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Archive for the ‘motivation’ Category
Tuesday, July 6th, 2010
I believe there is a correlation between employee happiness, customer satisfaction, and increased profit margin. We all know in order for a company to stay in business it must produce profits. Too often though, the focus is centered around profits and not enough on the drivers of profits, the employees. Employees tend to treat the customers, whether internal or external, to the extent to which they are satisfied and happy with their current position. The question becomes how does a leader create enthusiasm and ensure job satisfaction for their team members.
Most satisfied employees feel empowered. This means they must have the tools, support, training and ability to make decisions. In addition, a leader needs to become more of a coach than a “teller” or dictator. Coaching creates an atmosphere of collaboration, trust, and confidence, where constructive and sincere feedback is accepted. Remember, “The worst feedback is no feedback”.
Employees need to understand how their job function contributes to the bottom line of the organization. Employees will tend to work harder if they feel like their work is meaningful and adds value. My first job in high school was at a dry cleaner. I staffed the front counter taking in clothes, entering the information into the system and creating an invoice for the customer. The job was not exciting and every day I wished for the fewest customers possible. When a customer came in I would get the order entered as fast as I could and get back to doing nothing but wait for the next customer. Looking back, I imagine that not everything was entered properly and those mistakes, although small, cost the company some profits.
 I wonder if it would have been different if the manager took some time to explain how my work added value to the company through something simple like a scorecard. What if we created a scorecard review of my key functions so I could see the importance of the work I was doing. Even the “front counter” employees need to understand how important the work is that they are doing.
If employees are happy, customers are happy. When customers are happy, they come back and tell others of their experience. Repeat business and referrals equal greater profit. Sometimes we need to step back and look at our own performance. Are we focusing solely on the profit and forgetting about the people driving the profit? Are we creating an atmosphere where employees are coached or are we a dictator? Do the employees know how important their job function is? Do the employees feel empowered and find their work meaningful? Are we tracking the important functions that help build profit? We need to look at these questions often as we lead for greater profit.
Tags: employee feedback, employees and profits, happy employees, importance of employees
Posted in Increase Profits, bottom line performance, bottom line results, motivation, results based leadership | 5 Comments »
Tuesday, April 20th, 2010
Are you a sports fan? Have you ever been part of a game where competition was very high, where emotions are running high and you can feel the palpable tension in the air? Maybe you were even more excited than the players and became one of those crazy fans sitting in the stands! Regardless of whether you were a player or a fan at this type of event, the word “scoreboard” should be familiar to you. Sometimes this term is used to “trash talk,” coming at a point in the game when a player on the losing team makes a great play or scores point, but not enough to put their team in the lead. Someone rooting for the losing team might say something about how great the play was, to which the fan or player for the opposing team might simply say “scoreboard.” What does it mean? It’s simple: While the losing team may have made one great play, it simply is not enough to take the lead in the game. The scoreboard is where the results of the performance are shown, indicating how well the team members are playing and whether they are actually accomplishing their goals. It is the tool that measures who is winning and, ultimately, who won!
Competition, Winning, and Business
Your company probably has its own corporate scoreboard, but do you know where it is? If not, ask around and see if you can find it. Company scoreboards will manifest themselves in how the company shows its stakeholders the business’ earnings. Businesses need to make a profit. Companies that don’t make a profit won’t stick around, so, making a profit is a focal point for all for profit organizations. What about at the individual level? Individual performance is also measured in this way, but rather than a scoreboard, some companies use and individual “score card.” A scorecard shows how and in what ways each individual is accountable for performance that increases the bottom line. Scorecards drive results and have a tremendous impact on the bottom line and help people become more engaged in competing for “wins” at both the personal and organizational level. Asking individual members of the organization to develop a scorecard to visibly show and track performance will inspire better performance across the company and make positive changes in the following ways:
1. Hold people accountable for what they do while at work and how they contribute to the bottom line profits.
2. Help individuals see that they earn a pay check for authentic achievement, not for mindless activity.
3. Help individuals understand how each person contributes in their role to the organization’s overall profitability.
Scorecards will drive bottom-line results and create bottom-line leadership as individual contributors think more deeply about their own unique areas of the business. Keeping score of their successes on a regular basis (daily, weekly, monthly) can help people feel more energetic at work and increase their interest in organizational success over the long term. In your next weekly meeting ask everyone this simple question: Did you win or lose this week? Followed this question with, “What were you responsible for in terms of helping our company grow and be more profitable?” Using scorecards, asking questions, and engaging the entire workforce is powerful stuff, critical to the organization’s performance.
Tags: bottom line results, performance, scorecard
Posted in accountability, bottom line results, leadership, motivation, scorekeeping | No Comments »
Wednesday, February 24th, 2010
Over the past few months, I have been serving as an assistant coach for my son’s Little League Football team. It has been a lot of work to teach the boys the techniques of the sport; blocking, tackling, and running. I have found that the best way to teach children is to have fun while learning. The other coaches and I use many different games and exercises that force the boys on the team to use their new found skills and the techniques. Aside from just skill practice, these games and exercises allow us, the coaching staff, to measure their progress.
Many people struggle in the work environment because what they do no longer seems enjoyable, and learning or development just means more work. When this happens, we become stagnant. Our personal satisfaction and happiness decreases and, in turn, our success and quality of work falters. From my perspective, not enough people are making a game out of work. Consider this quote from the world renowned physicist, Albert Einstein.
“How many people are trapped in their everyday habits, part numb, part frightened, part indifferent? To have a better life we must keep choosing how we are living.”
While this quote could have many applications, I would like to discuss how it applies to our daily work. If someone is feeling numb, frightened, or indifferent toward their everyday work activity, leaders or coaches can expect this person to also feel unaccountable to results and lacking desire to achieve greater levels of success.
 Since it appears that many people in the working world are feeling numb, frightened, or indifferent toward their daily work, I propose that organizations strive harder to make a game out of work by challenging their employees to compete to win. Like the way I coach the football team, leaders can make work more fun and find ways to use metrics and scorecards to measure progress. With a little fun, leaders can create a winning team that really adds to bottom line results. Leaders themselves must also have a bottom line mentality as they go about setting exciting and stretch goals for themselves, their departments, and for their team members. This inner game of work can make a huge impact on what people accomplish.
So, whether you are coaching 20 eight and nine year old boys on a Little League Football team or leading a tenured staff of employees, the concept I’m suggesting is the same. Make a game out of work; make it fun, rewarding and competitive. I guarantee you will see improved results.
Tags: game of work, Improved Results, leadership
Posted in continuous improvement, leadership, motivation | No Comments »
Monday, June 8th, 2009
 When you think of a team, what comes to mind? A basketball, football or soccer team? Or simply a group of professionals working together? Have geese ever come to mind as a working team? My mother once wrote a poem about a flock of geese and simply stated, why they fly together and it reminded me of the saying, “Birds of a feather, flock together.”
Birds of a feather, flock together:
Have you e’er been walking and seen in the sky
A flock of geese flying and perhaps wondered why?
They fly in a V-shape—not in some other form
Such as small groups or large groups or straight as the norm.
No feathered brain fowl, these geese really know
How to travel efficiently where e’er they go.
The V has a purpose, aerodynamically smart,
Those birds are good buddies; each one does its part.
They’ve got a neat system that’s often been shown
To provide for hurt geese so they’re not left alone.
And although their squawking won’t make a sweet song,
They honk to encourage each other along.
There’s rarely a goose with its neck out of joint
Cuz each one gets its chance to fly at the point.
So there’s never a leader too tired to lead
For each goose is primed for its turn when there’s need.
All of the creatures live lives that can teach
Us humans some lessons! And geese surely preach
How to learn and to lead, to build up and to bond
Why geese can show teammates how they could respond
To each other like geese as they fly. Don’t you think?
We could be Team Honkers and teammates in sinc?
By Linda Pederson 3/29/94
This simple poem has some very powerful advice regarding teams and teamwork:
• Teamwork sometimes requires an individual sacrifice. Just as the geese make sure that if one of their group needs to fall back, another is with them, such should be the motto of a team. No one is left behind; in idea sharing, team building or assignments.
• There is not a universal definition of a team. Teams are made up of people, animals, sub-groups, etc. The authors of the Team Approach , Dr. Steven Stowell and Stephanie Mead also contend that there are stunning parallels of the forces of teamwork , which are observable, between nature and what we see in modern organizations. They make the case that a team’s success is everyone’s responsibility.
Next time your eyes gaze upwards at the flying V in the sky, remember…all this “teamwork stuff” is not simply for the birds.
Tags: motivation, teamwork, teamwork development, teamwork in the workplace, teamwork skills
Posted in character, motivation, teamwork | No Comments »
Wednesday, October 29th, 2008
In a previous post I introduced the book, As A Man Thinketh, by James Allen, as a book that could be interpreted as an introduction to effective leadership. For this entry I want to focus on Chapter 2, Effect of Thought on Circumstances.
I would venture to say that most good leaders are positive people. Their positive attitude and outlook on the future will have a “trickle down” effect on the people they lead. Of course, those who follow and support this type of leader don’t just buy into a positive attitude, but know from experience that a positive outlook is often sincere and not just self serving. A true leader must prove him/her self to be more than a cheerleader. A positive outlook and driven thought process will have a record of success.
Early in my career, I worked for a President of an organization, who thought the independent dealer/distributor network of the organization would be the result of its demise. He often attacked the efforts, successes, and failures of these independents deferring to his internal “corporate” team. As a result, agreements with these dealers/distributors became more and more difficult to renew. His lack of trust led others to develop a lack of trust in him. Many of these people sought alternative business avenues. The circumstance of ill thought was clearly evident. His fear manifested what he feared most, the downfall of his organization.
Insincere or false hope is no more productive than negative thought. It is one in the same. The opposite of negative thought is positive thought and the effect of positive thought on people is a key to success. I’m not saying that a positive outlook is always going to generate success, but compared to that of negative thought, it has a much higher possibility of success.
Positive and productive thoughts lead to confidence in new ideas, sees good in others, and creates a desire for others to live up to high expectations. New ideas, with positive and trusting support will typically lead to more positive outcomes.
I invite you to submit your information below to download your own copy of As A Man Thinketh and read Chapter 2 Effect of Thought on Circumstances. Read it at your convenience and determine for yourself if it has value as a guide to qualities of leadership. It’s a read you can finish today and apply tomorrow.
Tags: As a Man Thinketh, James Allen, qualities of leadership
Posted in leadership, motivation | 1 Comment »
Wednesday, October 22nd, 2008
 As I was a young man, my mother introduced me to a little book titled As A Man Thinketh, by James Allen. It has become a favorite in my life and is the book that had helped my mother through some difficult times. I was going through some difficult times of my own when she gave me her copy. At that time, I thought of the book only as inspirational read.I recently took another look at the book. As I pondered thoughts on leadership, I came to realize that much of the book could also be seen as instruction on effective leadership. While Chapter 3, Effect of Thought on Health and Body, and Chapter 7, Serenity, might not fit the bill, the other 5 chapters could easily be sections of any program on Leadership.
For this blog, I thought I would briefly introduce the other 5 chapters and how they are important factors of effective leadership. Over the coming weeks, I will delve into each chapter and its relevance to leadership.
Chapter 1 – Thought and Character: An effective leader isn’t born, but rather developed. Thoughts and actions develop our character and how we are perceived by those we lead. Effective leaders learn to control their thoughts and actions.
Chapter 2 – Effect of Thought on Circumstances: I would venture to say that most leaders are positive people. Conveying a positive attitude and outlook on the future will have some “trickle down” effect on the people they lead.
Chapter 4 – Thought and Purpose: We could all probably agree that a great leader is one who can effectively convey their vision to a purposeful outcome. Presidents and CEOs are supposed to be the visionaries. They are strategically minded individuals who direct the efforts of the organization.
Chapter 5 – The Thought-Factor in Achievement: Allen states, “A man can only rise, conquer, and achieve by lifting up his thoughts.” How true! A person dwelling in the negative is rarely, if ever, an effective leader. How could she/he be? Without looking at positive outcomes, one is focused on the negative and self-guided that direction.
Chapter 6- Visions and Ideals: “Dream lofty dreams, and as you dream, so shall you become.” “Your Vision is the promise of what you shall one day be. Your Ideal is the prophecy of what you shall at last unveil.” These two quotes from the book are powerful. What more can I say? A leader is a visionary, who can effectively communicate that vision. A vision without effective leadership is simply a dream. Allen describes the dream as a “seedling of realities.” That dream or vision must be developed by changing one’s mind-set,
The book has influenced millions and I invite you to read the book and hope that it will inspire and help you become a more effective leader as well. To obtain a complimentary electronic copy, submit your information here.
Tags: As a Man Thinketh, James Allen, qualities of leadership
Posted in character, leadership, motivation | 1 Comment »
Wednesday, October 15th, 2008
Earlier this year one of my friends was trying to convince me to compete in a triathlon. I began to think to myself that I need to try something different and to challenge myself. My friend has done several triathlons and is currently training to compete in an Ironman triathlon. With his encouragement, I decided to go ahead and give it a try. Once I told him I was going to do it, he told me that I needed to sign up or I wouldn’t follow through. I put off signing up for about two weeks because of my busy schedule and I was traveling for work. Upon my return, my friend again asked me if I had signed up yet. My response was “No, not yet.” He commented that if I didn’t sign up soon, it wouldn’t happen. So the next day, I finally made the commitment and I signed up for the event.
 I was already in good enough physical condition to go out and complete in the bike and run portion without much training. However, the swim portion had me a little nervous. About three weeks before the triathlon, I met with my friend so he could coach me on swimming techniques and advise me on his best practices from his past experience. His guidance helped tremendously. Not only did he give me some pointers, but he also swam with me to show me how it was done. He also took time to practice an open-water swim with me before the competition so I could experience it prior to the event. If you have never done an open-water, long-distance swim, it can be intimidating and overwhelming. This wasn’t about physical conditioning for the race, it was about mental conditioning.
On August 23rd, I competed in my very first triathlon. It was a “Sprint” level of competition which required that I swim ½ mile, bike 12 miles, and run 3 miles. The help I received from my friend and coach was huge for me. When the race results came in, I didn’t finish first in my age group, but I did finish in 9th place with a time of 1 hour and 33 minutes. A pretty good result for a first time participant and considering there were 33 people in my age group that competed.
As I look back on the experience, I was able to carry out the personal conditioning and accomplish my goal. The most valuable part of the preparation was my friend and coach. He provided me with much mental help in preparation, he offered a road bike to use during the race, all while he trained for the “Olympic” level of the same event. He was highly supportive; he helped push me to enter the race and motivated me to do something new in my life. He made this event easy! This is one role a coach can serve. A coach can provide experience, motivation, verbal and tangible support. Most importantly, a coach helps people figure out how to do things, and empowers individuals. A good coach will let go of control and let individuals learn, execute, and do things on their own. Hopefully we all have a coach like this in our lives and at our workplaces. With a little effort and energy, a coach can take a good team member and push them into a higher performing team member. Then it can become contagious. After my triathlon, my wife, with two of my sons, competed in a mini-triathlon only 1 week later. Coaching can really inspire people to do new things and to set goals that will raise personal worth and development and enhance the results of any organization.
Tags: business coaching, Coaching
Posted in coaching skills, goals & goal setting, motivation | 1 Comment »
Wednesday, September 3rd, 2008
 The summer Olympics, which just ended, reminded me of a personal experience during the 2001 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, Utah. Since this was in our hometown, my wife and I really wanted to go to an Olympic event, but we didn’t have a lot of money. Tickets for medal rounds of any event were very expensive, so we purchased tickets to go see the men’s figure skating event as it was one of the more affordable tickets. Obviously my wife won the debate about which event to go see! During this preliminary round, we were able to watch about 24 skaters from different countries. Some skaters had fantastic routines and it was easy to see who would be the finals. Their ability and skill were noticeably better than others, even to the untrained eye. While this event was not my first choice to see, I did gain a greater appreciation for the talents of others, especially since I knew I couldn’t skate very well. It made me think about how much we truly rely on others’ skills, talents, and expertise to accomplish tasks and especially to make good things become great.
During the event, there was one particular competitor who was not as strong of a skater in comparison to his competition. Not too far into his routine, he did his first jump and fell to the ice. You could hear the crowd gasp as he went down. The skater got up and continued his routine, only to fall again a few moments later. The noise from the crowd conveyed their sympathy for this man. Yet again he arose to continue his routine but fell again and again. At this time, the crowd was almost silent. Everyone felt so bad for this person who had trained, practiced, and dedicated so much of his time and energy, only to have a night of almost utter disaster. When the skater slowly arose from this final fall, his body language was as easy to read as an elementary school book. He was ready to quit. I think the entire crowd was reading his mind as if he were saying, “I can’t go on. This is embarrassing and I should just quit.” At that very moment, the crowd began to clap and cheer to encourage and motivate the skater to complete the routine. It was a unified effort and you could literally feel the ‘human electricity’ in the arena. There is no doubt in my mind that the skater felt the energy and was inspired to go on. He finished his routine, without any more falls and showed the crowd that he was an Olympic athlete who pushes through to the end, no matter what!
The moral of this story is individually we might have a great talent or skill that makes us the top performer in our department at work, or in this story, the best in our country, but we can’t make it alone. Not only do we need the help of others, but the help needs to be a unified effort. If we can increase the level of unity and teamwork in our organizations, there is no doubt we can improve the commitment and resolve to accomplish great things as teams. From the sidelines we can inspire others to keep going, overcome the obstacles, and persevere until they reach their goals.
Tags: teamwork lessons, unity and teamwork, unity in an organization, why do we need teamwork
Posted in motivation, teamwork | 1 Comment »
Monday, August 11th, 2008
Hard Work
Here at CMOE we always have plenty of work to go around. I’m sure many of you can relate to this. On occasion, when we get overloaded during our busy seasons and we often bring in “temporary” people to help with a number of tasks. These workers help to reorganize the stock room and do landscaping beyond our normal service, or help with random projects that often involve significant physical labor.
On one occasion, we had the pleasure of working with a great individual who was helping to clean up after some remodeling. Benny was dependable, worked very hard and focused on the projects he was assigned to. Because of his dedication, we specifically requested his assistance from the temporary labor agency we were working with to assign him to us.
Background On Benny
One morning I was asked to pickup Benny on my way into work. During our drive to the office, Benny talked about his personal life. He was barely making ends meet it life and had some health issues. If I had to guess, he was in his late 50’s but looked much older. Benny had spent most of his life working on labor intensive jobs permanently in construction. While he liked this type of work, it was not very rewarding. Too many of the individuals he had worked with throughout his life were very autocratic and dictatorial and having spent some time in this industry myself, I knew the type he was referring to.
The Job Site
Benny worked on multiple job sites for us. One day a few of us decided to jump in and help Benny load some broken concrete into a dumpster. This would help get the next phase of this particular project a jump start and give Benny some much needed help and a bit of motivation to the backbreaking work.
After the dumpster was fully loaded, we took a break from the searing heat and dust. As we were sitting in the shade, someone said to him “Benny, you have been great! You’re such a hard worker and I appreciate your effort and attention to detail. I don’t know where we would be without you this week.” After the rest of us confirmed this comment, there was a pause for a few seconds. Benny responded with a quiver in his voice, “I really try to work hard and do a good job, but no one has ever told me that. Thank you. You guys have been good to me.”
The Impact
When Benny made this comment, you could see he felt undervalued for much of his life. I thought to myself, how unfortunate it is that no one has ever told Benny he does a good job. A simple “JOB WELL DONE” can go much further than we might ever think.
The Lesson – Talent Retention
As I think back on this, I wonder how many managers and organizations lost out on Benny? The concept of providing appreciation to employees is nothing new, but if it is not being communicated or taught to leaders and managers, organizations ARE and will lose great talent. It is not uncommon to hear that employees leave their managers and not their jobs. We can change this by providing some simple appreciation and recognition.
Application
Today, celebrate a success with your team.
Tags: , saying thank you, team appreciation
Posted in management, motivation, talent | No Comments »
Wednesday, April 30th, 2008
A Leader Becomes A Leader: Inspirational Stories Of Leadership For A New Generation
This book definitely belongs in any office. It is a great resource for inspiration as well as a review on the elements of leadership. The only problem with this book is the dimension and size. It is such a rich resource that I would have preferred it in a shelf friendly size rather than for a table. However, it has found a place in my office.
This book has three major parts. The first two parts are so different from each other and complete, there is enough information for there to have been two books. However, together the parts offer the reader a more rounded and better understanding of the leadership virtues Mr. Sheehan chose to explore.
The first part of the book focuses on 64 virtues of leadership. The author has divided the virtues into segments of three. In each segment, the author gives a brief overview and three personalities of each of the virtues. This is followed by a brief article about a leader the author has chosen to represent that particular virtue. Did you get all that? He follows each segment with an in-depth definition of the three virtues.
The second part is a collection of photographs and quotes that define the characters of the presented leaders. Some leaders chosen may be a surprise, but they are leaders worth remembering and worth noting.
The third part is a very brief summary of what it means to be a leader. It is a nice conclusion to the book. Many leadership books end with a type of lecture about leadership. The author did not incorporate this type of ending – and it is refreshing.
The book is an easy read, artfully compiled, and spotlights lesser known figures as well as the most loved leaders of the twentieth century. The author chose leaders from many fields; musicians, activists, presidents, and ball players. I was especially impressed that he also included the unknown student at Tiananmen Square, Ruby Bridges, and Georgia O’Keefe. If you have forgotten who these people are and their importance, this book would be your best resource. The book is well worth buying, not only to get a complete understanding of what it means to be a leader, but to remember those leaders and the virtues they demonstrated.
Summary:
A well done book that is better than most others. If you’re looking for a gift, something for the office foyer, or want to read more about virtues of great leaders, this is for you.
Tags: coaching book, Leadership Training
Posted in leadership, management, motivation | No Comments »
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