Communicating Your Vision

Communication is more than just the words you say or the memos you write. 

Remember, actions speak louder than words. 

Take every opportunity to communicate your vision in words and deeds.

 One of the best ways to communicate a vision is to sum it up in a simple catch phrase.

Post your slogan, catch phrase and mission statement in prominent locations.

When you send out emails, quote it in your email signature. 

Hold meetings occasionally or hand out “Visionary Awards” to people who exemplify your vision.

Above all else, lead by example.

The Carrot

The “carrot” as a theory takes its lead from horse-riding and dates back to the middle of the 20th century. 

The idea is that a cart driver would tie a carrot to a long stick and dangle it in front of the horse or donkey which was pulling his cart. As the donkey moved forward towards the carrot, he would pull the cart and driver forward, ensuring that the carrot always remained beyond his reach until such time as the driver slowed down and stopped, at which point – should he so desire – the driver could give the carrot to the horse as a reward for doing what it has been encouraged to do.

For an employer, this can perhaps be read in a number of ways. Looking at how the “carrot” theory works, it is quite easy to assume that the “carrots” offered to employees should be continually moved beyond their reach, and this assumes that the employee is as stubborn and witless as a donkey. 

This would be a rash assumption to make, and continually moving the point of reward away from the employee could be seen as a disincentive. Not delivering on a promise is always likely to annoy workers rather than stiffen their resolve to meet the new goals.

It could, however, also be argued that the carrot on the stick is something which should not just hang there within easy reach. The employee will need to keep testing themselves, but as long as they meet their challenges they will be rewarded at the end of their efforts. 

The important element of the theory is that if someone has the promise of a reward at the end of their work, they are likely to keep striving for it. If that reward is continually denied them even at the end of their work, however, do not be surprised if it ceases to work.

The Whip

In different cultures it is known by different names, but the second part of the “Carrot” theory is the Whip. 

There is a long history of terms and sayings attached to the idea of having an element of threat involved in motivating a group of employees, or anyone for that matter. “Spare the rod and spoil the child”, for example, is an old proverb meaning that if you never punish someone for transgressing, they will come to believe that they can transgress as and when they wish. 

In the old “Carrot” theory, the way it works is that if the employee tired of chasing after a carrot that never seems to get any closer, simply slows down, a quick smack with the whip will make it speed up again.

The theory of motivation by threat of punishment is one which needs to be handled very carefully indeed. Not only is it absolutely illegal in many places to physically discipline workers, but other forms of threat can have a detrimental effect on the workforce. An employer, team leader, or manager with a reputation for flying off the handle when things are not to their satisfaction may get results from some people, but this method can lead to a culture of fear within a company or department, and stifle performance in order to simply get the work done. 

It is left up to the person providing the motivation to decide to what extent and in what way they will use the “whip”. There can be initiatives which combine the carrot and the whip – for example, in a one-off situation over the course of a day or so, the person or people who have performed worst in the team can be required to buy coffees or any other small reward for those who have performed best.

 A “forfeit” system can also be applied, but it is dangerous to apply anything too humiliating in this situation. The limits of the system need to be clearly defined. If it is something so meaningless that it won’t be taken seriously, the whip ceases to be a motivation. If it is too stringent it becomes the whole focus and can infringe upon performance.

The Plant 

An element of objected-oriented motivation which, is essentially separate from the above, but not incompatible with them, is known as “Plant” theory. Take as your example a simple house plant. In order to ensure that a plant flourishes it is important to give it the best combination possible of different nourishing elements. Most plants will require sunlight, warmth, water, and food in order to grow in the way you would wish. By the same token, employees will be motivated by a combination of factors. 

The average employee will require motivation in many forms and because humans are not all the same it will be a matter of judgment to ensure that each employee gets the right amount of each factor. 

This can be something as simple as getting the balance of “carrot and whip” motivation right. It is important, in many managers’ eyes, to get the balance right between the arm around the shoulders and the boot up the backside. Making an employee feel valued and supported without letting them become coddled is important, as is ensuring that they know they have to perform without making them feel like they have a gun against their head.

Taking three of Herzberg’s essential elements of motivation as an example, some employees work best with the prospect of challenge in their work, while some will work better with the goal of recognition. Others, equally, will want simply to get through as much work as they can while doing the work to a high level of quality. It is important to take into account the differing “buttons” that need to be pressed in each staff member to ensure that they do their job as well as possible.

It is many people’s view that the team which will work best is the one that has a combination of people who work well under different motivations. This way, tasks within the team can be assigned in a balanced way and ensure the best performance from every individual, and consequently the best performance from the team. 

The “Plant” theory, as applied here, is about knowing which plant requires which type of nourishment in which measure. By getting the balance right you can ensure the best “greenhouse” arrangement.

As a business owner a strong vision does not lend itself to mediocrity.

A drive to excellence always seeks improvement. If you accept 95% efficiency as a vision or goal, the efficiency will inevitably slip to 90%. If that’s considered “good enough,” it will become hard to keep it above 85% and so on and so on. 
A vision is a goal that is strived to be achieved.

Goals must not be unrealistic or unattainable, or your followers will simply give up trying altogether, becoming dispirited and demoralized in the process. If 95% of people fail to meet a standard, then that standard is likely too high and must be reviewed and changed. 

The same goes if the bar is set so low where little or no effort is required to meet it. Based on your vision, set high goals that are attainable but with some degree of difficulty, and reward those who meet the goals. If a large number of followers are meeting the goal, raise the target a little.

If only a very few are meeting it, lower it somewhat, or ask yourself why? Investigate any potential bottlenecks that may be holding back progress and resolve them. Talk to your followers about possible solutions. The people who actually do the work are sometimes far more likely to be able to tell you why they are having difficulty accomplishing a task or goal than even their immediate supervisors or managers.

Article from the IIB Business Alert News Letter.

 Keith Tindall - Accredited Associate of the IIB 

Article Source note : CONFESSIONS OF AN UNMANAGER; by Debra Boggan and Anna VerSleeg

HAVING EMPLOYEES SPEND TIME doing different jobs offers a dual payoff; They learn new skills and find out more about how the whole organization operates. And they do so without losing any time at training sessions.
 
But mandating such job rotation probably won’t work because most people don’t learn as well when you force them to do something. 

For a better approach, consider this job rotation program used at a Nortel plant in North Carolina: Work teams’ post temporary-help positions for which any employee can apply.

The notices describe jobs, list their requirements and say how long the rotations will last. For example, the MIS department was falling behind one quarter. They posted a notice that they needed someone to fill in for a couple of weeks.The host team interviews candidates and chooses one. For the MIS job, the team selected Jennifer, who worked in production. She had taken some programming classes at night, so it was a chance for her to test her new skills. 

The “rotators” receive no change in salary and no one fills their regular position. So while Jennifer was gone, others in the production department compensated for her vacancy. Those who rotate jobs tell co-workers about their temporary assignment. When Jennifer returned to her production job, she described in detail what she had done—and learned— at MIS. 

Suggestion: Limit rotations to minimize schedule disruptions that too much job switching might cause.

"The Strength Within - Influence is the Soul of Leadership"

The definitive leadership style research comes from Paul Hersey and Kenneth Blanchard, which they set out in their Situational Leadership Model. 

Marketing and communications experts consider it crucial to tailor your message to a “target audience.” It is the followers that you want to motivate and influence, you cannot do that if you don’t know whom you are trying to motivate or influence.

 The example of the following is an employee as the follower.

1. Situational Leadership: Telling

Telling is the lowest level of leadership style. New employees require direct instructions, so this is called the “Telling” or “Directing” The follower is characterized by low competence and high commitment, but being unable to comply, with possible feelings of insecurity. The leader must focus highly on tasks, rather than a relationship with the employee, as a relationship does not yet exist.

When an employee can’t do the job because they are unknowledgeable, the leader must spend much more time working with the employee, offering clear instructions and a regular follow up. The leader must be encouraging and motivational, offering praise for positive results and correction for less than positive results. The idea is to motivate the follower to rise to the next level of ability.

2. Situational Leadership: Selling

Selling addresses the follower who has developed some competence with an improved commitment. The follower is not convinced yet, but is open to becoming cooperative and motivated. The leader must still focus highly on tasks and this still requires much of the leader’s time, but the focus now also includes developing a relationship with the employee. Build upon the trust that has begun to develop and the encouragement that has been demonstrated.

The leader must spend more time listening and offering advice, scheduling the follower for additional training if the situation requires it. The focus is to engage the follower so they can develop to the next level. There is less “telling” and more “suggesting” which leads to more encouragement, acting as a coach. It is shown as recognition that they have progressed and it motivates them to progress even further.

3. Situational Leadership: Participating

Participating addresses the follower who is now competent at the job, but remains somewhat inconsistent and is not yet fully committed. The follower may be uncooperative or performing as little work as possible, despite their competence with the tasks. The leader must participate with and support the follower, educate, support and re educate.

The leader no longer needs to give detailed instructions and follow up as often, but does need to continue working with the follower to ensure the work is being done at the level required. The follower is now highly competent, but is not yet convinced in his or her ability or not fully committed to do their best and excel. The leader must now focus less on the tasks assigned and more on the relationship between the follower, the leader, the team, and the group.

4. Situational Leadership: Delegating

Delegating is the ultimate focused end goal. A follower who feels fully empowered and competent enough to take the ball and run with it with minimal supervision. The follower becomes highly competent, highly committed, motivated, and empowered.

The leader can now delegate tasks to the follower and observe with minimal follow up, knowing that acceptable or even excellent results will be achieved. There is a low focus on tasks and a low focus on relationships. There is no need to compliment the follower on every task, although continued praise for outstanding performance must be given. We all like to be praised for a job extremely well done, it makes us feel good and it is motivational.  

Nine Ways to Overcome Procrastination - Time Management

Your ability to select your most important task at any given moment, and then to start on that task and get it done both quickly and well, will probably have greatest impact on your success than any other quality or skill you can develop! 

If you nurture the habit of setting clear priorities and getting important tasks quickly finished, the majority of your time management issues will simply fade away.Here are some ways to get moving on those tough tasks.

Delete it. What are the consequences of not doing the task at all? Consider the 80/20 rule; maybe it doesn’t need to be done in the first place.

Delegate. If the task is important, ask yourself if it’s really something that you are responsible for doing in the first place. Know your job description and ask if the task is part of your responsibilities. Can the task be given to someone else?

Do it now. Postponing an important task that needs to be done only creates feelings of anxiety and stress. Do it as early in the day as you can.

Ask for advice. Asking for help from a trusted mentor, supervisor, coach, or expert can give you some great insight on where to start and the steps for completing a project.

Chop it up. Break large projects into milestones, and then into actionable steps. As Bob Proctor says, “Break it down into the ridiculous.” Huge things don’t look as big when you break it down as small as you can.

Obey the 15 minute rule. To reduce the temptation of procrastination, each actionable step on a project should take no more than 15 minutes to complete. 

Have clear deadlines. Assign yourself a deadline for projects and milestones and write it down in your day planner or calendar. Make your deadlines known to other people who will hold you accountable.

Give yourself a reward. Celebrate the completion of project milestones and reward yourself for getting projects done on time. It will provide positive reinforcement and motivate you toward the complete task.

Remove distractions. You need to establish a positive working environment that is conducive to getting your work done. Remove any distractions.

The Strength Within - Influence is the Soul of Leadership

An extract from my upcoming ebook

In 2002, Jossey Bass published a book by James Kouzes and Barry Posner called The Leadership Challenge. Building upon the Hersey-Blanchard model and other transformational leadership models, they went to the heart of what skills are required by the leader to stimulate such a transformation. What abilities are able to influence followers and bring them to accept the leader’s vision as their own? 

An Introduction to Kouzes and Posner

James Kouzes and Barry Posner asked thousands of people to rank list of characteristics associated with leadership, including the seven top qualities that motivated them to follow willingly.

They gave this survey to over 75,000 people over a 20-year period.  In their book, The Leadership Challenge, the authors identified five abilities that were crucial to successful leadership:

The Five Abilities Crucial to Successful Leadership

1. Model the Way: You must lead by example. You can’t come into work 10 minutes late every day if you want your employees to arrive on time.

2. Inspire a Shared Vision: If you capture the imagination, you will inspire creative thought and increase loyalty, communicate it effectively for others to adopt it as if it were their own.

3. Challenge the Process: Don’t continue doing something just because “We’ve always done it that way.” Situations change, and sometimes a policy or procedure never worked well in the first place.

4. Enable Others to Act: Truly empower people to act on their own within their level of authority.

5. Encourage the Heart: A positive attitude is infectious. If the leader appears passionate or excited about the vision, others will catch the enthusiasm as well. 

"The Strength Within - Influence is the Soul of Leadership"

You may have heard that perception is reality. You must always present an
honest, caring, dedicated attitude to inspire others. To inspire loyalty, you
must have a track record of honesty and fairness.

If any of your followers feel they have been wronged, for whatever reason, you need to address the issue immediately. People talk, and a problem ignored is a problem that grows. Believe it or not, the most powerful influence you can have is often not trying to influence someone.

When people believe you are open to their suggestions and believe they have been heard, they will work harder even if they disagree with the methods; that is the power of listening. Simply listening to others makes them feel empowered, even if you don’t accept their suggestions. If a follower feels there’s no point talking to you, they won’t, and they will disengage themselves from your vision and will only follow your directions begrudgingly.

If you are seen as going the extra mile, your followers are more likely to go the extra mile. If you hide in your office and people never see you, you will be perceived as out of the loop, uninformed, uninterested, and therefore unworthy to lead.

Many a successful corporate executive makes it a point to be seen by their employees every day. If an employee is to be commended for something, it is done publicly, often right in the middle of their workplace while they are surrounded by their coworkers. That sends a powerful message to
everyone, and I have yet to see a complaint from a worker who was publically praised for his or her efforts by a leader

"The Strength Within - Influence is the Soul of Leadership"
 
                            An extract from my upcoming ebook
 
Leadership is not telling others what to do. Leadership is inspiring others to
do what needs to be done. Many people around the world in leadership
positions are not leaders. 

Dictators call themselves leaders, they are not, they are tyrants, and tyrants are not leaders. There have been leaders of countries throughout history but few were real leaders.

Bullying is far too common place in our modern lives especially amongst children, head bullies sometimes being referred to as ring leaders, leading a mob of like minded followers. The one thing it shows is that leadership and influence can be used in a very destructive and negative format.

If a leader intentionally or unintentionally with “his or her way” sows seeds in the minds of those who follow, with doubt, unrest or unfairness, it could create a lack of trust; followers will not necessarily display or hold those values, but inwardly they may feel those characteristics of concern within themselves towards that leader, which in turn could development into a lack of confidence and a lack of commitment and trust.

                                "The Strength Within - Influence is the Soul of Leadership"

Success and Achievement in Life!

SOURCENOTE: © Copyright Philip E. Humbert. All Rights Reserved. Written by Dr. Philip E. Humbert, writer, speaker and success coach. www.philiphumbert.com “

From parenting to fitness to money or time management, to wealth, fame, power or athletic prowess is the result of mastering the fundamentals.
 
It’s about approaching the task as a problem to be solved, as a set of skills to be learned and applied.

In that sense, as long as we live in a predictable, orderly universe, success is basically an engineering problem. What a concept!

I anticipate expanding on this in many ways, for a long time to come.

I don’t know where it will lead but here are some of my initial thoughts on the Who, What, Why and How of success:

1. Success comes to those who are prepared.

Success comes to some people more readily than others, but the difference has nothing (nothing!) to do with luck or genetic talent or family background.

It comes to people who are balanced, healthy and structured.

It is not attracted to scenes of chaos, drama, confusion or impulsivity.

Success in the outer world is built on mastering one’s own inner world.

Get good at living on purpose, with balance, enthusiasm, focus and energy.

2. Success comes to those who know what it is.

Success comes to those who have defined their outcomes in advance, who know their purpose and are committed to their goals.

Success is not about “a little of this and some of that.” It’s not about starting over or giving up when things get hard.

Success is about defining what you want, knowing where you’re going, and pursuing your goals with creative, persistent determination.

3. Success comes to those who know why they want it.

Success comes from purpose and passion, from having powerful reasons for success.

Successful people are described as “driven” by a dream or “pulled” by their sense of mission.

They are rarely distracted, seldom confused and they never give up.

It’s often impossible to tell whether they have a dream or the dream has them.

They stay the course because it’s important. They have their reasons.

4. Success comes to those who know V how.

Success requires effective strategies, solid plans, a budget, a schedule and talented partners, coaches and teammates. Success is not random!

We live in an orderly, predictable world and successful people often spend more time developing their “blueprint” or “path” than it takes to achieve their goals once they get into action.

Eager, impulsive failures tend to launch before they are ready.  Winners focus on the plan.

They know how their plan is going to work and they work their plan.

Courtesy of “Business Alert Newsletter” from the Institute for Independent Business International

Keith Tindall - Accredited Executive Associate of the Institute for Independent Business International