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Managers Letter
Ask the Most from Your People -- and Get It!
by Dorothy Leeds
The universal question all managers ask at one time or another is: How can I motivate my people? There are
many books and theories on the subject, but you really cannot motivate other people. What you can do, though, is hire the best people,
establish the right atmosphere and ask for excellent performance. The real question managers should ask themselves is:
How can I encourage my people to perform with excellence
because they want to?
You can motivate people only on their own terms. People respond for their own reasons, not yours. You may
want someone to increase productivity to meet department quotas, or to enhance efficiency to reduce overtime. But the
person actually carries out your program because he wants to go home on time, hopes to be paid well for satisfactory
performance or has some other personal motive. Sometimes the reason is simply that he wants to please you. But motivation
is strongest when the person has his own inner goal, and when you recognize its nature. Most motivational techniques
fail because they do not focus on the individual.
A universally successful method of motivation is based on discovering the needs of others. Asking smart questions
is your tool for discovery. The right questions can help you uncover the needs of individual staff members as they
develop, and as jobs grow and change.
Golden Rules of Motivation:
The Essential Eight
Through hundreds of research reports, one message rings out loud and clear: to increase motivation, create an
atmosphere where people motivate themselves. When people feel personally involved in a plan, they work to make it
happen. There are eight questions you can ask yourself to help create a self-motivating atmosphere. Each one involves
communication with your staff.
1. Do your people know your plans? An important element in fostering motivation is apprising your people of your
plans so they can participate in them. Make it a point to share information that is vital to your department, business or
organization annual reports, quarterly updates, monthly operating results, comparative performance among divisions or units
with everyone on your team, including those at the entry level. Tell them your goals as well as the goals of the
company. Let your team see the big picture and stress the importance of their contribution to it. When people are highly
motivated, it's easy to accomplish the seemingly impossible. When they're not, it's impossible to accomplish even the easiest of things.
2. Do you give feedback? Even well-motivated people need feedback. They want to be encouraged if they're doing
well, and if they're not doing well they want to know why. It's very important to provide feedback immediately. When you see
a good or bad performance, tell the performer about it right away. Don't wait a year to correct a problem or to give
recognition for a job well done. Let the person know now.
Feedback helps you keep communication channels open. If your people know you're willing to discuss performance
with them, they'll be more likely to bring you their problems and questions and to keep you better informed. Create an
atmosphere where people are not afraid to tell you when something is wrong and you will have fewer surprises.
3. Do you build on strengths? When I begin a sales training class, I often ask participants to identify their strengths
and weaknesses. Invariably they say, "I don't know what my strengths are, but my weaknesses are..." We've been
programmed to focus on weaknesses as though any imperfection would negate or detract from any strengths but this is not
the case. All success comes from strength. A person who is physically challenged but bright and persistent succeeds because
of her intelligence and perseverance and despite her handicaps. If she dwells only on her handicaps, she might never
succeed at all.
Once you get people operating from a position of strength, it is easier to motivate them. They will enjoy what they're
doing and will do better. Positive not negative behavior should be looked at first. For example, after a meeting, ask
yourself, What went right? How can we apply what we learned in other situations? Know the strengths of your people so
you can help build on them, and know your own strengths so you also can continue to grow.
4. Do you offer constructive praise? Perhaps the golden rule of management is: Never be too tough on a person
when he's down. When an individual is upset over failure, harping on the negative can hurt him and squelch any incentive to
improve. Even when giving criticism, you can create a positive framework: "I don't think this is up to your usual
standard. How can we improve the situation?" For times when criticism is necessary, engrave this message on your mind:
Give praise publicly; keep criticism private.
I will always remember one successful company president who made this offhand
comment: "If you want to give a person credit, put it in writing and circulate it around the company. If you want to give
him hell, do it on the phone."
5. Do you give rewards? If your people meet their agreed-upon objectives, they should be rewarded with more than
kind words. Money, bonuses and incentives are key motivators for people. But another reward you can give a high achiever
is your time. Many managers spend the bulk of their time with the poor performers and let the best ones fend for
themselves. When people do a good job for you, recognize their efforts and set aside time to develop ways to motivate them to do
even more.
6. Do you listen and learn? It's reported that Thomas Edison, after finding himself at a dead end, out of money and
out of prospects, once asked his janitor, "What do you think I should do in this situation?"
The janitor was stunned. "Nobody ever asked for my advice before," he replied.
"Well," said Edison, "then you should have a lot of good ideas stored up."
To motivate people, you have to be prepared to ask questions and to listen at least as much as you talk. No one's
ideas should be missed. You needn't seize upon every suggestion, but if you at least get back to the person and say, "That was
a terrific idea," and thank her, she'll give you another one. Always give proper recognition for every valid suggestion.
7. Do you set an example? The best manager is a good role model not once in a while, but every day. Your
people pay much more attention to what you do than what you say. Actions do speak louder than words. A good manager
knows how to say no, to be tough but fair. In other words, if you don't handle the responsibilities of your own leadership
position, you can't expect your people to live up to their job responsibilities either.
8. Do you get people to do their best and live up to their
potential? This is the most important question of all. If
you have hired high achievers (which you have hopefully done), they will always strive to do more. In fact, they will be
bored or stressed if they aren't being challenged to live up to their potential. It is up to you to create an environment in
which your people are constantly reaching and striving.
"The hard thing for me when I moved up to management," said a stockbroker promoted to branch manager, "was
to admit that someone on my staff could sell as well as I used to, and in some cases even better. Even harder, though, was
to learn to be patient with someone who wasn't as good as I was." Successful managers are motivating all the time, not just when performance is down. A
manager is always striving for maximum people potential to get the best from each individual in the organization. And the
objective is always to let the other person determine the means to growth and to take the responsibility for his or her own
development.
Dorothy Leeds, author of Smart Questions, Power Speak
and Marketing Yourself, is an internationally recognized lecturer and
consultant. For information on her services, books and products, call (212) 864-2424.
The
Managers Letter
is published throughout the year by Olsten Corporation. For editorial inquiries, write Olsten Corporation, Marketing Communications Department, 175 Broad Hollow Road, Melville, NY 11747.
Material from the
Managers Letter
may be quoted or reproduced, provided appropriate credit is given to indicate that the material was taken from the
Managers Letter,
a publication of Olsten Corporation.
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