Monday Morning Motivation - Audio Tidbits Podcast

Audio Tidbits Podcast

Cottrell, David. Monday Morning Motivation: Five Steps to Energize your Team, Customers, and Profits. New York: Harper Business, 2009.

The single greatest influence on your organization’s energy is the leader…you are the ultimate energizer. The energy you create can be positive or negative, and that energy is multiplied in the organization because of your impact on every member of your team.

Your organizational energy is not the sum of your individuals. It is dependent upon the ratio of energizers to sappers. If you have more sappers than energizers, the energy will be drained, and in fact the energizers may eventually become sappers. As unfortunate as it is, a negative, cynical person has a far greater impact on the energy of the team than a positive person. He or she will deplete far more energy than a positive person will add.

Consider the effect on a team if their leader speaks negatively about her boss’s decision to change a particular process or policy. Will the members of that team be energized about and supportive of the change? Not likely, because they see leadership chaos above them. On the other hand, when employees see that everyone in their line of leadership is on the same page, they are motivated to get on board also.

With respect to your team, are your organization’s values actually practiced or merely posted?

When conflicts are ignored, tremendous organizational energy is diverted from moving forward to dealing with the conflict. The rule illustrates how a small issue can grow exponentially if left unchecked. The longer it persists, the more difficult and time consuming it is to fix–and the more of your organization’s energy it will waste.
Southwest Airlines’ mission statement says: “Above all, employees will be provided the same concern, respect, and caring attitude within the organization that they are expected to share externally with every Southwest customer.”

Unfortunately, very few organizations are completely satisfied with their internal communications. No matter how many workshops are conducted, how much emphasis it’s given, and how many e-mails or memos are circulated, organizations rarely have the clear communication channel that they envisioned.

However, that’s no excuse to stop making an effort. It’s important to continue making every effort to enhance your internal communications at every level of your organization.

It matters what they hear, not what you say.

In your management approach, celebrate successes by quickly recognizing high performers. Quick, on-the-spot action to recognize the achievements of employees can have a tremendous impact in building loyalty and respect. And although it’s a painful task, take decisive action to clear out the underperformers from your organization. The longer they stay, the more energy they drain.

Problems do not just go away. Address issues quickly to avoid larger problems later.

One of the toughest things for a leader to figure out is “What’s the truth?” Many times the truth is camouflaged by politics, personal agendas, or even a sincere, intense desire to want something else to be the truth.

Honesty, integrity, and transparency are inextricably linked.

Your personal integrity is judged every day. The people in your organization judge your integrity not by what they hear you say, but by what they see you do. When you criticize one of your team members in public, you lose integrity. When you … say, “We’ll deal with it later,” your integrity comes into question. When you show favoritism, choose to not return phone calls, say you’re out of the office when you’re not, or say that you didn’t receive a message when you did–you lose trust.

Without a doubt, your personal integrity is your most prized possession. Each day, that integrity is tested, and you have an opportunity to prove it or lose it with every decision you make.

Business is personal. People commit themselves to other people more than to an organization. If people don’t trust the messenger, they won’t buy into the message. Leadership begins with the leader’s integrity. Without integrity, you can’t develop trust; and without trust, nothing else really matters. Trust and honesty are the keys to integrity.

People support what they help create.

If there is no trust, it doesn’t matter what you communicate.

The ultimate test of integrity is your follow-through.