By Keith Rosen, MCC
The Executive Sales Coach TM
The Executive Sales Coach TM
Managers provide incentives, set goals, and acknowledge top producers; they may even use consequences or threats to motivate their team to greater productivity. They use these tactics to stimulate interest in their staff and to push them into action. Most confess that motivating employees is exhausting and time-consuming work.
Yet when that external stimulation is no longer present, people have a tendency to slip back into their old ways, to immobilize without someone there to push them into action.
Business owners tell me that they believe their primary role to be a "problem solver" to their employee's challenges -- a role they probably learned from their predecessors and mentors. Many attempt to control their environment and work within the limits of what they already have. Some spend their time extinguishing fires. Others find their sense of purpose in keeping certain challenges alive.
However, the real issue may be a neglect of what might drive employees to motivate themselves.
Seth Hallen, the owner of Home Security Inc., discovered this lesson in his business. His 25-person staff had a tendency to deviate from company procedures and thus continually delay production. Deciding that it was because they were unclear about their responsibilities, Hallen had his staff write their own job descriptions and career goals.
The results were surprising. Telemarketers wanted flextime and opportunities for career growth. Salespeople cared more about job stability and positive acknowledgment for good performance than commission. In response, Hallen adjusted job descriptions and procedures to create individualized incentive programs geared to each employee's goals and strengths. He empowered his staff by recognizing and acknowledging their natural abilities, while supporting what was important to them.
Hallen found that this simple exercise made a dramatic difference in how his staff approaches their career. "There's less friction and communication breakdowns. People are taking ownership of their responsibilities, providing a greater sense of accountability and direction," Hallen says. "I also find they are much more responsive to changes in our company that support the corporate vision we can all be pulled towards, rather than pushed to achieve."
Continually providing employees with solutions can train them to lack accountability. It will likely result in the lackluster performance that you are working so diligently to avoid. It creates an environment of dependency and prevents employees from sharpening problem solving skills or from discovering their own solutions.
Today's enlightened leaders coach instead of manage their staff. You give strength and inspiration by uncovering what internal beliefs and values motivate your team; the external stimulation of your beliefs is not as stimulating. To tap into a person's unused talents advances personal growth and challenges people to discover their best.
Coaching utilizes a process of inquiry which allows your staff to articulate what they want and then access their own energy to achieve it. Alternatively, you're using your energy to get someone else in motion. To uncover each person's internal drive, ask questions. Invest the time to uncover what is truly important to your staff in order to improve performance and align their efforts with the company's vision and direction.
Here are some suggested questions:
Invest the time to ask your staff questions, to listen to their responses, and to ask more questions as you uncover what they most want. You need the right answers to stay in business; but, to get ahead, you need the right questions. Allow questions to become the cornerstone of effortless leadership and long-term results.
About Keith Rosen, MCC -- The Executive Sales Coach
Keith Rosen is the executive sales coach that top corporations, executives, and sales professionals call first. As an engaging speaker, Master Coach, and well-known author of many books and articles, Keith is one of the foremost authorities on coaching people to achieve positive change in their attitude, behavior, and results. For his work as a pioneer and leader in the coaching profession, Inc. magazine and Fast Company named Keith one of the five most respected and influential executive coaches in the country.
If you're ready for better results quickly, contact Keith about personal or team coaching and training at 1-888-262-2450 or e-mail info@profitbuilders.com. Visit Keith Rosen online at Profit Builders and be sure to sign up for his free newsletter The Winners Path.
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