Encouragement: Lighting The Fire of Motivation
I decided to take a walk at my local park. It’s a great workout about a half mile loop around a paved path that has steep hills. I wasn’t running but I was walking at a very brisk pace. A man who I did not know was running the path in the opposite direction. On the first lap passing me he said to me “good job!” I wondered to myself why is this man talking to me? I don’t know him. On the second lap he gave me a thumbs up signal and a smile. This was really something I thought- I guy who is a complete stranger is encouraging me on my walk! On the next lap he clapped for me. On the last lap I was so inspired I started running. I wanted to please my coach!
Think about it. All people need to feel good; to get and give energy, to have encouragement, appreciation and acknowledgement. So here is the big issue; many leaders don’t take the energy and time to provide any form of encouragement at all. None! Encouragemant as a tool can have great power. I want you to think about being the Head Motivator. Now you are saying to yourself- “here goes the motivational seminar stuff.” Nope. I am just saying that in a leadership role, your job is to get results. That is it. Results. So how do you get these great results?- through people.
So do you want to be effective as the Chief Encouragement Officer? Here are tips and techniques that can work really well in order to help you fullfill your new role.
Mix it up- Do you talk to people? When you are visiting or working daily in one of your offices, do you make the effort to say ” Hi” to people as you pass them? If you don’t do you at least give them positive non verbal signals, like a nod or a smile? I have attended meetings several times in my career and have seen a company V.I.P. walk into the room, pass by everyone and go across the entire room to speak to other V.I.P’s. It was clear that the “small people” weren’t worth talking to or addressing. Imagine how they felt and the huge negative impact they created.
Take note of their efforts- Lower level employees often tell me they never ever get any credit for their work. So when employees work really hard do something “over and above” the call of duty, make sure to notice and say something about it. When people do wonderful work let them know! It’s important to publically and privately (one on one) acknowledge people when they do great work. I was once a Vice President at a big company that had 80,000 employees. At times when I saw something I felt was great, I would find out who did it and I would write them a short handwritten note of appreciation, thanking them for doing such a wonderful job. When I traveled I would go in someone’s office (or cube) and well look at that- I woulde see the card I wrote pinned up on their wall. This taught me an important life lesson- that everyone wants to be appreciated.
Balance criticism- It is really incredibly easy to criticize other people’s work. Mistakes are part of the human condition. As a trainer I often ask people to critique their role-play in class starting with “what went well?” In variably they always start with the negative feedback. Maybe it is human nature. I want you as a leader to find a balance between positive and negative feedback. Too many managers just pound away at a team member and eventually morale goes way down. I am not suggesting by the way, not providing critical feedback I am saying you are already throwing the salt; mix in a little sugar.
Give surprise rewards- Give people rewards when they least expect it. Find small ways to reward them. This can be a gift card, a few extra hours off, taking someone to lunch, or even buying the team a box of donuts in the morning. Just make sure it is when they least expect it and it is positioned as a reward. Say “well I just want you to know that I know how hard you have been working on the project. Here is a small token of my appreciation. Thanks.” Done properly it will be the discussion at dinner at home that night. “Hey guess what my boss did at work today? You will never believe it.”
The secret to great leadership is really not a secret at all. You as a leader need to encourage people, help them feel as if their work matters because it does. We all matter.
So start this week- or even today. Why not?
Shawn Doyle is a veteren Motivational Speaker and author of 10 books. For a free copy of Shawn’s book The 10 Foundations of Motivation, go to http://sldoyle.com.
Tags: attitude, fitness, leadership, Management, Mental Health, motivation, positive thinking, Psychology, self development, self improvement