Browse Category: Motivation

Workplace Motivation for Leaders

I recently heard a story about a certain manager who argued that his role had nothing to do with motivating people.  Workplace motivation, he said, was the job of the Human Resources department!  

I know you won’t be surprised to hear that I disagree.  What’s more, workplace motivation is one of the significant issues raised by many good managers, business owners and team leaders today. 

Leading a motivated team is not only more productive, you will find it much more enjoyable and rewarding too.  Poorly motivated employees rarely function well as a team, and typically generate more stress for you than they do results.  So good leaders consider the impact of their actions on workplace motivation carefully. No one wants a demotivated workplace producing barely adequate outcomes and a stressful situation.  

Here are three simple yet effective ways you can boost workplace motivation and morale: 

1. Offer a Reward

Rewards are motivating.  And although money is one type of reward, it is far from the only reward you can use. Frequently it’s not even the best reward to offer.  Exactly what rewards are most appropriate will vary from person to person and according your particular situation, but here are some ideas to consider.  

For many people coaching them to develop new and better skills is a powerful and motivating reward. Encouragement, recognition, more trust or a promotion or new work title may be motivating to some of your people.  Likewise, for some more overtime, less travel, a special project or development opportunity or flexible work hours may help boost workplace motivation.  Once you start to think about it, and get to know your people well enough to know what they would appreciate, you will be able to think of a whole range of motivating rewards that are appropriate in your situation.  

2. Listen to People

Everyone likes to feel that their input and opinion is valued, respected and considered.  It takes only a moment – and an open attitude – to welcome input from each individual on your team. 

Ask for their views and input.  Be genuinely willing to listen to people and you will see an amazing response from previously demotivated staff.

3. Lighten up a Little

Motivated employees enjoy their work.  Numerous studies have shown that people work harder, not less, when the workplace is a fun, happy and enjoyable place.  

As leader, you get to set the tone for a happy workplace.  Take a moment to smile at people and ask after their family, hobbies or interests.  Encourage some team social activities.  Take the team out for coffee or bring in a cake to celebrate an achievement.  

We spend many hours each day in the workplace.  Part of your role as the leader is to ensure your team are motivated to actually be there and contribute fully to reaching your team goals.  

Believe me, everything will be easier for you as the leader if people enjoy actually being there, rather than dread coming to work each day.  

Good leaders accept responsibility for workplace motivation and do what they can to foster it. When you apply these three simple concepts in your workplace you will quickly build a motivated, committed and successful workforce – and a pleasant place to work.

For more ways to improve employee performance and boost workplace motivation check out this powerful tool:http://leadershipskillcenter.com/workplace-motivation/ from Kerrie Mullins-Gunst. Kerrie specialises in helping leaders and managers develop all the skills they need to mentor, manage and lead. 

Change by choice, chance or crisis?

As the story goes, some people make things happen, some have things happen to them and others just say ‘What happened?’.

But when things happen, changes follow. There are probably three main drivers behind most of the changes we face in business, and in much of life: Choice, Chance and Crisis.

Choice: Some people and organisations choose to change in a way and at a time of their own making. These people or organisations have prepared for the change, explored all their options and probably even created the climate in which their intended change is most likely to be successful. They choose to change.

Chance: For others, luck has more to do with their decision to change something. Perhaps an unusual event, a chance meeting, or a decision by someone else, created the circumstances which encouraged a change. An opportunity has fallen in their lap, but at least they recognised it and capitalised on it.

Crisis: For a third group, impending crisis is the only thing which will cause any change. Their experience of change is rarely good because of their reluctance to recognise risks or opportunities early enough to prepare and make the best of a situation. By the time this group considers change, they have little choice and few options.

Think about whether you tend to change through choice, chance or crisis. Are you waiting for a crisis before you make inevitable changes? Are you actively looking for opportunities? Are you exploring all your options, and planning and preparing to change by choice?

As Louise L Hay said: “Change is usually what we want the other person to do.”

Change Quick Tips

Practise ‘change by choice’ on some of the small things in your life. Choose something different for breakfast, travel to work a different way, or listen to another style of music for a week.

Think about how you felt when you chose to change. Were you more willing to experiment? Did you put some effort into making the right choice? Did it help to know you could always choose to change again?

Make some serious changes. Think about what you are just tolerating in your life. What planning and preparation can you make to help you change successfully?

Successful leaders are persistent

“I’ve missed more than 9000 shots in my career.  

I’ve lost almost 300 games.

26 times I’ve been trusted to take the game winning shot and missed.  

I’ve failed over and over and over again in my life.  And that is why I succeed.”

Michael Jordan

Beating Stress at Work

Thank you for your kind comments about our Stress Free course at http://StressFreeCourse.com – If you haven’t signed up yet, it’s still available – at no cost to you as a subscriber of Leading Well.

Once you do sign up, remember you must “Confirm your request for information” to receive the course. (This helps to protect you from someone else using your email address.) All you have to do is click the link in the confirmation message that I sent to you – Don’t skip this step or you will miss out on your information.

In this issue of Leading Well I’ll share one of the best techniques to instantly relieve stress at work. For more great ideas on how to overcome the stress of leading and managing people head on over to http://StressFreeCourse.com and claim your free course.

Kind regards, Kerrie

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Beating Stress at Work

Nobody enjoys it when stress gets out of hand at work. In fact unreasonable stress can be one of the main reasons why good staff move on to other jobs. If it’s you that’s under pressure from stress in your workplace you need to know how to relieve stress effectively before you snap – or snap someone’s head off!

After practicing this, you should be able to not only avoid making a stressful work environment worse, but also handle the stressful situations that do arise more effectively.

Your best “instant” technique for relieving stress as soon as it strikes you while you are at work is conscious slow breathing. It can be done without leaving your office or desk, it is easy to learn and it can have almost immediate effects.

All you need to do is to breathe deeply and slowly, so that you are totally focused on your breath and nothing else. Focus on how you breathe in and out, slowly and deliberately. When you do it well, your concerns and tension will disappear after just a few breaths and you will be calmer and more able to deal with the challenges you are facing.

This breathing exercise can also be helpful at other times too, but you will find it instantly eases your tension if the situation is stressful. And you really can practice it easily while you are at work.

More on how to be stress free below:

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QUOTE OF NOTE

“Stress is an ignorant state. It believes that everything is an emergency. Nothing is that important.”

Natalie Goldberg

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The Leading Well Bottom Line

Stress is a central part of the life of every manager and leader and how well you manage stress has a huge impact on your own life, your family’s happiness and the success of your team.

When you can manage stress effectively, not only will you enjoy your life and your role more, you will be able to ‘take charge’ and lead people through situations that others find distressing or even confronting.

Our latest publication from the Leadership Skill Center is ‘Managing Stress – How to Break Free from a Stressful Life‘. In this 50-plus page ebook you will learn:
* What is stress and how it can manifest itself in your life
* How to identify all the stressors in your life
* The right – and wrong – ways to react to stress and control it’s impact
* How to break free from a stressful life.

For more details visit: http://leadershipskillcenter.com/products/

And don’t forget to claim your Be Stress Free Course today at http://StressFreeCourse.com

Are Your Goals Effective?

Over the next few weeks we will hear a lot of elite athletes talk about the goals they set for themselves and how they worked to achieve them during the Olympics.

In this issue of Leading Well I want to remind you of the power of goals and how much more we can achieve when we set effective goals.

If you are already a member of the Leadership Coaching Club there is a full program to assist you to set and achieve your goals, both at work and at home. Check it out if you haven’t already done so. You can login in to the Leadership Coaching Club at
http://leadershipcoachingclub.com/members/
using your email address and password – or you can join now at
http://leadershipcoachingclub.com

Kind regards, Kerrie

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SETTING YOUR GOALS

The fundamental skill of setting a goal is an open secret known by top-caliber athletes, successful businessmen and businesswomen and all the top achievers in every different field.

Setting effective goals gives you short-term and long-term motivation and focus. Goals help you focus on the acquisition of any required knowledge and they help you to plan and organize your resources and your time so that you can get the best out of your life.

Goals are so effective that many organizations require managers and team leaders to set them. Yet many of us still don’t use them to their full potential.

Setting clearly defined short term and long term goals will enable you to measure your progress and achieve personal satisfaction once you have successfully met your goals.

Charting your progress will also enable you to actually see the stages of completion leading to the actual realization of your goals. This eliminates the feeling of a long and pointless grind towards achieving your goal. Your self-confidence and level of competence will also improve as you will be more aware of your capabilities as you complete or achieve your goals. The basics of goal settings will involve deciding what you really want to do with your personal and professional life and what short term and long term goals you need to achieve it. Then you have to break down goals into the smaller and manageable targets that you must complete on your way to achieving your lifetime targets.

Here are seven pointers that should be taken into consideration in setting your goals and achieving them:

Your Attitude

Attitude plays a very big role in setting and achieving your goals. You must ask yourself if any part of your attitude or your mind is holding you back from completing your simplest goals? If there are any parts of your behavior that are being a hindrance to achieving your goals this can cast your plans into disarray. If you do have problems in these areas then the immediate thing to do is to address your attitude.

Manage Your Time

Careers are made by good time management practice. A stalling career is often attributed to bad time management. Successful careers can require a lot of discipline from an individual in how you manage your time, so plan how far you want to go into your career and manage your time to ensure you do what is needed when it is required.

Invest in Yourself

Education is key in achieving your goals. If your goals require you to have a certain kind of degree or require a certain specialization or demand a certain skill to be developed, make plans and take action to get the appropriate education.

Your family

Your family should never be left out of your plans. If you are just starting out then you have to decide what relationships are important to you, if you want to be a parent or when you want to be a parent.

Money

Personal financial situations also play a major role in achieving your goals. Have a realistic goal on how much you really want to earn and what you will have to invest to achieve it. You also must be able to create plans or stages by which you will be able to reach your earning potential.

Sports goals

Physically gifted individuals may be able to achieve sports related goals like playing in the elite Basketball, Tennis or Football association. Determining your physical capabilities should be one of your priorities. Physical limitations may however be conquered with proper planning and training.

Fun goals

As the saying goes – ‘All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy’ – and this is very true, for hard-working Jills as well as Jacks. Giving yourself a little pleasure should be included into your
plans.

More on how to set effective goals in the Quick Tips below:

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QUOTE OF NOTE

“There are two things to aim at in life; first, to get what you want; and after that, to enjoy it.”

Logan Pearsall Smith (1865-1946)

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The Leading Well Bottom Line:

You don’t have to do it all on your own. Join us in the Leadership Coaching Club and leverage off all the wisdom, insight and experience of dozens of guest experts, other participants and your mentor Kerrie Mullins-Gunst. See http://leadershipcoachingclub.com for details.

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QUICK TIPS FOR SETTING GOALS

* To start achieving your lifetime goals, set a quarter of a century plan, then break it down to five 5 year plans then break the next five years down again to 1 year plans, then 6 month plans then monthly plans, then weekly, then daily.

* Then create a things-to-do list for the day.

* Always review your plans and prepare for contingencies.

The basics of goal settings should not be so difficult once you get to be familiar with them.

* The Core Training Modules in the Leadership Coaching Club http://leadershipcoachingclub.com take you through a proven process for setting your direction, articulating effective goals and then taking the actions that ensure you achieve them. Join today and tap the power of setting goals that work for you in your personal as well as in your professional life.

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“I started with the Leadership Coaching Club when it first became available. My initial reaction was that there was some work that needed to be done. After getting into some of the material however, I’m impressed with the content. It’s practical, useful information that should serve as the foundation of anyone who strives to take on he mantel of leadership. Thank you for your efforts and please continue!”

John Stefanski

Join now

Measurements that matter

I’ve often heard it said that “You can’t manage what you don’t measure”. Yet there are some things in life that we measure that may be best ignored – like age or height or earnings.

And there are other things that we don’t measure that perhaps we should – like smiles or kindnesses or friendships.

“Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away.”

George Carlin

Are you measuring the things that really matter at work – as well as outside your work?