The Key to Motivation By Brian Tracy

Your Real Goal ...
Your goal is to become a transformational leader, the kind of person that motivates and inspires people to perform at levels far beyond anything that they had previously thought possible.

Keep People In the Know ...
Transformational leaders empower others by keeping them "in the know," by keeping them fully informed on everything that effects their jobs.

People want and need to feel that they are "insiders," that they are aware of everything that is going on. There is nothing so demoralizing to a staff member than to be kept in the dark about their work and what is going on in the company.

Give Regular Feedback ...
One empowering behavior practiced by transformational leaders is regular feedback on performance and results.

People need to know how they're doing so they can improve if performance is below standards and so that they can be proud of their successes.

The more feedback you give to people, the better it is, as long as the feedback is objective and not critical. My friend, Ken Blanchard, says that, "Positive feedback is the breakfast of champions."

Be Generous With Praise ...
Be generous with your praise and encouragement. Remember, people are the only asset that can be made to appreciate in value by giving them warmth, respect, approval and by creating a climate of positive expectations.

Create An Exciting Future ...
What companies and countries and institutions need today are courageous visionary leaders who are committed to creating an exciting future for themselves and others.

You have within yourself the ability to evolve and grow as a leader and to make a real difference in the world around you. And the one thing you can know for sure about yourself is that, no matter what you've accomplished up to now, there is far more that you can do.

As you practice the behaviors of effective leaders, you will grow more and more toward the realization of your full potential. It's completely up to you.

Action Exercises:

Here are two things you can do immediately to put these ideas into action in your work.

First, hold regular meetings with your staff and tell them everything that is going on. Invite their comments, questions and concerns. Make everybody feel as if he or she was an insider in the organization.

Second, continually look for opportunities to give positive feedback, praise and encouragement. People need praise and encouragement like roses need rain and sunshine. Take every opportunity to make people feel better about themselves and their work.
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Brian Tracy is one of the world's leading authorities on personal and business success. His fast-moving talks and seminars are loaded with powerful, proven ideas and strategies that you can apply immediately to get better results in every area. Visit the Brian Tracy web site.

* Read more business leadership tips from Brian Tracy ...
- Trust Your Subordinates
- What the Best Bosses Do
- Everyone is Important
- Transformational Leadership
- Leaders Are Made, Not Born

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The Passionate Leader By Lee J. Colan

A common characteristic of high-achieving leaders is a deep sense of passion. Passion is the glue that helps teams stick to their plans through adversity and over the long haul. There are three success factors for leaders to capitalize on the power of passion.

Paint the Picture...

Focus and competence engage the minds of your employees. To engage their hearts and ignite their passion, we must meet one of their most basic psychological needs - to contribute to something bigger than a job, to find meaning in their work.

Picture this scenario: Three workers were crushing rocks side by side on a construction job. When they were asked, "What is your job?" the first worker answered, "My job is to do what I am told for eight hours a day so I can get a check." The second workers replied, "My job is to crush rocks." The third worker said, "My job is to build a cathedral."

Which of these three workers do you think would be the most engaged, most productive and go the extra mile? No doubt the third one, who understood his job, was far greater than just crushing rocks. He understood he was contributing to a purpose greater than his own efforts.

People will naturally become more passionate about their work when they clearly see the big picture. To paint the picture for your team, answer the four questions employees commonly ask (and they are asking these questions - whether you hear them or not):

1. Where are we going? (Strategy)
2. What are we doing to get there? (Plans)
3. How can I contribute? (Roles)
4. What is in it for me? (Rewards)

Painting the picture might seem like a soft, intangible process; but it yields hard, tangible results.

Value Your Values...

Even more important than what your team does is how your team does it - in other words, your team's values. Values help build a common focus and set of norms. Team values might include collaboration, innovation, zero defects or a customer-first commitment.

The word "communication" comes from the Latin root meaning "community." Your efforts to communicate team values play a key role in creating a unique community of employees who share a common focus and passion.

Communicating values should be a natural outgrowth of your leadership passion. It is best to simply describe the behaviors that demonstrate each value. This helps employees understand the intended spirit of the values and minimizes misinterpretations. For instance, a team value of "the customer is always right" can be interpreted many ways, so providing some examples would help define the acceptable responses to that statement.

If you do not value your team's values, no one else will. Take the time to communicate your team's values, allow your employees to find their own passion about them, and most importantly, live them!

Give what you want...

Most employees do not quit their jobs because of compensation or something "the company" did. People quit people, not companies. And it often comes down to a simple matter of appreciation.

Leaders who build passionate teams really appreciate their people, not just their employees. People don't care how much you know until they know how much you care. It is easy to appreciate the top performers who bail you out of tight spots. However, it is more challenging, but more meaningful, to appreciate everyone on your team regardless of their relative contributions.

Charles Plumb was a U.S. Navy pilot in Vietnam. After 75 combat missions, his plane was shot down; he ejected and parachuted into enemy hands. He was captured and spent six years in a Vietnamese prison. He survived the ordeal and now lectures on the lessons learned from that experience.

One day, Plumb and his wife were sitting in a restaurant when a man came up and said, "You're Plumb! You flew jet fighters in Vietnam from the aircraft carrier Kitty Hawk. You were shot down!"

"How in the world did you know that?" asked Plumb.

"I packed your parachute," the man replied. Plumb gasped in surprise and gratitude. The man pumped his hand and said, "I guess it worked!"

Plumb assured him, "It sure did. If that chute hadn't worked, I wouldn't be here today."

Plumb couldn't sleep that night, thinking about the man. He thought of the many hours the sailor had spent on a long wooden table in the bowels of the ship - carefully folding the silks of each chute, holding in his hands someone's fate.

Plumb later said, "I kept wondering what he might have looked like in a Navy uniform - white hat, bib in the back, bell-bottom trousers. I wondered how many times I might have seen him and not even said, 'Good morning, how are you?' because, you see, I was a fighter pilot and he was just a sailor."

So ask yourself, "Who is packing my parachute?" Remember, at the end of the day, your success is based more on what your people do than what you do. We all have someone who provides what we need to make us more productive. Appreciate those people.

Leading with passion will enhance your team's discretionary effort - extra time and energy they willingly give to meet your team's goals. Give want you want and you will get what you need.

Passionate leaders foster passionate teams, and passionate teams create powerful results!

(This article is an excerpt from the best selling book Sticking to It: The Art of Adherence).

(c) Lee J. Colan - all rights reserved
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Lee J. Colan is a high-energy executive advisor, author and speaker. He is passionate about delivering simple tools that leaders can put to work right away. Learn more at www.theLgroup.com.

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Leadership Effectiveness By Marshall Goldsmith

By asking for feedback, analyzing the results, developing a focused action plan for change and following-up, leaders are perceived as more effective.

Recently, one executive was asked, “How much do you spend each year on leadership development programs?” He replied, “Tens of millions of dollars!” He was then asked, “How much do you spend on follow-up?” He replied, “Tens of dollars!”

More effort needs to be placed on the follow-up required to ensure positive, long-term change. By developing processes that ensure ongoing feedback and follow-up, we can help leaders develop in a manner that requires fewer resources and produces more change.

When we designed and implemented a leadership development process for one company, every manager received anonymous feedback.

Later the managers reviewed the feedback with outside consultants in coaching sessions designed to help the managers understand their perceived strengths and plan for improvement.

Based upon direct-report feedback, each manager was encouraged to pick one to three areas for improvement, develop an action plan for desired change, respond to direct reports concerning the areas for improvement, ask them for help in changing behavior, and follow-up with them to check on progress and receive further assistance.

In responding to direct reports, managers were asked to spend only 5 to 15 minutes in a focused, two-way dialogue. In following up, managers were asked to spend only a few minutes in a dialogue concerning their progress.

After 18 months, direct reports were asked to again provide feedback. Three questions were added: 1) Do you feel your manager has become more effective as a leader in the past year? 2) Did your manager respond to previous feedback, and 3) How has your manager followed up with you on areas that he/she has been trying to improve?

Follow Up or Fail...

In leading people, impact is not determined by what leaders think they say, impact is determined by what direct reports hear. In our study, of those managers who were seen as not responsive to feedback and not following up, over half were rated as unchanged or less effective. Managers who were responsive but did no follow-up were perceived as no more effective than managers who did not respond at all. In fact, this group had the highest percentage of managers who were seen as getting worse.

Leaders who respond to feedback, promise change, and then do nothing different are perceived by their direct reports as less effective. Raising expectations without delivering results is a formula for increased dissatisfaction and decreased respect. Even a little follow-up has a positive impact. And, 95 percent of the leaders who ask for feedback and engage in frequent follow-up are perceived as much more effective.

Peter Drucker has said, “The leader of the past was a person who knew how to tell. The leader of the future will be a person who knows how to ask.” By asking for feedback, analyzing the results, developing a focused action plan for change and following-up (asking again), leaders are perceived as more effective by direct reports, team members, and customers.

Leaders often have a constant need to know, be right, and win.

The higher up you go, the more you need to let other people be winners and not make it about winning yourself.

Many leadership development efforts focus exclusively on the front side of the process—impressive training, well-designed forms, clever slogans, and lots of “flash”. They fail to focus on the back-side—the ongoing application of what is being learned. And yet what leaders do back on the job is a lot more meaningful to people.

*Leadership Excellence, September 2003
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Dr. Marshall Goldsmith is a world authority in helping successful leaders get even better – by achieving positive change in behavior: for themselves, their people and their teams. You can visit him at MarshallGoldsmith.com

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