A Motivational Speaker’s Perspective - How To Motivate Your Team
John began his new job chock-full of gusto, excited about the wealth of future possibilities. He displayed the zeal of a motivational speaker and worked vigorously to acquire the skills necessary to perform well in his new position. But, following the initial “flash” of enthusiasm his fervor waned. His supervisor seemed detached, unappreciative and seldom came down from his ivory tower. That’s when the problems became apparent. He started showing up late, surfing the Internet during office hours and did as little as was needed to just get by. Unfortunately, this is a very familiar story. I would propose that one of the major reasons for such a precipitous falling off in motivation is lack of communication. Which raises the question: What exactly must be communicated?
A Motivational Vision
How frequently do you share your organization’s big picture strategy with your team? As a motivational speaker, I’m frequently flabbergasted at how often the junior workers are not told about the executives’ vision for their organization. Often that’s because the leaders aren’t quite clear themselves. However, more regularly it’s because the managers haven’t taken the trouble to pass on anything further than minimal “do this…do that” commands to their team. To the subordinates this feels like the personification of being bossed around; quite literally!
It’s an easy fix. Take care to communicate, clearly and repeatedly, the planned direction of your organization. Make it extremely clear to your personnel that their individual efforts are appreciated and, most importantly, are moving the organization towards success. Let’s be honest, without your workforce you won’t achieve the success you envision. And yet many bosses act as if this isn’t the case.
Motivational Feedback
Now we shift our point of view and contemplate the feedback you provide your personnel. We can only work in the “dark” for so long. It’s tricky for your personnel to shine when they don’t have explicit answers to these questions: In which areas do I most need to improve? Equally, within my sphere of responsibility, where do I excel? Typically, if any feedback is given, it tackles the results obtained by the staff member and not the behavior that led to the stated results. Whereas, the ideal class of feedback focuses on not only on the results, but on the work-behaviors that produced the results. This is a critical facet of feedback that’s often overlooked.
And don’t forget to be extremely specific (with step-by-step instructions) as to how your staff member might improve his performance next time. This is especially important if the feedback is negative. I’m reminded of the old saying” “People don’t care how much you know, until they know how much you care.” My final point about feedback: it’s tricky to give negative feedback if you haven’t already developed a respectful rapport with your personnel.
Be A “Human” Boss
To conclude, convey your humanity. For many people their supervisor appears to be very detached. Be a participative boss, get involved in your team member’s professional aspirations. Do you even know what your staff want to achieve with their careers? To be clear, I’m not advocating you hang around the water cooler chatting about their vacation plans. I’m suggesting an appropriate level of interest over their long term professional goals.
You Don’t Have To Be A Motivational Speaker
So, those are my three ideas for motivating your team members by improving your communication style: Communicate your organization’s vision, give practical feedback and, in a manner that is appropriate to your status, highlight your humanity. Take heed to my advice and, without needing to be an expert motivational speaker, you will still effectively motivate your staff!
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