This title caught my attention and really made me think about leadership style and motivation.
The transition from a great employee to the next level in a supervisor role is a huge step and more often a very steep learning curve for the employee who has excelled in their position, then is rewarded with a promotion as a manager without training. This happens more frequently than it should.
In this instance, three outcomes are possible
- The struggle with the promotion, they are terminated due to the lack of performance.
- The employee resigns as they found it difficult to lead and direct.
- They are successful.
As leaders we need to understand many things about the team in any circumstance, whether we are building, growing or replacing a member for any reason. The skills of the leader are important, and require many skills such as communication, motivation, coaching, goal setting, delegating, and team dynamics. In this post, I want to share my simple beliefs on motivation.
Motivation
Unbelievably we are all motivated differently, and understanding an individuals’ motivation is a key factor to the teams’ success. Spend time to find out about the motivation of the individual and use this as a reward and you will succeed. Too often, we assume it is about money, sorry to disappoint, often it is not.
In fact a UK survey from Kaisen Consulting Ltd confirmed my thoughts, money is ranked sixth, the top three are 1.Achievement, 2.Working with others and 3.Recognition. See https://www.kaisen.co.uk/pdf/what-really-motivates-people-at-work.pdf
As “Working with others”, you may see why it is important to have well trained leader. The staff are a valuable asset, therefore ensure you are not complacent, arrogant or a corporate sociopath.
What is a corporate sociopath? A quote from this site mcafee.cc
- Glibness and Superficial Charm
- Manipulative and Conning
They never recognize the rights of others and see their self-serving behaviors as permissible. They appear to be charming, yet are covertly hostile and domineering, seeing their victim as merely an instrument to be used. They may dominate and humiliate their victims.
For more information, refer to the linkhttp://www.mcafee.cc/Bin/sb.html
Here is an example of a corporate sociopath that I would like to share with you. A manager told his staff “a sale for this product was as easy, as picking up cash from the floor”. Do not sell unrealistic goals or up sell the job as this will de-motivate the individual quickly and will have a compound effect on the team. The result will reflect with a high turnover of staff and a substantial cost to the business.
The motivation or reward should not always be about money, it s about Achievement, ensure that targets or KPI’S are achievable and that once reached understand how to acknowledge the individual or team through Recognition.
Employ people who believe in your organisations values, understand the individuals, communicate, train in leadership and coach the team.
Simon Sinek says "if you hire people just because they can do a job, they'll work for your money,but if you hire people who believe what you believe they'll work for you with blood and sweat and tears".
The best motivation is about belief. Employ people who share what you and your organisation believe in and success will come to all.
Good luck!
