I was on Henrik’s wheel. We had eight miles to go with 43 miles behind us. I was thinking, as long as Henrik kept this pace, I could hang on. If he went faster, I was toast. One thing was certain. I could not handle another shift on the front. My legs were rubber.
Henrik pulled to the left, sat up and looked over. No way, I said to myself. I can’t. Henrik just stared at me. I stood on my pedals and dug in, pulling ahead. Henrik fell in behind allowing me to block the wind for the next stretch of road.
Sometimes I ride by myself, but I never get the workout, I never get the push unless I ride with someone else. Left to our own devices, we coast when it’s convenient, dog the hill with some justification about the heat or the wind.
Push me and I will go faster, challenge me and I will find that bit of energy left that I did not know I had.
Everyone needs a coach. -TF
Push Me, I Will Go Faster
This is so true however, as a manager one must motivate in his or her pushing. Too many times I see managers push in a tyrannical manner disrespecting their subordinates and causing such resentment that makes the accomplishment if any better sweet. It takes time and energy to motivate your staff but with the right tools the rewards and the loyalty outweighs the extra work.
Will employees make mistakes of course they will, will employees slack off on the job of course the will, however a good manager will think outside the box and motivate his or her team to excel beyond their present capabilities. I once worked for a manager that was a great motivator. He always treated me with respect and he listened to my ideas for improvement. I made so many mistakes in my role as a young supervisor however he never degraded me. We always sat down and talked about why I made the choices that I did and what was the result that I trying to achieve. Then we would reevaluate a better solution and we talked about what I learned from this mistake.
As a result of this my leadership skills and techniques improved and I always wanted to do my very best for him. Remember you can catch more flies with honey then you can with vinegar. Just my thoughts and opinions on the subject.