The Most Important Leadership Question You’ll Ever Ask

Posted on January 11, 2021January 11, 2021 by Karin Hurt and David Dye | No Comments

When you think about leading a productive team, what’s the first question that comes to mind? How to get the right people on the team? What’s the perfect vision? Or maybe you have questions about training or infrastructure. Of course, these questions are all important, but they’re not the most important leadership question.

If you want to lead energized, motivated teams, the most important leadership question you can ask is about you. Specifically, a question about your motivations.

The question is: “Why do I want to lead?”

Five P’s

There are typically five reasons people choose to lead a team.

They are:

Power
Prestige/Pride
Purse / Pennies / Pesos / Pounds
People
Purpose

Three Problematic Ps

Let’s take a look at the first three of these reasons people choose to lead a team:

Power—they want to tell people what to do.

Prestige or Pride—they feel better about themselves or enjoy the status from the title.

Purse—they take leadership roles for the money.

Leaders who turn into dreaded bad bosses often take on their leadership roles for one or more of these three reasons. Maybe they like having power and want the money that comes with it. Or perhaps their sense of well-being is wrapped up in the title.

This leads to a few problems. First, they won’t inspire your team or energize your team. They don’t care about that stuff for you.

And second, these motivations are motivation black-holes. Power is an illusion—you can’t actually make anyone do anything. It’s always their choice. The prestige fades or becomes self-defeating when you realize there’s always something more prominent. Likewise, someone will always have a nicer house or car (and the money rarely equals the headaches and responsibilities that come with real leadership).

Two Powerful Ps

Leaders accomplish results with and through people. As we say in Winning Well: it’s all about results and relationships. Those are the motivations in the final two Ps, People and Purpose.

People—serving and supporting your team or organization.

Purpose—achieving a specific mission.

The Most Important Leadership Question

To lead a productive, energetic, motivated team, start with your motivations. Be honest with yourself: Do you choose to lead in order to serve your team and accomplish meaningful results?

If you find that power, prestige, and the pull of the purse are your motivators, you will have trouble. People instinctively know when you don’t care about them or don’t care about the mission.

If it’s been a while since you’ve looked at your motivations, can you take some time to reflect on how people and purpose show up in your daily leadership?

The good news is that no matter why you started leading, it’s never too late to choose people and purpose. You can begin by filtering your decisions through two questions:

How will this serve the team?
How will this help us achieve results?

If the answer to either question is ever “It won’t”… then don’t it.

A Final Thought

We live in the real world and human beings (including us) care about money, roles, and status. People and Purpose don’t mean you eliminate your desire for the others—they just aren’t the main reasons you choose to lead.

As you prioritize people and purpose, you will find those motivations coming to mind more easily and influencing your decisions. You’ll also see your team’s productivity, energy, and motivation improve.

We’d love to hear from you: How do you keep people and purpose at the forefront of your leadership and decision-making?

Welcome (back) to the Hope Business

Posted on April 6, 2020April 6, 2020 by David Dye | No Comments

Unprecedented. Upside down. Turmoil.

Those are just a few of the more popular words used to describe the profound change we’ve all experienced. But as much as they capture, they leave out.

They leave out the reality for health care leaders who ask their teams to stand beside them, putting their lives at risk while they work with inadequate resources and decide who will die and who has a chance to live.

They can’t describe the feelings of our friends who have lost people to this disease.

Those words don’t address the sadness of leaders who have had to furlough or lay off their teams—or who have lost their own job. (And please don’t use the word “non-essential” to describe these folks whose work we very much need.)

Nor do they describe the overwhelm of leaders who have to figure how to manage suddenly invisible teams, bolster morale, and give everyone the support they need – all while juggling spouses and kids who need the WiFi.

So yes, unprecedented and upside down, but so much more.

The Business at Hand

Two years ago, I wrote about the business every leader undertakes when they agree to lead. I’ve been thinking about those words quite a bit over the past few weeks. Here is an excerpt:

If I could give a one-page orientation manual to every person who takes a management or leadership position, it would say:

You may have taken this job for the money (it’s not going to be enough),

for the power (you don’t actually have power – it’s an illusion),

or for the prestige (no job will make you feel good about yourself).

Maybe you took this job because you care about the people you serve and results you can achieve together. If so, you’re off to a great start.

When your team has hope, you have a chance.

Welcome to leadership—welcome to the hope business.

Why Try?

Leadership is the belief that if we work together, we can have a better tomorrow.

That’s hope. But if you’re like most leaders, no one’s ever told you that you’re in the hope business.

But every day, you ask your team to try, to think, to solve problems. Why? Why should they try?

The only answer is hope.

Because when we work together, we can make things better – better for our customer, better for one another, better for our families.

Welcome Back to the Hope Business

Hope is more important than ever. But hope doesn’t mean you have all the answers.

Hope is having the audacity to take the next step, to do the next thing.

Hope is getting scrappy and fighting for your employees and your customers because you know there’s a tomorrow, even if you can’t quite see it yet.

And sometimes hope is listening to their fears or tears. And sitting with them, believing with them, until they can take their next step and do the next thing.

Welcome back to the hope business.

What is your next step?

You’ve got this.

You might want to read:

How to Take Charge of Your Remote Meetings

How to Lead a Team That Suddenly Has to Work From Home

How to Lead In The Midst Of Urgent, Rapid Change And Strain

How to Capture What You’re Learning From This Crisis Now

Why Your Team Needs Your Confidence Right Now

How to Build a Better Live Online Leadership Development Program

Motivating Your Team When You Don’t Set the Goal

Posted on October 11, 2019September 4, 2020 by David Dye | No Comments

For leaders at every level, there are times when you must implement a decision or pursue a goal that you don’t agree with or where you didn’t get input. These are critical moments in your leadership. Handle it poorly and you lose all credibility. But it’s also an opportunity to grow your influence and energize your team to do work they’re proud of. In this episode, David shares practical help for motivating your team when you don’t set the goals.

Leading from the Roots – Interview with Dr. Kathleen Allen

Posted on September 13, 2019September 4, 2020 by David Dye | No Comments

In this wide-ranging interview, David and his guest, Dr. Kathleen Allen, explore how to grow change in ways that make it last, why survival of the fittest is a mistake, and how you can use nature as inspiration to lead in ways that will get better and more lasting results. Be ready to take notes – there are so many valuable questions you can use to have lasting influence.

Get Leading from the Roots:

Conquering Leadership Misconceptions – Interview with Rich Berens

Posted on May 17, 2019September 4, 2020 by David Dye | No Comments

Don’t allow outdated practices to keep you from motivating and engaging your people. In this interview with Rich Berens, CEO of Root Inc., we explore practical ways you can overcome common leadership blind spots. How do you maintain firm standards for a consistent and safe customer experience while also empowering your team to think and solve problems? How do you make it safe for people to tell the truth?

Get answers to these questions and more as we discuss What Are Your Blind Spots? Overcoming the 5 Misconceptions That Hold Leaders Back

Get the book

Connect with Rich

Take the Blind Spots Assessment

Forced Ratings – Awful Problems and What Leaders Do Instead

Posted on June 28, 2018August 27, 2018 by David Dye | 4 Comments

Forced Ratings Cause More Problems Than They Fix

Recently we were working with senior leaders in a global company who faced a challenging morale problem. They hired talented capable people who were producing good work – but their talent was leaving. Leaders at every level were frustrated at the forced ratings performance management system.

Tracie, the Senior Vice President of Product Management, summarized the problem: “We’re wasting time and energy competing against each other. I’ve got good people on my team and I’d keep every one of them, but I have to rate everyone on a bell curve – so someone gets told they’re not doing a good job even when they are. No wonder they leave.”

It goes by many names: forced rating, stack ranking, and bell curves. You rate people’s performance by comparing them to one another. Those who finish lowest in the ratings are put on performance improvement plans, aren’t recognized for their performance or are even told to leave.

These systems are appealing because it seems like the formula (keep your top performers, replace the low) will ratchet up performance as everyone competes to be at the top of the ratings.

Problems That Prevent Performance

In practice, however, these forced ratings systems run into real-world challenges. There are several problems with stack ranks and bell curve rating systems:

You create contradictions as you hire great employees, but then tell a segment of them that they’re not great after all.
You create internal competition rather than outward competition.
You create strong incentives to game the score rather than play the real game of serving your customer.
You’re asking people for their least-best effort (what they have to do to stay alive) rather than their true best.
Leaders don’t learn how to lead and manage for sustainable results.
Managers aren’t allowed to reward genuine performance when talented performers end up on the low end of the rank.

Forced rating systems are helpful when a leader needs to jumpstart a large organization that’s caught in a morass of sloth, no accountability, and poor execution at every level. A quick ranking to identify truly poor performance and remove it from the organization sends a message that things are changing.

In essence, forced rankings are used to compensate for poor leadership. Successful frontline and middle-level leaders frequently succeed despite, not because of, forced ranking systems. These systems become another barrier they have to overcome on the way to sustained results.

Forced ratings are an attempt to compensate for poor leadership.

For the long-term, however, the answer to sustained transformational results isn’t forced rankings. If the problem is poor leadership, it should be fairly obvious: fix the problem.

Motivate Your Team: The Alternative to Forced Ratings

If you’re struggling to reboot the leadership in your organization, or if you’re a team leader who wants to transform and sustain breakthrough results, start here:

Hire fantastic people. Identify the competencies your top performers share in common and interview for those traits.
Cultivate and create systems that help top performers to excel. What is the number one frustration that prevents your team from excelling? What can you do to remove it or lessen its disruptive impact?
Align compensation with what you really want. If you need a team to perform at an objective level of excellence, compensate them for that performance. Don’t turn the team against itself with artificial comparisons that don’t benefit the work that’s done for your customers.
Invest in your leaders and managers – formally or informally, with budget or without the budget. No excuses. Give your managers and leaders the tools they need to succeed. If you need a place to begin, check out the free Let’s Grow Leaders Facilitator’s Guide that accompanies Winning Well: A Manager’s Guide to Getting Results Without Losing Your Soul.
At a minimum, equip and expect yourself and your managers and leaders to:
- Set clear, shared, mutually understood expectations that include purpose & meaning and the MIT behaviors that lead to success.
- Train and equip their people to perform well.
- Hold themselves and their people accountable.
- Help team members to grow with training, coaching, encouragement, and challenge for high performers.
- Celebrate success.
- Hold leaders accountable for their results and how they achieve them. I often see senior leaders talk about how they expect their team leaders to perform, but they never actually reinforce the behaviors or hold their direct reports accountable.

Your Turn

Remember, you can’t replace the work of a human leader with a formula. Invest in your leaders and hold them accountable for leading.

Leave us a comment and share your thoughts about forced ranking systems or your #1 tip to make them unnecessary.

How to Motivate Your Team When You Don’t Set the Goals

Posted on February 20, 2018February 26, 2018 by David Dye | No Comments

Wondering How to Motivate Your Team When You Don’t Set the Goals? Hint: Don’t Motivate, Cultivate

Have you ever been given a goal by your supervisors and thought, “Ugh! What are they thinking? My team’s gonna hate this!” If so, you’re not alone. Every manager has to figure how to motivate your team in situations like these.

People don’t like it when they feel goals are ‘shoved down their throats’ – goals that might have been set by people who may not have all the facts and didn’t ask for input.

The good news is that you and your team can still thrive in these situations – there are ways to motivate your team even when you didn’t set the goals.

How to Motivate Your Team When You Don’t Set the Goals

Understand that you don’t actually motivate anyone.
A person’s motivation always comes from inside them. Your responsibility is to help release that motivation. The first step when you’re wondering how to motivate your team is to remember that you can’t actually motivate anyone. Don’t motivate, cultivate.
Take Responsibility.
In these situations, the very worst thing you can possibly do is walk into your team meeting and say, “Those clueless jerks gave us these goals and I guess we’re stuck with them.” These kind of statements are leadership suicide. They kill your credibility, disempower you and your team, and make your team wonder who they should be talking to, if not you. Do not shirk this responsibility. Own it.
Be Transparent.
While you don’t want to act like a victim nor encourage victim-thinking in your team, it is also okay to acknowledge the situation. If the goals are difficult, say so. Remember, the most important currency you have with your team is their trust. If the team is clearly feeling that the situation is unfair or challenging, it is okay to voice those feelings for the team. Eg: “You may be feeling that this is tough or even a little unfair, and I get that.”
Believe In Them.
Your team needs to hear you voice your belief in what is possible. This is the “vision” work of leadership – picture your team succeeding and let them know their own potential.” Yes, these are difficult goals and I know you haven’t done anything like this before, and I also believe we are up to the challenge. In fact, this will be the most significant achievement we do together.”
Help Them.
Rather than, “These are your goals, go figure it out and stop your complaining…” Try, “This will be our greatest achievement…and, you won’t be alone. I will be with you each step of the way. I’m committed to helping all of us succeed together.” Note: you MUST back this offer of help with real action or you won’t be asking how to motivate your team, but how to reclaim your lost credibility.
Own the Problem.
Top-down goals are difficult because people feel disempowered. Motivation drops when they don’t feel they have control over their own fate.Your job as a leader is to restore some of that power. You may not have had input into the goals, but as a team, you can have full ownership over how you will accomplish them. Ask: “How can we solve this problem?”As you settle on specific strategies and tactics, make sure to get people working out of their natural talents and energy wherever possible.When you help the team own the solution, you will have restored some of their power (and their motivation!)
Advocate for Your Team.
Part of your responsibility as a leader is to advocate for your team, department, or organization. Actively manage up and get as much information about why goals were set the way they were. The more information you can share with your team, the better. Also, take the opportunity to share any facts the decision-makers may not be aware of – be sure to share it in a way that will help them with their needs and goals. Note: you will not always succeed in changing the decision-making, but your credibility with your team and the organization will grow. Your team knows you have their back and, over time, you will gain more opportunity to speak into the goal-setting process.
Do It.
Whatever strategy your team developed – do it! Become its biggest champion. Remind everyone of their potential, the process, and their input into the decision. Hold yourself and the team accountable for results.
Celebrate.
When you get it done – make it a big deal! Thank individuals for their efforts. Celebrate the team effort. Fly the flag and let your own supervisors know what the team did and how they did it.

Your Turn

When you’re wondering how to motivate your team, remember that you don’t actually motivate anyone. Cultivate an environment where you honor them and bring out their best.

Leave us a comment and share your thoughts on how to motivate your team – especially when you don’t set the goals?

5 Top Leadership Articles for the Week of November 27, 2017

Posted on December 1, 2017December 4, 2017 by David Dye | 3 Comments

Each week I read leadership articles from various online resources and share them across social media. Here are the five leadership articles readers found most valuable last week. Click on the title of the article to read the full text. I have added my comment about each article and would like to hear what you think, too.

The 5 Things Mediocre Managers Forget (But Inspirational Leaders Never Do) by Chad Perry

Most of my career has been in leadership roles — and I’ve made a lot of mistakes. I mean, a lot of mistakes. More than I can count.

I’ve learned about leadership the hard way. I’ve learned the most about leading by doing it the wrong way.

I can still remember when I first hit the management track. My very first thought? “Finally, I don’t have to be ‘on’ all day!”

I couldn’t have been more wrong.

So with that in mind, here are some things I once forgot, and I’m sure others have too at some point in their careers.

My Comment: This is one of those rare articles that has made two appearances in the Top 5 – and with good reason. I once read a fable that said the “curse of our humanity is that we forget.” Those words stuck with me and they will certainly resonate as you read Perry’s article. I’ve watched so many fantastic team members enter management roles and forget the very things Perry mentions. I know I’ve done it too. How can you prevent yourself from forgetting: What it’s like to follow? That you can be wrong? And more…

The Importance of Surrounding Yourself with the Right People by Lewis Howes

“Surround yourself with those who see the greatness within you, even when you don’t see it in yourself.” Edmund Lee

I’ve got another epic custom track from Fearless Motivation for you today. This one is on a topic that I really believe in.

We are so influenced by the people we surround ourselves with. It’s nearly impossible to rise to your own personal greatness if you aren’t surrounding yourself with people who are doing the same.

My Comment: Look back at motivational speakers through the centuries and you will find a common thread: surround yourself with people who are doing what you want to do and who are like the person you want to become. This isn’t empty hype. Your brain takes shortcuts to keep you safe and healthy with the minimum amount of effort. One of the big shortcuts it takes is to look at the people around you. What are they doing? If you do that too, you’re likely to be okay. Peer pressure is a real phenomenon that you can use to propel yourself.

13 Amazing Travel Gift Ideas for Entrepreneurs Who Never Stop by Rose Leadem at Entrepreneur

Entrepreneurs aren’t known for their fondness for sitting around. We’re always on the go! And while traveling around the country, or world, can be fun and exciting, it’s also exhausting and sometimes even a little stressful. Getting enough sleep, staying healthy, being organized — these are only a small number of the obstacles of constant travel. Luckily, there are tons of products available today to make traveling smooth and stress-free. Here are a few of our faves for you nomadic types.

My Comment: First, I was surprised at how popular this article was. I guess many of you have entrepreneurs in your life and the holidays are approaching. Karin and I totally fit the description of “on-the-go entrepreneur” – I spoke in seven countries last year and had several ten-day stretches that included eight airplanes. That said, #6 is cool and #7 is intriguing.

5 Tips for Measuring Employee Engagement by Saige Driver at Business News Daily

Every employer has heard the words “employee engagement,” but do most executives truly understand what it means? More importantly, do they know how to measure it?

Employee engagement is important because involved employees are typically more productive, have more energy and are more creative.

“Engaged employees are passionate about what they do,” said David Almeda, chief people officer at Kronos Incorporated. “Highly engaged employees build better products and take better care of customers because they want to, not because they are told to.”

My Comment: I invite you to approach this article with caution. Measuring employee engagement is useful, but can also be very destructive. The worst thing you can do is survey your people and then either ignore what they said or, as I’ve seen happen, punish them for their answers. Another poor practice I’ve seen: executives don’t realize the extent of Gamer manager behaviors and managers bribe or pressure their people to answer differently than they might.

If you want inspired, energized employees who give discretionary effort, be prepared to do the work. The survey is just a measurement to let you know where you’re starting. Before measuring, commit to the work of fixing your broken systems, of developing your leaders, and addressing cultural issues that undermine trust and collaboration.

Lessons I Learned from Adversity by Shubha Apte

With the hectic pace of today’s world, we easily get caught up in the busyness of life.

We are forever stressed, overwhelmed, and running errands, attending to work, rushing to office, stuck in traffic jams. Our mind is swirling with thoughts, and we have no control over it. We do not even think to press the pause button and listen to the body whispers.

The bones creak, joints are screaming for attention, but we don’t care. There is a lot of work to get done and many mountains to climb. The to-do list never ends and goals remain goals forever.

My Comment: Apte has some important reminders for us in this piece. Your leadership is a marathon, not a sprint. Take care of yourself so you’re able to go the full distance. Reflect and know what matters most. Filter the noise. Always pertinent.

Your Turn

What thoughts do these articles bring to mind? Do you see something differently than the author? Did you have a favorite leadership article this week? Leave us a comment and let’s hear from you.

7 Ways To Inspire Hope

Posted on August 26, 2013December 31, 2020 by Karin Hurt and David Dye | 19 Comments

How do you inspire hope when someone is really stuck?

Jason’s Story

Jason had all the signs and words of “stuck.”

“I can’t.” “No one will help.” “No options.”

He’d stopped trying to improve the situation and just tried to numb it.

His “sports ready” stance had withered to hunched and clenched. He still had an occasional “wish” for a miracle. But wishes without action are another side of hopeless.

And yet, from the outside looking in, we saw huge possibility, talent, and relationships worth leveraging. We yearned to help him adjust his lens to see new beginnings and inspire hope.

How do you inspire hope in someone like Jason?

7 Ways to Inspire Hope

One thing most leadership training programs leave out is that leadership is a hope business.

Great leaders are ambassadors of possibility.

When tired eyes look your way, engage them in gentle challenges. Help them to realize more.

Here are 7 ways to inspire hope in your team:

1. Commit to Hope

What vision of the future do you communicate? Is it attractive? Does it call people to be their best selves? Is your vision worth the work, sweat, struggle, and perseverance?

Acknowledge reality. You don’t need to sugar-coat the truth – that erodes trust and hope. Start with reality and then move to hope: “Here’s where we are. Here’s what’s possible. And I know we can do it.”

2. Start with your own heart

Navigate your narratives and tap into your own stories. Where has hope transformed your life? Who gave you hope when you weren’t sure you could get there? Connect with what’s possible and remember those feelings of turnaround and triumph. You’ll provide that same passion in your connections with your team.

3. Ask possibility questions

Sit with them in the silence of consideration before narrowing to questions of what’s feasible. Hope is rooted in possibility. What can you do together? You may need to start with small steps and small wins to help someone regain their belief in themselves, their team, and you.

4. Discover stories of past success

If you’ve known the person for a while, what history can you call on to re-inspire? If they are new to you, perhaps ask them “In your career, what are you most proud of?” Find those positive feelings then connect them to potential actions.

5. Identify folks to crew the lifeboat

Who do they (and you) know who could help? Encourage the fortitude to ask for the help they need.

6. Open doors

Sure, they need to do the heavy lifting. But when your hands are full, it’s helpful when someone opens a door.

7. Commit to continuing support

Ensure that this is more than a one-time “pep talk.” Schedule the finish: when will you follow up? How? Make an appointment for both of you to check-in and take those next steps.

How do You Inspire Hope?

We would love to hear from you: how do you inspire hope and energize your forlorn team members?

3 Lessons Of The Expectant Leader

Posted on July 8, 2013July 8, 2013 by Karin Hurt | 17 Comments

“Expectations” is one of my favorite topics. Today, please enjoy the lessons of expectant leaders, from leader and guest blogger Dave Bratcher.

Ever wonder why performance is not at the level you expected?

We often look through the rear view mirror to analyze our performance. Just as the mirror suggests, “Objects in mirror are closer than they appear.” They are closer because the one who is responsible for setting them is the same person looking into the mirror.

Have you ever been perplexed as to why some team members are not performing at the level you expect? What about your own level of performance? Do you know what your boss or clients expect from you?

3 Lessons of the Expectant Leader

People will rise to your level of expectation – There is something magical about people performing to the level of your expectation. As a former School Board member, this is seen in classrooms around the globe on a daily basis. When test scores are low, it is often the desire of school administration to lower standards in an attempt to close the gap between performance and expectations. This has been proven to be the absolute wrong approach to take. Raising expectations will raise performance. This is also true within a family, as Karin recently reflected about her Dad
Expectations must be communicated early and often – I am reminded of an assignment in college in which I spent hours completing the project, only to find out the grading metrics were not in line with what I produced. The expectations were not disclosed at the beginning; rather they were only used to judge performance. Have you ever thought, “How am I doing?” At some point in our careers we have all wondered this. Guess what? Your team members are normal and they may be asking themselves the same questions. In Dave Ramsey’s book, Entreleadership, he talks about the importance of developing a Key Results Area document for each position on your team. It is a short document, including 4-5 bullet points, describing the expectations for any given position. This document is then used to monitor and assess performance throughout the year. Our team should ALWAYS know where they stand, and it’s our responsibility to tell them.
Inspect what you expect – I don’t like clichés, but this phrase is memorable. Just because it is easy to remember doesn’t mean it is easy to implement. I am talking to myself on this one. This has been the area that I struggle with the most. What I have to do is put a reminder in my calendar, marked “Follow Up” as a way to make sure the inspection follows the expectation.

About Dave Bratcher

Dave Bratcher (@davebratcher on Twitter) is the founder of DaveBratcher.com devoted to leadership development. Subscribe for updates at www.DaveBratcher.com and receive Dave’s FREE ebook, A Picture Book Manifesto on Leadership. He is a John Maxwell certified speaker, trainer, and coach. Dave is also a writer and currently serves as the Vice President of Financial Services for his community foundation. He and his wife, of 8 years, have two children, ages 5 and 2.

Motivation And Transparency: The Conversation Continues

Posted on July 1, 2013July 1, 2013 by Karin Hurt | 15 Comments

Today’s post is a follow-up to our June 21st discussion: What Motives You: 360 degree Perceptions. I challenged you to explore your motivation through introspection and conversation.

Write down 3 or 4 sentences that you believe truly describe what motivates you.
e.g. “To challenge people to grow toward their full potential”
Identify 5 or so people you trust to give you candid feedback. Ask them to tell you the complete truth. Then ask, “What do you think motivates me?
Listen and consider. Jot down your reactions. And your reactions to their comments.
Join back on July 1st to share whatever feels comfortable. This “was cool. I learned a lot” works, no need for massive self-disclosure. Of course, we’re interested in all you’re willing to share.

Now for fun part, let’s discuss. If you didn’t play, it’s not too late.

My Motivation

I wrestled with how much to share of all this, I don’t want my blog to be about me, but about helping you. Then again, I thought if I shared more deeply, you might too. Please forgive me if this is too much. What motivation makes me wrestle with that dilemma for 3 days?

What I think motives me:

Growth, mine and others (that’s what gives me a rush)
Exciting challenges (I love to climb big mountains)
Accomplishment (and fear of not accomplishing)
Competition (I do hate to lose)
Doing the right thing (and changing bad guys)Continue reading→

5 Ways To Unblock Leadership Energy

Posted on June 27, 2013June 27, 2013 by Karin Hurt | 7 Comments

I felt my energy drain as I drove toward the call center. The center’s results were stagnant– it was time to dig deeper. I was there to help, but also to deliver some tough messages. Necessary, not fun.

“Joe,” one of the managers, ran enthusiastically across the parking lot. Joe’s energy ignited mine. The day was looking up. As we walked toward the center together, Joe high-fived and encouraged each arriving rep. They responded in kind. More positive vibes.

We entered the building and the rest of the managers sat quietly at the conference room table nervously awaiting my (and now Joe’s) arrival. The difference in energy–palpable.

Joe’s results blew away the rest of the struggling center. While the other managers shared action plans, Joe excitedly articulated his leadership vision and robust examples of personal connection, challenges and growth.

When I met with the executive team offline I questioned, “How do we get more Joes?” They squirmed, “We can’t expect everyone to have that level of energy.”

Energetic Leaders are Born, Made, and Destroyed

Energy is union, with yourself, the vision, and the team. Energy isn’t extraversion. Don’t waste your time looking for “Joes.” Unblock the stuck energy on your team. It’s not that hard. Release their inner “Joe.”

Empowering low energy destroys potential.

5 Energy Pressure Points

Your leaders have innate energy yearning for release. Get them unstuck. Their energy will cascade, and pretty soon you’ll have an entire organization high on Qi (9 out of 10 studies show well running Qi beats energy drinks without that awful crash ;-).

Missing Connection – Connection fuels fire. Teach the power of connecting, with you, peers, and their team. Model the way. 360 feedback and coaching helps. So can a good talk. Explore insecurities and fear preventing valuable connections.
Faking it – Pretending exhausts. Leaders pretend to look the part, fit in, mask insecurities, hide secrets. Help your leaders uncover and use their mutant powers by using unique skills that stretch them beyond their current job.
Blurry Vision – Fuzzy vision confuses. When leaders lack energy, it’s often that they don’t understand (or buy-into) the vision. It’s hard to act jazzed, when you don’t get it. Go slow. Help them understand the bigger picture. Encourage closed-door dissent and questions. “Ah ha” moments radiate energy. Then help craft and practice messages.
No Options – Choices ignite. Challenge your team with exciting possibilities. Leaders lose energy when they’re stuck. Stuck in their career, in a role, in a project. Help them discover options and new challenges.
Stress – Stress sabotages . When leaders are stressed from competing priorities or home concerns they lose the necessary energy to lead well. Help them balance their goals and energetic pursuits.