaker

§         Allow for some inexplicable behavior

§         Try to ascertain the reason for the abrasiveness .

§         Determine just how disruptive the person is.

§         Ask for help.

§         Weigh the person’s contribution.

§         If the problem is severe enough, remove the person.

§         In all your dealings with troublemakers, appeal to the best side of the person.

12. Take Steps to Keep Your Own Motivation High

·        To be a successful leaders requires two things:

§         An astute knowledge of what makes people tick.

§         A spirit that spreads excitement and energy to those around you. 

·        “Innovators and creators are persons who can to a higher degree than average accept the condition of their aloneness.”  Psychologist Nathaniel Branden

·        Good motivators are willing to think and act in such bold fashion, to set goals far out front of the group.

·        One reason Jesus loved children?  They possess the ability to daydream and see what they want to become.

·        The successful motivator does far more talking than the average person….they are constantly sharing the dream with others, creating enthusiasm.

·        To be a motivator of people, you must have thick skin.

·        Five suggestions to keep the motivator motivated:

§         Associate with successful, positive people.

§         Monitor carefully the ideas entering your mind.

§         Take advantage of the wealth of information available to you.

§         Attend classes and seminars.

§         Keep a journal.