Hey, Look At Me!

One thing that I really hate is seeing leaders who are arrogant enough to feel that they got in a leadership position all on their own. I believe a truly great leader is one who understands that they got there with the help of other people. Whether they were mentors, business associates, or even family members, the person in a leadership role needs to recognize and acknowledge the people who helped him get there.

Artie Davis talks about this more in his blog called, "How did I get here?"

Because Of You...

I worked for an international company for twelve years. In those twelve years, I only saw the CEO about five times. He would come to town for meetings on a regular basis, but we, the underlings, would never see him. We knew he was in town because our receptionist at the front desk welcomed him. There would be a big board at the entrance welcoming him to the states. When he came into town, he would go upstairs and straight to the executive offices, by-passing those of us on the other side of the building. We would always get an email asking us to dress a little more business-like and make sure our desk and cubicle was tidy and clean. I often wondered why we worked so hard making sure our work area was clean. After all, does he really even care about us, the ones who are actually doing all the work on the front-lines of the company?

Lack of acknowledgment from the CEO causes a team to not feel appreciated for its hard work. Team members may work long hours, meet deadlines, go to all the meetings, build new products, and continue to bring profits to the company. I honestly believe that pay increases do not make people feel appreciated. Instead, acknowledgment of team members' work and asking them what they need to do a better job are what really motivate them to want to do more for the company.

Are you acknowledging your team's accomplishments?

Are You Listening?

In my opinion, listening is the most important form of communication. To be a great leader, one needs to learn to listen to the people on the other end of the conversation. It tells a leader a lot about their followers: what they are thinking, how they are feeling, what their passions are, what drives them, and where they want to go.

When a person feels that they are listened to, it makes them feel that what they are saying is important and worthwhile. It encourages them because, in a way, it tells the person being listened to that his or her idea is intriguing enough to draw attention to.

I struggle myself with this simple equation of the communication formula. Sometimes, if I'm not interested in the conversation I find myself drifting to another thought. It is an art to really learn to listen to the person without wanting to give your own opinions, ideas, and thoughts before the talker is finished saying what they want to say. Remember this: when you are talking to a person and that person looks away, how do you think they feel?

To you read more about this and how a leader can really foster a person's growth by first listening, read "Great Leaders Master Less and Foster More."

Motivate Me!

The Georgia Bulldogs and the Florida Gators have been playing since 1914 and formed one of the biggest rivalries in college football. The series got so big that they moved the game to Jacksonville, Florida, in 1933. They divide the tickets equally between the two schools.  Georgia held a significant edge in the 70-80s, and Florida has held the edge since the 90's.

Over the years there have been many tactics to motivate each team. There were changes of color schemes for both schools and articles with quotes from the opposing team posted on the bulletin boards. In 2007, after several years of wins for the Florida Gators, Georgia's coach Mark Richt ordered a team-wide celebration on Georgia's first touchdown. This motivational tactic worked as Georgia went on to win the game 41-30. The following year Florida's coach, Urban Meyer, vowed to return the favor. In 2008, Florida was winning the game with a big margin and had already guaranteed a win. Meyer took two time-outs with under one minute left in the game to drag out the pain of the loss for Georgia and its fans. This year, in a move to motivate the Georgia Bulldog fans and players, the 'Dogs came out wearing black helmets and black pants. Georgia's standard away uniform is red helmets and "silver  britches." Unfortunately this move to motivate was not enough to help Georgia get a win. Georgia lost 41-17.

This week I have been really thinking about "motivating the team." How should a team be motivated to accomplish its goals? Should a team be motivated by "gimmicks," like uniform changes, that are only temporary, or should it focus on being prepared for the upcoming challenge?

In the article called, "Why Black Was Bad," The author's main question is: was this motivational ploy necessary or should the occasion of playing Florida have been motivation enough?

How should you motivate your team?

Weak Leadership

Everyone has experienced a bad leader. Unfortunately, it can really affect a follower's personal growth and effectiveness. When someone leads poorly, he or she does not give helpful feedback.  The leader does not properly utilize the strengths of team members so that they can be assets to the company or project. A team member receiving poor leadership becomes disconnected from the original goals and purpose and loses morale.

I worked for a boss who always made sure I was properly educated on the new technology. He would encourage me to continue taking classes to improve my software skills. He also made sure that I was properly recognized for my accomplishments for my work. Looking back on it, I would have run through a wall for that man. He was the person that gave me the confidence I needed to be be successful.

For more thoughts on this, you can read "How To Be A Weak Leader" by Steve Goodier that talks about the differences between a good leader and an unsuccessful one.

Off To Another Meeting...

OK, Everybody who loves meetings please raise your hand. Anybody! We have all participated in meetings. Have they all been productive? Why do we insist that we need to have a meeting to plan EVERYTHING? Is this necessary? The answer is NO! Unfortunately I have been a participant in some of these meetings where there was not a clear agenda, No time constraints, participants who have no input to give, and most importantly, no one assigned to facilitate the meeting. The joke used to be, "I'm going to a meeting to plan another meeting." I found this article written by Mike Myatt called "Meeting Overload." He does a great job to illustrate what a meeting should look like. I like number 6 myself; Focus: why do participants always bring their laptops to meetings? Laptops, Blackberry's, Iphones, etc. should be turned off or not allowed in meetings unless they need to be used for the meeting presentation.

Trust Is An Important Thing.

Do you trust your team, or more importantly do they trust you? It's hard to accomplish your goals when there is a lack of trust between team and leader. Scott Williams wrote a great article on The Trust Of Leadership.