Leadership Skill Center Blog

HOW YOU CAN BUILD A MORE MOTIVATED TEAM

Imagine this scenario: You have just bungled your latest project…

You have so much work you need to do. You are becoming a workaholic, you have tensions at home, these new kids at work are getting smarter by the day and your next presentation deadline is looming large. Any normal person can make a mistake, but you know you should have known better.

You are sitting at your computer wondering if this major disaster will cost you your job, when your boss just happens to walk by. You are scared stiff, fearing the worst. But what does he do? He gives you an encouraging smile and says “I understand. Don’t worry. I know you will do better next time. You will get another chance”.

VOILA! Your whole world opens up for you. You feel the tension oozing out. You get the drive, the enthusiasm to give the project all your attention again and vow never to repeat your mistakes.
This is what good leaders do. They understand us and give us support when we need it. They understand the human psychology of motivation.

Imagine another scenario…

You boss comes up to you while you are with your colleagues and friends and gives you a tongue lashing in front of everyone, detailing everything you did wrong and trying to shame you into performing better the next time.

How angry, upset and embarrassed does that make you feel? Maybe you even feel like leaving your job then and there, just to show that you have some self-respect?

This is what bad leaders can do to us. They belittle and embarrass us, and criticize us in public. When people are treated this way it is de-motivating. Rather than being inspired to work harder and better, they are more likely to start looking for a new job.

To get good results as a leader, you need a motivated team.

As a leader, it is your responsibility to motivate your team. If your subordinates are not giving 100% then you need to look at how well you are motivating your people each time you interact with them. Are you lifting them up to new heights, building their enthusiasm and boosting their resolve to do better next time? Or are you dragging them down by diminishing their self-confidence and self-esteem?

We get more of the behavior we recognize and reward. If the only feedback you are giving your team is about the things they have done wrong, you may be unintentionally de-motivating your people. Look for learning opportunities, rather than problems to be corrected.

Your own outlook and attitude as a leader must be confident and positive, if you radiate a positive energy and create an exciting environment by your enthusiasm, you will not only get your own work done, but your team will be more motivated to help you get all the results you need.

There are many ways you can motivate people to do what you want them to do. One of the simplest is to just pass on all the praise you get for their work.

Everyone likes to be recognized and appreciated. This motivates us all to do better. When you motivate everyone on your team you will find it easier to get great results as a leader.

More on how to do this in the Quick Tips below:

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QUOTE OF NOTE

“A little knowledge that acts is worth infinitely more than knowledge that is idle”

Kahlil Gibran (1883-1931)

Don’t just think about becoming a better leader. Take action. Join us for the Leadership Coaching Club” href=”http://www.leadershipcoachingclub.com”>Leadership Coaching Club today.

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FREE TELESEMINAR

Do you want to:
* motivate, influence and inspire others to produce better results
* get your message across every time
* make a good impression whenever you meet someone new
* get that job you want
* overcome resistance to change
* maximize sales while you minimize complaints?

Join me next week as I interview Australia’s expert in the Art of Influence, Paddy Spruce, for a free live teleseminar next week. You’ll discover:

* How to make a positive first impression so you connect with people and open up the way to a positive outcome right from the start.
* What the five different Styles of Influence are and when you would use each one.
* The four Stages of any Negotiation and how to apply them, even in a corridor conversation.
* The top mistakes 99% of people make and how you can avoid them.

Register now

There are a limited number of phone lines available for the teleseminar so don’t delay your registration.

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QUICK TIPS FOR MOTIVATING YOUR TEAM

* People are motivated by the needs they have and the values they hold. If someone’s values are not aligned with the values your organization actually demonstrates, they will never be motivated to support you. If you are struggling to motivate people on your team have a close look at whether your organization demonstrates the same values you talk about.

* People are motivated when they see the opportunity to fulfill their own goals. Look for those times when a team member’s personal goals can be enhanced or expanded to align better with your goals for the whole team or organization.

* The things that motivate you will not always be the same things that motivate your staff. The better you get to know the people on your team, the easier it will be to ensure you are motivating them in a way that is best for them.

The Leading Well Bottom Line:

You don’t have to do it all on your own. Join us in September for the next Leadership Coaching Club” href=”http://leadershipcoachingclub.com/”>Leadership Coaching Club and leverage off all the wisdom, insight and experience of other participants plus your mentor Kerrie Mullins-Gunst.

Share Your Tips With Us:

* What are you doing to motivate your team to better results? Please let us know by adding your comments to this posting

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AND DON’T FORGET THE COMPETITION just for Leading Well Subscribers:

Enter now and you could win FREE registration in the Leadership Coaching Club Ten Week Intensive. All you have to do is sign up for Leading Well then email us and tell us in 100 words or less:
1. What is the best thing about our Leadership Coaching Club Ten Week Intensive?
2. Why YOU deserve to win?
*** Please don’t enter unless you will be able to participate in the ten week program, starting September 13. See the full Teleseminar Schedule for details.

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Services directory:

FREE MARKETING PLAN WORKBOOK - Have a look at this: One of the best resources on the web for marketing your services is Action Plan Marketing. Check out the website and download your free Marketing Plan Workbook and the first chapter of the InfoGuru Marketing Manual.

ADD AUDIO TO YOUR WEBSITE FREE - At the moment Sonic Memo Lite is free. The catch? You have to agree to join a mailing list (but you can always unsubscribe) and you will be offered a one-time opportunity to upgrade to the Pro version (but you don’t have to accept the offer). My suggestion is, if you do your own website, grab it while you can. You may even decide to buy the full version, which is what I use. Unlike other web audio systems that you have to pay for every month, this is great value at full price as it’s a pay once and use for ever deal anyway. If you want it for free get it here.

If you have ever heard me speak about the Magic of Leadership you will know that I believe one of the ways leaders inspire others to follow them is by creating new meaning.

In his free eBook* on The Art of the Start, Guy Kawasaki describes what he calls the GIST (Great Ideas for Starting Things) of what an entrepreneur (or leader) needs to do when starting a new venture.

His first Great Idea for Starting Things is to Make Meaning and he offers some interesting insight into what that might mean.

“Meaning”, he says “is not about money, power or prestige. It’s not even about creating a fun place to work. Among the meanings of ‘meaning’ are to:

• Make the world a better place.
• Increase the quallity of life.
• Right a terrible wrong.
• Prevent the end of something good.”

Great advice for leaders who ever need to gather support, or who just want to be sure it’s the GOOD people who want to work with them.

* You can download your free copy of his eBook The Art of the Start in the Leadership Skill Center Members Area. Login here if you are already a member. Create a new account if you are not yet a Member (It’s free!)

Visit the Free articles area of the Leadership Skill Center to see new articles for leaders that have been added recently.

Some exciting news: Announcing our new Leadership Coaching Club 10 Week Intensive.

At last a leadership program for you - wherever you are located. If you ever wanted to do our live Mentor Magic leadership development program but couldn’t get to the venue or to Melbourne (or even to Australia) for the seminars, now you can take the fast-track to easy, effective and effortless leadership success with our new Leadership Coaching Club 10 Week Intensive. You can join in by phone from the comfort of your own office or armchair, where ever in the world you might be!

No Travel! No Hotels! No Hassles! Starting soon!

Because we are so excited there’s an amazing super-special introductory rate, but it won’t last long. Don’t miss out. Register now. Before the price rise to the full program fee (which is still great value for everything you receive).

Putting this program together has been a major project for many months now and I can’t tell you how delighted I am to be sharing it with you. It’s going to be a great program and I know you’ll get great value from your participation in it.

Join us in September for your fast-track to easy, effective and effortless leadership success.

Kind regards, Kerrie

Sometimes leading and managing people can seem quite overwhelming with all the different things you need to do and problems you need to solve. At times even experienced leaders and manager can feel driven to distraction by all the details, decisions and dilemmas. Yet you needn’t be.There are proven ways to rise above the confusion and complexity and some leaders succeed, even making it all look easy.

In my many years of coaching, mentoring and working with some of the best and most dynamic leaders and managers - plus some who struggled daily - I have made a deliberate and detailed study of what works and why.

I was curious about what it was that made leadership easy and effortless for some, while others - frequently even with similar qualifications or experience - struggled constantly to overcome all the challenges.

I’ve distilled all my research and survey results, all the observations I’ve made of the many leaders I’ve worked with over the years and all the feedback from participants in the seminars and programs I’ve been running across the country and around the world since 1993, and found there are five key areas that all the best leaders constantly focus on.

That’s right - just five! With some of the most outstanding leaders managing thousands of people, hundreds of projects and a myriad of details, there are still just five key areas they focus their attention on to achieve exceptional results.

These five key areas of leadership focus offer you the power to simplify and prioritize your efforts as a leader. When you focus your actions and attention on just these five key areas you will discover how easy, effective and effortless leadership can be.

These five key areas of leadership focus are the foundation on which I have built our exciting new Leadership Coaching Club” href=”http://leadershipcoachingclub.com”>Leadership Coaching Club 10 Week Intensive because, when you focus on them, they really do become your fast-track to easy, effective and effortless leadership success. You can begin to focus on these areas today. So what are they?

Your Five Key Areas of Leadership Focusâ„¢ are:

1. Gathering support
2. Setting direction
3. Getting your message across
4. Getting things done, and
5. Getting results.

When you focus your actions and attention on just these five areas, you will be amazed at how much easier and more effective leading and managing people can be. And I know you probably already devote some time to each of these areas.

But the key to their power lies in HOW you focus on them and exactly what actions you take step by step as you lead and manage your people. That’s what we concentrate on in the Leadership Coaching Club 10 Week Intensive. So I really do hope you will join us in September to discover how easy, effective and effortless leadership can be.

But whether you join us for the Leadership Coaching Club 10 Week Intensive or not, please focus your actions and attention on these five key areas and I know you will reap the rewards.

If you would like to print out a small poster to remind you of what your Five Key Areas of Leadership Focus should be, I have left one for you to download free here.

Please feel free to pass on a copy to everyone you know who would benefit.

More on your Five Key Areas of Leadership Focus in the Quick Tips below:

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QUOTE OF NOTE

“I am not interested in the past. I am interested in the future, for that is where I expect to spend the rest of my life”

Charles Franklin Kettering (1876-1958)

When you invest in your own future you can avoid the failures and disappointments of the past. If you are a leader or manager the best investment you can make will be to join us in September for the Leadership Coaching Club 10 Week Intensive.

What results can you expect to see if you do join us in September?

When you work with us you can expect to see rapid, positive and sustainable changes in your capacity to mentor, manage and lead, even difficult team members.

You will quickly become aware of just how powerful the tools we teach you are. You will more easily influence and motivate not only those who report to you, but also those to whom you report. Your enhanced leadership skills will result in your team’s improved performance and productivity.

Your confidence grows as you see consistent results when you apply what you learn.
You not only become more effective at what you do, but your productivity grows when you focus on the fundamentals that make all the difference to your success as a leader.

Your new insight into how to handle the problems and challenges that come the way of every leader begins to pay dividends. You learn how to encourage your team members to embrace change, contribute willingly and participate more actively. Conflict is reduced and real results come with a lot less struggle and effort.

It’s not that all the problems and challenges which are a part of leading and managing people magically disappear. They don’t. But you now know the best way to tackle them. Instead of feeling drained and exhausted at the end of your day’s work you are energized and satisfied knowing how much you have accomplished. Your enthusiasm is refreshed and everyone around you is revitalized and stimulated by your energy and motivation.

Leading people CAN be easy when you know how! Join a dynamic network of like-minded leaders, build your skills and learn how to maximize your results as a leader and manager easily and effectively through the Five Key Areas of Leadership Focusâ„¢.

You can move from ‘just managing’ to effortless and effective leadership and management in only 10 weeks with the Leadership Coaching Club’s new 10 Week Intensive.

But you have to know how and you have to be decisive.

HERE’S YOUR AMAZING INVITATION TO CELEBRATE THE LAUNCH WITH US

Look I’m so keen to have you join us in September that I will make this amazing special offer - just for the next 24 hours.

If you register in the next 24 hours you can bring a friend or colleague for free! AND you will still only pay the super-special introductory rate!

But you will need to be decisive. I mean it when I say this special offer is only for the next 24 hours. I really shouldn’t be making it at all because it is already at a heavily discounted introductory rate, but I feel like celebrating the launch of the Leadership Coaching Club. So think of this amazing offer as being a celebratory launch party and you are invited! Good leaders are decisive. Are you?

If I receive your registration in 25 hours you will still get the super-special introductory rate, but you will not be able to split the low rate in half by sharing with someone else. Don’t delay or you will miss out! This really is an amazing invitation.

Be decisive. Register for the Leadership Coaching Club 10 Week Intensive within the next 24 hours and you can bring a friend for free.
Register now.

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QUICK TIPS for focussing on your Five Key Areas of Leadership Focus:

* One of the keys to effective focus is to make sure our actions align with our intentions. Each time you are about to undertake a task, ask yourself which of the five key areas it is critical to. If it isn’t critical for one of the five key areas it may be something you should set aside or delegate to one of your team.

* You will find it difficult to focus effectively on these five key areas unless you have the core knowledge and skills that you require. Invest your time and effort in acquiring and honing your skills and understanding. Ensure you have identified and developed just the central ideas that deliver real value in each of these five areas for maximum results.

* When you are learning new skills it is important to practice in a safe environment. Don’t set yourself up for failure by trying out a new skill in a critical situation. Work things through with a mentor, coach or a trusted colleague before you apply a new skill in a critical situation.

The Leading Well Bottom Line:

You don’t have to do it all on your own. Join us in September for the next Leadership Coaching Club” href=”http://leadershipcoachingclub.com”>Leadership Coaching Club and leverage off all the wisdom, insight and experience of other participants plus your mentor Kerrie Mullins-Gunst.
Share your own tips with us:

* What are you doing to focus on these five key areas? Please let us know by adding your comments on the Leadership Skill Center Blog below.

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FREE TELESEMINARS

We will notify you when the date for our next teleseminar is finalized but you can keep an eye on what’s available (including details of how to access recordings of past teleseminars) click here.
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Services directory:

FREE MARKETING PLAN WORKBOOK - Have a look at this: One of the best resources on the web for marketing your services is Action Plan Marketing. Check out the website and download your free Marketing Plan Workbook and the first chapter of the InfoGuru Marketing Manual.

ADD AUDIO TO YOUR WEBSITE FREE - At the moment Sonic Memo Lite is free. The catch? You have to agree to join a mailing list (but you can always unsubscribe) and you will be offered a one-time opportunity to upgrade to the Pro version (but you don’t have to accept the offer). My suggestion is, if you do your own website, grab it while you can. You may even decide to buy the full version, which is what I use. Unlike other web audio systems that you have to pay for every month, this is great value at full price as it’s a pay once and use for ever deal anyway. Grab it while it’s still free.

Do you need a new mission statement?

You have two choices:

1. You could employ a highly skilled facilitator (like me ) to help you and your team generate something meaningful and profound that offers true guidance and direction as you grow and develop, or
2. you could do it on the cheap using the Dilbert Mission Satement Generator.

Actually come to think of it I think I’ve seen some companies who took the second option…

Our audioseminar with David Brewster (author of Success with Simplicity) on ‘The Manager’s Mission: How to take all the complexity out of management and replace it with simple success’ is now available in the Leadership Skill Center Member’s area.
You can see more details and purchase your enrolment key here.

Our first free teleseminar for clients and subscribers of Leading Well was so successful we have scheduled another one, this time with Australia’s Number 1 Productivity Coach, Lorraine Pirihi, on ‘How to Transform Yourself into a Productivity Powerhouse’.

It will be held on Wednesday July 19 or Thursday July 20 (depending on which part of the world you are calling from). Lorraine has lots of practical, useful tips on how to get more things done in your day and I’m sure you won’t want to miss it.

See here for times, dates and details

Lorraine Pirihi, guest on my next teleseminar and Australia’s number 1 productivity coach, is presenting a live seminar on ‘How to Have Less Mess, Less Stress and More Success’ on July 15th in Melbourne.

AND I’ve been able to arrange an extra special offer for all my clients! If you book now - by Tuesday 11th July at the very latest - you’ll also receive a complimentary recording of the live event valued at $197 for FREE, along with all the other bonuses she includes. Great value. (Take along a friend and you will save even more!)

Download all the details here.

Did you know there are many free courses and resources available for members in the Leadership Skill Center Member’s area?

Click here for your complimentary membership invitation.

Our teleseminar on ‘The Manager’s Mission: How to take all the complexity out of management and replace it with simple success’ was a great event with participants registered from across the globe, who raved about all the ideas, information and tips that were packed into such a short seminar. I hope you didn’t miss it.

If you did miss it, or if you just want to listen to it again to catch any details you might have missed, we will soon have the recording available for instant download.

Click here for details.

Some managers just don’t seem to be able to resist getting involved or giving advice, even when it’s not really needed or wanted. It’s a counterproductive leadership style that screams lack of trust.

One of the most empowering things you can do as a leader is provide your people with the space to manage their own priorities.

After you have clarified priorities and responsibilities with your people, your next priority should be to ensure they have all the skills and resources necessary, and then leave them to it.

Demonstrate trust and you’ll achieve a leadership style that works much more effectively.

For more great ideas on how to develop your leadership skills join us in the Leadership Coaching Club info” target=”_blank” href=”http://leadershipcoachingclub.com/”>Leadership Coaching Club which starts in mid September.

A visitor to my website, recently asked me a good question and I thought you might like to hear my answer. Ange asked:

“I teach leadership to secondary students. Can I take that knowledge to industry?”

I guess the answer is somewhere in between Yes, No and It Depends!

The fundamental principles of leadership that you are presumably teaching your secondary students will still apply and translate well into industry (– so Yes).

However, in my experience (I was a chemistry teacher many years ago) adults are very sensitive to anything that seems to be school related so you will need to develop quite different examples and explanations to the ones that you use with your students and that may be difficult for you if you do not have industry, business or office experience (– so No).

Thirdly, industry and business leaders who want to learn about leadership will usually seek out people who have actually held leadership positions themselves, rather than those who just know about leadership but have never really applied what they know. So It Depends - on whether you have actually lead a business, group or team, and can demonstrate the success you have had as a leader.

A really good first step is to volunteer to join the board or management group of a charity or community group and apply what you know there. That will enable you to recognize some of the gaps that exist between knowing about something and being able to put it into effect. And the end of the day that’s what people really want to know about - How to do it! And that’s one of the big things we look at in the Leadership Coaching Club info” href=”http://leadershipcoachingclub.com/”>Leadership Coaching Club which starts in mid September.

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If you have a leadership question you want to ask, you can Ask it here.

One of the simplest ways to motivate people to better results, is to believe in them.

If you are sure that they know exactly what needs to be done, and how to do it properly to the standard you require, you should have confidence they will complete the task properly.

So demonstrate your confidence in them by what you do and what you say. Say you are available if needed, but don’t peer over their shoulders looking to find fault.

Help build their confidence by having confidence in them.

How to take all the complexity out of management and replace it with simple success

Your Invitation to a free Leadership Teleseminar

Join me as I interview the author of Success with Simplicity, David Brewster, for a free live teleseminar next week. You’ll discover:

* Why management doesn’t have to be so complex and how to make managing people look (and feel) easy, even when it isn’t
* The secret to dramatically improving your performance as a leader and manager and feeling better about what you do by understanding the role of reality and the control continuum
* How to apply the three critical dimensions of the Manager’s Mission so you can relax and start managing ‘in the zone’ from tomorrow
* The top 3 mistakes 99% of people make and how you can avoid them.
You can get more details, and register here right now.

There are only a limited number of phone lines available for the teleseminar so don’t delay your registration.

If you are not sure what a teleseminar is, it is simply a seminar by phone. All you have to do is dial in to a special phone number that you receive when you register. And you can join us from where-ever you are located, whether you are in Bourke Street or the bush, on Fifth Avenue or an island in Fiji, all you need is a phone. For more details about teleseminars read our Frequently Asked Questions.