People are actually doing precisely what they want to do.
If someone is doing what you want, it is because he or she actually wants to do the same thing you want.
Conversely, if he or she does not want to do the thing you want, you will have an incredibly difficult challenge in getting what you want done. Anybody who is forced to do what you want will take exquisite pleasure in sabotaging your goal.
So always be alert to what the Win-Win is any situation. By using a Win-Win approach more of the time your team will not only be happier to do what you want, but also be significantly more effective in dealing with other people.
The Difference Between Leaders and Followers. A Leader knows what he or she wants. A follower has forgotten or dismissed what he or she wants, so follows a Leader. This is a simplification, but it is here to help you to observe what happens.
We all enjoy being active and creative. You get great pleasure from DOING A GOOD JOB.
If a Leader asks you to do a good job, and do it well, then that leader will probably praise you and you in turn will experience a sense of satisfaction. That Leader will now find it easier to get you to do a job for him or her in the future.
Leaders define your success. When you are the Leader, you define the success of others.
The person with the most ENERGISING goal or vision tends to be the leader.
Leaders often adopt other people’s goals or visions, make it their own, and ENERGISE IT.
Followers, are however, less energised by their personal gaols and visions, so are happy to adopt the more energising ones a leader demands. Often, a follower will await the permission of a Leader to energise the follower’s vision.
Motivating A Team In Self Motivation it was pointed out that you have plenty of Self Motivation if you simply stop de-motivating yourself.
Similarly, you can get some easy wins by doing the following:
AVOID Pointless criticism. Excessive routine that will send your team to sleep.
ENCOURAGE Clear objectives. Creative thinking and delivery of objectives.
Energise Yourself To Energise Your Team Your team will copy you. Human nature makes you tend to notice all the ways in which we are different from each other. But if you observe the reverse you will notice that to a surprisingly large extent your team are copying you. Hence, the degree to which you are energised and motivated will be replicated to a large extent by them.
Helpful Tip. When you are motivating one or more of your team, be energised. Get the team member(s) to see the “What’s in it for Me” aspect that will benefit them. Help them energise. But.......You don’t have to be amazingly energized all day. Many meeting last only minutes. By being well energised for the meeting your team member will replicate and copy your energetic approach and achieve more.
Realistically, it is very difficult to be highly energetic all day. Pushing yourself to do so will make you ill. But, planning your energetic moments allows you to be very inspiring at key moments.
Follow Up Do you like being “chased up”? (i.e. Your boss asking you “Have you done X yet”) Do you like being “chased up” when you have failed to do something?
So excessively “chasing” after your team will tend to de-motivate them. But if you do no follow-ups...... Often not much gets done.
So where possible it is better to have a team member reporting to you. Get the team member to suggest when he or she should be reporting back to you. This helps the team member comprehend the urgency or that item. This may require a little training.
Personal Authority Who is in charge? Have you ever seen a child control a parent?
Much as this website is about being positive and uplifting. Authority stems from fear, and it does work.
Its easy to get something done if the person you are instructing is afraid of you. However, in more and more situations, modern business is increasingly competitive. This demands that your team try out more creative experiments that give you the cutting edge. But if your team is very afraid of you, they will “play safe”.
This is why very hierarchal organisations can generally be outperformed by smaller more flexible and inventive competitors. Because, the hierarchy implicitly uses a great deal of fear, creativity is diminished.
You have to choose which model you are going to use. Hierarchy is generally easier. Equals, who agree roles is more difficult and requires excellent communication skills.
Its up to you. Probably a combination of the two will turn out to be your solution.