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Oct 14 Comments Off

Motivating People to Produce

Posted by Rex Houze

Most people have an unlimited potential to produce great results in their chosen field. Their only limitations are usually ones they place on their own mind. People can change; they can be motivated to be more and do more. Unfortunately, most people will not change because we need, want, or even when we tell them to change. They will only change their behavior when they change their attitude. If you want to change what people are doing, you have to change what they are thinking. To change what they are thinking, you have to change what you are saying and, perhaps, how you are saying it.

Motivating people to produce must be affected through attitude change if it is to be permanent. The commonly used methods of fear and incentives have been proven to be temporary.

Fear is based on threat or punishment. Sooner or later, people become totally subjected to fear and won’t do anything without first being told. Or, they become immune to fear and only do enough to get by. Either way, people will not give you their best effort, use their full potential, or get the results you want when fear is predominant in the culture.

Incentives are external rewards. They are designed to “lure” people to do something that they should have done in the first place. Incentives can work up to a point, but they will not provide long-lasting motivation. You will find that you have to give more and more for less and less.

Basically, an attitude is the way people think about themselves and their circumstances. When, you, as a leader or coach, help people change the way they think, you help them change their attitude, which affects their behavior and influences their results. Here are some things you can do to motivate people to produce:

Help them crystallize their goals. When people have a clear picture of exactly what they want, they do not need to be forced or rewarded externally to accomplish the goal.
Focus on their strengths. People will grow quicker and accomplish more when they concentrate on their strengths and compensate for their weaknesses rather than being reminded of their weaknesses.
Use positive reinforcement. Point out people’s accomplishments and progress. Catch them doing things right. When you see it, say it. What gets noticed and reinforced gets repeated. Make sure you recognize what you want repeated, not what you don’t.
Expect their best performance. People tend to live up or down to a leader’s expectations. Expect little and you will receive little. Expect great performance and results and you are more likely to get them.

When you help people develop the attitudes necessary for peak performance and success, they will develop the confidence to reach for higher and more meaningful goals and will be more valuable to you and your organization. They will discover solutions for themselves and not depend on outside circumstances. They will understand that in order to change their circumstances, they must first change themselves.

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Oct 14 Comments Off

Helping Team Members Become Goal Directed

Posted by Rex Houze

One of the most important motivational techniques of a successful leader is goal setting that involves all team members. Without specific goals and carefully written plans to attain them, the success of your organization is left to chance. The future of your organization is far too important to be left to chance.

It begins with you. Unless you are goal-directed and create a goal-setting climate in all levels of your organization, most of your other leadership efforts will be in vain. You can’t effectively set goals for another person, but you can create a climate that encourages and develops goal-seeking attitudes. There are four basics of directing the goal setting of others:

First, team members must choose their own goals. To accomplish any goal, people must have a genuine commitment to it. When personal goals can be realized by accomplishing organizational goals, a higher motivational climate will exist.

Second, make it a challenge. Encourage team members to set goals and stretch themselves to do more than they have accomplished in the past. If a goal is to be motivating, some risk will be involved. Low goals don’t inspire people to use their full potential and be all they can be. Goals that are set high cause people to stretch, reach, grow, and use more of their full potential. As a result, they achieve more.

Third, establish a personal development philosophy. When you expect your team members to grow and develop more of their talents and abilities, you can also expect and accept shortcomings. After all, if your team members already had all the qualities you possess, they would probably already be in your position or in one comparable to it. Be willing to make allowances for occasional shortcomings, and avoid being too demanding. You will grow personally as you help your team members grow, and in effect, you will multiply yourself by building their leadership capacities. If, on the other hand, you have no tolerance for their shortcomings, you will in some form communicate this rejection to them, and they will gradually cease to set goals. The results will be the opposite of what you want to accomplish.

Fourth, give feedback on performance. Just as you’re better able to motivate yourself when you have periodic feedback on your performance, team members also need to know how they’re doing. Give them frequent feedback and make it as specific as possible. In doing so, you recharge the motivating forces that originally set them on a course toward their goals.

Goal setting is a prelude to action. Goal setting is dynamic. When you and your team members set and achieve goals on a regular basis, you increase your chances of success. At the same time, team members grow, develop and begin to use more of their talents and abilities.

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Oct 14 Comments Off

The Power of Decision Making

Posted by Rex Houze

People who fail to succeed, without exception, have the habit of reaching decisions very slowly and of changing their decisions very slowly.

Some never decide at all, but live in the misery of their indecisiveness. Indecision is a habit acquired in youth, and it unfortunately follows many people to the grave. By nature and habit, these people are usually easily influenced by the opinions and advice of others. They tend to accept this outside advice because subconsciously they want someone to share the blame should a failure result or the decision cause them problems.

Remember this: opinions are the world’s cheapest commodity. If you are easily influenced by the opinions of others, you will never have an honest desire of your own.

Procrastination is the opposite of decision. It is a deadly enemy that each of us must conquer if we want to be in control of our own lives. My favorite definition of procrastination is “suicide on the installment plan.”

Doubt is another obstacle that keeps people from making good decisions. Doubt is usually the result of a lack of self-knowledge and self-confidence. When people know who they are, where they stand, and where they are going, self-confidence is assured and good decisions will follow. William Shakespeare had this to say about doubt: “Our doubts are traitors and make us lose the good we oft might win, by fearing to attempt.”

The world will stand aside for a person who can make a decision and take action. Once someone breaks through a barrier, everyone else believes that it can be done.

Each of us has the potential for achieving greater success. Rid your mind of limitations, and let the larger YOU come through. You will never know what you can do until you have tried. Nothing is too good to be true.

Other people will never be as excited about your goals, dreams and ambitions as you are. Even your loved ones and close personal friends will think of dozens of reasons why you shouldn’t or couldn’t do something. Be very selective when you seek advice about what you should or should not do.

In his book, Your Greatest Power, J. Martin Kohe wrote that our greatest power is the power of CHOICE. We can choose to be happy or sad, positive or negative, caring or mean, enthusiastic or dull. Here are few things you can do to help you know you are making good decisions:

Have written and specific goals. When you know where you stand, where you are going and how you are going to get there, you will usually make the right decision.
Use clear, objective thinking. Ask yourself penetrating questions about what you want, why you want it, what it will look like etc. When you answer these questions honestly, the right decision will become apparent.
Tune in to your “feeling” on the matter. When you have written and specific goals and have used clear, objective thinking, it is time to trust your instincts.

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Oct 14 Comments Off

Personal Responsibility – “If it’s to be, it’s up to me”

Posted by Rex Houze

Here are 12 steps for achieving more of what you want out of your career and life:

Have a written and specific goals program – both personal and business. When you know where you stand, where you want to go, and how you’re going to get there, you will have more confidence and be more motivated to achieve. It’s important that your goals are in writing because writing crystallizes thought and crystallized thought motivates action.
Exhibit initiative. Someone once said, “Well-started is half-done.” Another common saying is, “He who hesitates is lost.” Getting started is critical to your success.
Demonstrate self-reliance. Once you get started, keep going. Two of my favorite sayings that support this point are: “Winners never quit and quitters never win.” and “It is always too soon to quit.”
Accept personal responsibility. This is the heart of the “if it is to be, it is up to me” concept. There will always be obstacles to any worthwhile goal. The way you respond to these obstacles and the choices you make as a result of them will determine the magnitude of your success. Remember, it’s not your situation that affects the outcome, it’s your reaction to the situation.
Prepare yourself. A commitment to continuous growth is essential in the pursuit and achievement of worthwhile goals. You’ll be no better off tomorrow than you are today except for the books you read, the messages you listen to and the people you associate with. If you want to have more, you need to be more.
Believe in yourself. Make a list of your personal strengths and past accomplishments. Review your list and add to it on a regular basis. By focusing on your strengths instead of your weaknesses and on your accomplishments instead of your problems, you will bolster your belief in yourself. This bolstered belief will help you break through obstacles, road blocks and hindering circumstances.
Visualize your success. “Objects in mirror are closer than they appear” is etched in every automobile’s passenger-side mirror. Put symbols of your future accomplishments on your bathroom mirror. You will soon discover that the accomplishment of these goals is closer than you thought.
Establish and maintain relationships. We usually need other people to help us reach our goals whether it’s in a support role or direct assistance. Establishing, maintaining, and nurturing relationships will pay big dividends.
Take appropriate risks. Achieving worthwhile goals requires extra effort, persistence, determination, an “I will not be denied” attitude, and a “whatever it takes” attitude.
Expand your resources. Unless your goal is highly personal, you can usually get other people to help you achieve it. You can enlist family members, friends, or business associates.
Be “on fire” about your goals. When you’re excited about your goals and enthusiastic about the outcome, you’ll draw on inner resources that will help your goals become reality.
Commit to greatness. To achieve great goals, you need to be the best you that you’re capable of becoming. You need to make your life extraordinary. You need to develop and use more of your talents and abilities.

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Oct 14 Comments Off

Improving Performance with Clear Expectations

Posted by Rex Houze

Giving specific, appropriate feedback is the quickest, cheapest, and most effective intervention for improving performance. Clarifying expectations is the first step in a coach’s ability to give specific, appropriate feedback.

When people have to guess what they are supposed to do it creates tension and they won’t do their best work. Avoid telling people to “do their best”. What does “do your best”mean? What does “try harder” mean? What does a “comprehensive report” look like?

Sometimes workers know they are doing things they should not be doing, but they don’t realize it is a problem.To avoid this, ask employees:

How do you know when you are doing a good or bad job?
How do you measure the quality of your performance?
How do you know when you do something wrong?
Describe what good performance looks like.
Describe what bad performance looks like.

When people clearly understand what is expected of them, it reduces the relationship tension and improves their ability to perform up to the coach’s expectations.

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Oct 14 Comments Off

Insight Precedes Change… the Role of Stats in Success

Posted by Rex Houze

Championship athletes and teams keep statistics to improve performance and results. In
basketball, statistics include shooting percentage (field goals, 3 point and free throws),
rebounds, steals, assists, and turnovers. In baseball, it is batting averages, earned runs
averages, slugging percentage, on-base percentage, stolen bases, walks, strikeouts,
and fielding average. Similar categories exist in every sport.

Unfortunately, in business, too many people think they are too busy “working” to keep
statistics. When you keep track of the appropriate statistics and monitor them on a
frequent basis, you can work smarter instead of harder and you will have more time for
important tasks.

A manufacturing company had a horrendous absenteeism problem. It was costing them
a lot of money in overtime and temporary services. Mistakes were being made and they
were losing customers. Management tried everything they could think of to correct the
problem, but without success. During a management development process, the problem
surfaced and the facilitator asked some insightful questions that produced some startling
results.

His questions involved who, what, when, where, how, and why. When he got to “When is
it occurring?” the answer was “We don’t know.” And he said, “Let’s find out.” The team
gathered statistics from the previous six months and presented them several different
ways. When they looked at the per day statistics, the insight paid off. They found that
Monday through Thursday attendance was in an acceptable range, but Friday
attendance missed the mark drastically.

When the managers were asked why they thought this was happening, they said it was
probably because they paid people on Thursdays. When asked why they did that, the
classic response was because we’ve always done it that way. When asked what would
happen if they changed payday to Fridays, the response was “We don’t know.” The
facilitator said, “Let’s find out.” They changed payday to Fridays and their absenteeism
problem shrunk to an acceptable size. The benefits were substantial. Without the insight,
the problem would probably still exist today, or worse yet, they would be out of business.

Do you have lingering problems that you have not been able to solve or goals you have
been unable to reach? Take a new look at statistics that are available to you and/or set
up a scorekeeping system to get new statistics. Electronic spreadsheets are a great way
to look at a set of statistics in many different ways so you can gain additional insight. Ask
questions starting with who, what, when, where, how, and why to identify opportunities
for improvement.

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Oct 14 Comments Off

Avoiding Miscommunications

Posted by Rex Houze

The biggest mis communication is to assume communication has taken place. How many times have you been disappointed by someone you thought you communicated with, only to find out they were on a different page than you? This happens tens of thousands of times every day in business and personal relationships.

We can reduce mis communications, missed expectations, frustration, confusion, disappointment, anger, and many other emotions by keeping the following things in mind when we are attempting to communicate:

1. Know what your goal is. What do you want the other person to know, think, or do?

2. Choose your words carefully. If possible, practice what you will say and/or write out what you want to say. Use words and language at the recipient’s level.

3. Use the proper tone and inflection. Emphasizing different words in a sentence can dramatically change the way your message is perceived.

4. Make certain your body language and facial expressions are congruent with your message. People believe what they see over what they hear.

5. Observe the body language and facial expressions of the other person. If the other person’s body language or facial expression isn’t congruent with the message you are sending, stop and ask a question that will get you both on the same wave length.

6. Pace yourself to the mental speed of your listener. You can usually tell how fast a person thinks by how fast he or she talks. If you go too slow or too fast, the other person might get impatient, confused, or frustrated.

7. Actively ask for feedback. For example, “So we can be sure we are communicating effectively, would you tell me your understanding of what we just discussed? ”If you are on the same page or wave length, move on. If not, clarify and discuss until you are. Avoid questions such as: “Do you understand?” or “Have I made myself clear?” Such closed-end questions can cause your listener to give you a tacit yes and, worse yet, feel that you think he or she is stupid, which can lead to shutting down communication.

8. Control the environment as much as possible. If there is a lot of noise, or other
distractions, move to a quieter location with fewer distractions.

9. Ask questions until you get to the heart of the matter or accomplish your goal. Mix statements with your questions. People are good at answering questions. Also, a question can be perceived as threatening and can intimidate. Sometimes you can elicit information better with a statement than you can a question. A statement opens the door to the other person’s reply. A statement does not require a reply, whereas a question does. For example, you can make a statement such as,“You are probably wondering about a number of things that are involved with these changes we are discussing”.Even if the other person responds with a simple, “Yes”,resist the temptation to speak.Use silence to give the other person the inclination to tell you what he or she is really thinking. Knowing what the other person is thinking is the first step in avoiding mis-communications

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Oct 14 Comments Off

Positive Confronting

Posted by Rex Houze

Many people think confrontation is negative. Childhood sayings run through their
mind – for example, “If you cannot say anything nice about someone, don’t say
anything at all” or “Play nice.” These thoughts can get in the way of appropriate
confrontation.

If someone’s behavior is inappropriate, you do him or her a disservice by not
bringing it to his or her attention. Most, if not all, people want to know if their
behavior is counter-productive for achieving the desired results and contributing
to the team’s success. Here are some guidelines for effective confrontation:

Focus on specific issues or behaviors an employee can control. Avoid
personal attacks
Deal with the facts. Avoid using rumors, innuendos, or sarcasm as a basis
for confronting an employee.
Avoid inflammatory words such as should, ought to, have to, always,
never, etc. Instead, focus on desired goals, results, and appropriate behavior.
Train yourself to listen for what’s important or key to the issue, and “block”
words like those listed in the previous bullet point.
Be direct without being rude, obnoxious, or otherwise offensive.
Treat the employee with dignity and respect and never show your anger.
Remember, people will always remember how you made them feel long
after the specific words are forgotten.
Help the employee develop a plan of action for correcting an unproductive
situation or inappropriate behavior.
Approach the situation as soon as you have the facts and an opportunity
to meet privately with the employee.
End your session by stating your belief that the employee will do better in
the future.

Downloadable PDF

Oct 14 Comments Off

10 Commandments of Communication

Posted by Rex Houze

1. Develop trust. It’s not automatically given; it must be earned.

2. Openly communicate more than you have to or need to. Make it your top priority.

3. Be as specific as possible in the words and phrases you use.

4. Supply whatever background information and reasons people need to understand changes.

5. Be absolutely honest with all employees.

6. Actively share information and feelings.

7. Talk to an employee as one adult to another (the way you would like your boss to talk with you).

8. Always solicit employee ideas, suggestions, and reactions.

9. Follow through, always — no exceptions.

10. Recognize the job of a manager is to remove roadblocks, irritants, and frustrations — not put them there.

Harris“Hank”Plotkin
Building a Winning Team

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Oct 14 Comments Off

Frequent Feedback Prevents Problems

Posted by Rex Houze

Without feedback there is no improvement or progress. Most quality programs are based on getting feedback on how current processes work so they can be improved. Without the feedback, there would be no improvement. The same is true with human behavior; without appropriate feedback and positive reinforcement there will be no improvement in performance and results.

Effective coaches understand that giving appropriate feedback is the quickest, cheapest, and most effective method for improving performance and results.

Humans need feedback to validate their existence, enhance their self-esteem, and improve their self-image. One of the greatest forms of punishment is solitary confinement; little or no feedback. Our self-images are developed by feedback we get from experiences and/or other people. A Sunday school teacher told me I was a good reader when I was 11 years old. I believed her and have been an avid reader for the past 50 years, reading 40 plus books a year plus numerous magazines and articles. Did feedback affect my self-image and behavior? Absolutely! All of us can relate examples of how feedback has affected our behavior and performance.

As a coach, you have a unique opportunity to improve performance and shape results through the use of appropriate feedback. All feedback is important to performance improvement. Positive reinforcement is critical. People tend to act to gain a benefit or avoid a loss. People tend to gravitate toward pleasure and reward and avoid punishment and rejection. As a result, human behavior is driven by the principle that what gets rewarded, gets done.

If you want a sales person to make more calls, use positive reinforcement. If you want a sales person to open new accounts, use positive reinforcement. If you want a better safety record, or less waste or rework, or better accuracy, or on-time shipments, use positive reinforcement. Positive reinforcement is accomplished through feedback — from a trusted, supportive coach.

The dilemma with feed back in business is that most people won’t ask for feed back and most business coaches don’ t give enough of the right kind.Most people won’t ask for feedback because they don’t want to appear weak or perceived as“high maintenance” or they think if they have to ask for it, it isn’t as valuable.

Business coaches don’t give enough appropriate feed back for a myriad of reasons, including:

They don’t fully understand the value and importance.
They don’t know how.
They don’t think they have enough time; they are too busy“doing”.
They don’t get enough from their coach.
They have had poor role models in the past.

Since people are reluctant to ask for feedback, it is imperative that coaches make an extra effort to give appropriate feedback using positive reinforcement. Catch people doing things right. Focus on people’s strengths and stop pointing out their weaknesses.Notice and comment on progress. When you see it, say it. When people see you are sincere about recognizing their contribution to the organization, you will be rewarded with improved performance and results, higher morale, better teamwork, and a more positive work environment.

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