Staff Motivation
Getting Under the Skin
To engage or disengage…That is the question!
To delegate or empower…To burden or unshackle?
Listen here
Sport has always played a big part in my life. The challenges to test yourself on a personal level both mentally and physically and of course against others. Teams pulling together and Leaders or Coaches leading the way…or not!
As I have progressed from playing to coaching, the management of people has interested me more and more- and also the link with business.
I was recently talking with a current professional footballer and who has graced the Wembley turf.
I asked him the effect of the “half time hair dryer treatment”!
His reply… “I had no problem, but I knew which lads would contract into their shell come the second half and play the easy option by way of movement, purely to avoid making mistakes”.
Not what the Manager intended! Leadership is about understanding the key drivers of individuals and not a broad brush. An arm around the shoulder, a quiet word in the ear, making the person feel so special, and yes for some… “You are letting yourself down…You can do so much better than this”.
If you want your teams to perform to the highest of levels, you need to know them in such a way that you know exactly which levers to pull and with whom. Failure to do so, could result in an even further loss of performance.
Do your interventions help by showing the way and lighting the blue touch paper for your teams to feel that they know what to do and their part…And in such a way that they want to deliver to the best of their abilities.
Do you empower in such a way that your teams are excited by all new challenges or burdened by your delegation.
Get under the skin of your teams. The emotional needs of each is different. Only by talking with them all and individually, can you learn this. Do you understand all of your team this well? Do you know which levers to pull and in a way that you and your teams are marching together and in the same direction?
Staff motivation has to come from personal responsibility but with Leaders providing the support and guidance to enable their people to have the drive and desire to be part of the journey, all of the time and all of the way!
A leader is one who knows the way, goes the way, and shows the way”.
John C. Maxwell