Category Archives: Motivation

Into the Abyss

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They just could not see it. Plain as day to Michelle, the team was having difficulty. She had pointed to the mountain top, but the team was having trouble seeing through the clouds. Hell, they weren’t even looking up. They were looking straight down at the cliff before their feet, straight down into certain failure.

“No, no!!! Look up. Don’t you see it?” cried Michelle.

“No, Michelle, look down. You want us to step off this cliff into the dark abyss. Other Managers have tried this on us before and it always turned out bad. Go ahead, look up at the mountain, but the reality is much worse down here, before we even get to the foothills of that mountain you are looking at.”

Of course, the top of the mountain looks great to the Manager. The Manager can see past all the near term trouble it will take to get there. The Manager can see the long term reward in climbing to the top. The team, however, has a shorter time horizon. They cannot see that far into the future, all they see is that near term trouble. They know they will fail and get blamed for the failure.

That’s why we have to front load rewards on long term projects. Sometimes, those front load incentives seem out of whack with the minimal progress in the first few moments, but it may take that, to gain compliance from the team. They have to suffer through operational changes, learning new skills, short term failure. It stinks. So, front load the incentives to get through it. They will eventually get to the top and understand the longer term reward.

Then, you can point to the next mountain. -TF

End of the World

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It seemed like the end of the world to Raymond’s team. The beta tests were clean, but this was the first customer run with the prototype. As hard as the team had pushed, this project was still going south. As bad as the product was being punished, the thing suffering the most was team morale.

Raymond’s company was not in a mission critical industry. When his product broke, no one died. It was certainly inconvenient, but not the end of the world. It just seemed like it. Looking around the room, he could see the dejection on everyone’s face. They had worked hard, but this project wasn’t budging.

“What is the worst thing that could happen?” he asked. There was silence forever, but forever only lasted thirty seconds.

“Our reputation will be ruined. – The customers will sue us. – We will have to lay off people in our department. – It will probably bankrupt the company. – And our families, too.”

“Okay,” Raymond replied, “anyone else?” Gazing around the table, it was a sad lot. “Look, we have a long history with the two customers who have this product. They know this is the first round out of beta-testing. They have not staked the future of their company on this project. They are not going to sue us. The worst that could happen is that we would have to refund all the money, including the deposits and extend a sincere apology. That’s it. Refunding the money will not bankrupt the company and no one is going to lose their job. Okay? Now, if that is the worst that can happen, how can we improve on that position?”

The purpose of the speech was not to solve the problem, that would come later. The purpose was to move the morale of a beaten team to a position where they could dig in and move forward. When things look grim, determine the worst thing that could happen and improve on that position. -TF

The Name on the Locker

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“They get their name on their locker.”

I was working with a team of branch managers and I had posed the question, “What’s the difference between the home team and the visiting team?” We were discussing impact on performance. Why do teams statistically perform better at home than on the road? Why do teams covet Home Field Advantage in the playoffs?

For Managers looking for superior performance, this is more than an analogy. And someone said, “They get their name on their locker.”

When the visiting team arrives in their locker room, it is adequate for storing equipment and changing into uniforms, but it is anonymous. There are no names on the lockers, no posters on the wall. When the visiting team member opens that locker, it is empty.

What kind of locker room does your team have? In some cases, it is a truck or a cubicle farm. Do your team members have their name on their locker? When you open their locker, is it empty? This is no small thing for a Manager looking for superior performance. -TF

Whose Flag Is It, Anyway?

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Marjorie was puzzled. Twenty minutes ago, she had adjourned a meeting with her development team. The purpose of the meeting had been to share the newly published annual business plan. For the first time since Marjorie joined the company, the vision, described in the plan, finally made sense. They had staked out a customer base and truly nailed down the objectives for the next twelve months. It was the clearest flag the company had ever planted. Then, why didn’t the team respond enthusiastically?

In my class, I often ask the question, “What’s your flag?” And then, “What are the different flags of each of your team members?”

Which flag do you care the most about? Which flag does your team member care the most about? Here’s the news, nobody cares about your flag. People only care about their own flag. Companies are great about describing their own flag, but nobody cares. Customers don’t care, employees don’t care. People only care about their own flag.

As a Manager, to have any hope in the areas of motivation and alignment, you have to find out the flags of each of your individual team members. Finding out about the flags of your customers doesn’t hurt either. -TF

Attaboys

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Is anyone here getting too much appreciation?

What stops a Manager from giving appreciation to team members? It’s funny here in America. We don’t know how to receive appreciation and we don’t know how to give appreciation.

Here is what I hear:
I would give appreciation more often, but it sometimes seems shallow. I don’t know if it will sound sincere.

Sincerity has to do with “real.” Appreciation is sincere when it is real. Making appreciation real is simple. First, tell the person what you liked, admired or found interesting. Then tell the person WHY. Most managers leave out the WHY. Attaboys sound like Attaboys because they never tell you WHY.

“Thanks for a great job,” is an Attaboy.

“Thanks for a great job. The reason I say that is, I knew you were scheduled to leave early yesterday. Most would have thrown something together and left. You stayed and finished the details that made this a great job.” Now we have the WHY. Now we have sincere appreciation because it is real.

The way to receive appreciation is to simply say, “Thank you.” -TF

Out of the Fall Line

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In the sport of snow skiing, control is achieved by counter-intuitive thinking. As speed increases, and the skier becomes “out of control,” conventional thinking causes the skier to lean backwards. This disastrous response moves the front edges of the skis off of the snow creating less control and increasing speed. The counter-intuitive response is to shift the body-weight forward, creating leverage on the front edges of the skis, giving the skier the ability to turn out of the fall line, resulting in skier control and a decrease of speed.

I see many managers attempting to gain “control” of their teams using force, command and control, threat of firing. Those of us with children know the futility of these efforts. The counter intuitive response is to ask questions instead of telling, to ask for commitment instead of demanding. It takes more time, requires more patience and has a longer lasting impact. Sometimes it even works with children. -TF

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The High Road

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How many of your team members, do you suppose, drove to work this morning, saying, “I think I will come to work today and do a really crappy job?” Wipe that smirk off of your face, you know it is not true.

What really makes the difference in the performance of your team members? Each morning they arrive at work, ready for the day. They could perform well, or they could perform poorly. What makes the difference?

Managers will most often agree on this management challenge: How do I motivate my people? My team seems to be suffering from a lack of motivation. If I could just figure out how to motivate my people, everything else would fall in line.

The difference between poor performance, good performance and superior performance is the simple result of a choice. Managers cannot motivate their teams into high performance. Individual team members choose high performance. For every manager, the challenge is to create the circumstances where people most often choose the high road. -TF

Little Murders

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Most managers are unaware of the fishbowl in which they live. Years ago, I received some sage advice from one of my scoutmasters as a young patrol leader. “When you look at your own behavior in front of the other scouts, remember, you can’t go take a pee without everyone knowing about it.”

Every move a manager makes is amplified and remembered. If a manager arrives at work and walks past the receptionist without saying, “Good morning,” well, then, the business MUST be going down the tubes.

Jules Pfeiffer, a famous cartoonist, used to have a series he called, Little Murders in which he depicted the little murders we each commit every day. Little Murders we commit, often without intention or even awareness. We may not be aware, but it is still a Little Murder.

Who did you walk by today, without stopping, without a cheery remark, without a smile? How many Little Murders did you commit today? Remember, amplification works in the other direction, too. A few moments, a kind word, a warm handshake, a listening nod may make all the difference in a team member’s day. -TF

Vision & Motivation

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When I was training for a marathon (at the ripe age of 39), Thursday morning would arrive at 3:30. The alarm clock would ring and I had a decision to make. I could throw it against the wall and return to my slumber, or I could put on my shoes and head out the door.

At 3:31am, I put together the connection between vision and motivation.

The goal was clear, 16 miles, in the cold. But for some reason, that goal did not get me going. In fact, the only thing that got me out of bed was my vision. My vision was a movie-like first-place finish breaking the tape, wind in my hair, looking sharp in my fancy running togs. It was only that clear and compelling vision that got my feet on the floor.

Here is the truth. Your team doesn’t care about your goals. They are not exciting. The only tool you have, as a manager, to get your team juiced up, is a clear and compelling vision of the future. A vision complete with vibrant color, exciting sounds and the smell of success. It is a description of the details that breathe life into a project. Vision is where enthusiasm lives, energy, drive and inspiration.

So, think about your recent projects.

  • When they were planned, what picture did you paint for your team?
  • Could they see it?
  • How excited were they about your picture of the future?
  • How did that project go, anyway?

If you want to make it better, if you want your team to become engaged, paint a better picture. Better yet, get your team to help you paint the picture. –TF

Mastery

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“It is difficult to lead the charge if you think you look silly on top of a horse.”

I am often asked to describe the most important qualities of leadership. What does it take to make a good leader? There are many qualities. Today I am thinking of Mastery.

Mastery is the beginning of self-confidence. Many times, people believe they can pump themselves up with a motivational book or by attending a motivational seminar. While there are temporary positive feelings of invincibility, it doesn’t take more than a few hours back at the office for that to wear off.

True self-confidence begins with mastery. “Mastery over what?” Well, just about anything that requires some new degree of skill, anything that requires a person to truly push their performance beyond their current level of self-confidence. Most folks seldom push themselves beyond their current limits, for fear of failure. It is in the facing of that fear (fear of failure) that I see true growth, a new level of mastery. There can be no mastery without the possibility of failure.

When was the last time you truly pushed yourself beyond your limits? When was the last time you engaged in something new, something that required you to think in new ways that required more tenacity than you have ever mustered before? It isn’t going to come from a book. It isn’t going to come from a seminar. Get off the couch, go do something new. -TF