‘Keep the Mo’
A Dose of Daily Motivation Builds Momentum
As a leader, it does not matter what product or service your company offers or what specific responsibility your team has; your job is to motivate and develop your employees. While most leaders believe motivation is the key to any organizations success, many struggle to keep their people motivated on a daily basis.
So if keeping your teams motivated is a struggle in good times, is it even harder in a weak economy? Yes, absolutely. The focus shifts to the tough economy, so it becomes even easier to ignore the day-to-day obstacles. Heres an idea instead of ignoring the real issues, challenge your team to recognize, overcome, and be successful. Of course, it may be tough when research shows two important factors are prohibiting leaders from doing their jobs effectively: they fear losing their jobs due to downsizing, or they lack knowledge of how to actually motivate their teams. If leaders are afraid of losing their jobs, imagine how the employees feel.
So, as leaders, how can you motivate someone or even yourself when there is fear of being laid off? The fact is, the best way to keep your job during reorganization is to stay focused on your job and ignore the noise, and do your job better than anyone else. Corporate leaders will, at some point in their careers, experience company restructures and downsizing. During these times it is important not to ignore the option of losing your job; however, dont focus on it. Focus on what you can control you, your teams actions, and ultimately the performance of your division.
There is no doubt that the market and economy will rebound and will be bigger and better than ever. The only question is, when? While this is an optimistic view, what choice do you have? You can be motivated and believe you will achieve your goals, or you can focus on the negatives and feel miserable and hopeless. Its vital you choose to be excited and motivated with an optimistic outlook for a better end result. Heres the best part: By making this choice as a leader, your team will follow your example.
So, this being said, how can you keep your team motivated every day? Again, while motivation is the key part of any leaders job, it is one of the most difficult. People are made up of energy, and when people communicate with each other, it is merely a transfer of energy. To keep your team motivated on a long-term, consistent basis, a leader must have a plan that involves that energy. A leader needs to focus on what he or she can do daily, weekly, monthly, and quarterly to achieve the goal: to maximize their teams motivation.
Knowledge creates confidence, and when a person is confident, he or she is more motivated to take action: knowledge + confidence = motivation.
A leader must turn the energy thermostat to high. Everyone has to understand that the right energy will empower everybody to achieve more. Remember, most people spend more time at work than at home, so it should be fun and motivating.
To maximize your teams motivation, here are some things you can do daily, weekly, and quarterly in your office:
Remember to play to win day in and day out. You should never be in the defensive position, either waiting for the corporate ax to come down or hoping your teams will motivate themselves. Get in the trenches, talk with your teams, and be energetic, positive, and focused, and your team will do the same with your customers, ultimately ensuring your success.
Nathan Jamail, president of the Jamail Development Group and author of The Sales Leaders Playbook, is a motivational speaker, entrepreneur, and corporate coach. As a former executive director for Sprint and owner of several small businesses, Jamail travels the country helping individuals and organizations achieve maximum success. His clients include Radio Shack, Nationwide Insurance, Metro PCS, and Century 21;www.nathanjamail.com