Summary of Quick Tip for December 14, 2009: If you’re understaffed, overworked, and feeling out of control, here are nine tips that will help.
If you want to be a better leader, take a look at what’s behind the common sense and surface benefits of these nine suggestions.
Glance over these tips, and then get a feel for what lies underneath them.
- Whatever you think the problem is, that’s not it. Talk with employees who are living with the problem. They see exactly what it is.
- Whatever you think the solution is, that’s not it either. Ask employees how they’d solve it. They know solutions that will work.
- If you want to make things better for yourself, you have to make things better for those you lead.
- The only way you can make things better for others is to call on them for input.
- It’s fine and dandy to get group input, but everybody has their own individual issues. If you truly want to make things better for others, you can do it best one-person-at-the-time.
- It’s not what people say that matters the most, it’s what they’re not saying that will turn things around for them. All you have to do is get them to talk.
- You can’t lead in a vacuum, no matter how smart you are. The people you lead know things you can only know by talking with them.
- Guessing will kill you every time. If you want to roll the dice, go to Las Vegas. Otherwise make informed decisions by getting ideas from those you lead.
- Stop being surprised when employees come up with good ideas. Remember, they’re closer to the problems than you are. This gives them a tremendous problem-solving advantage.
The big picture is found in the Belief System of Motivation and Performance. It says there are three conditions for motivation in the workplace.
Employees must believe each of the following:
- “I can meet performance expectations.” (Belief-1)
- “I will receive what my performance deserves.” (Belief-2)
- “I will like the things I receive.” (Belief-3)
When these conditions are not met, employee motivation suffers, like a ship without a sail.
When motivation goes down, effort declines, and then performance falls off.
It boils down to this. When motivation is an issue, you have a problem.
You will avoid these problems, if . . . you choose to use The Belief System.
So how does this relate to the nine tips above?
When people aren’t performing up to par, they always know why.
When morale is in the pits, employees always know why.
You can guess, but they know.
If you want to know, ask!
You’ll solve problems quickly, and avoid many others.
Okay, so what do you ask?
Ask what the problem is.
Ask what is causing it.
And while you’re at it, ask what solution would work for them.
This will lead you to good solutions.
You could be wrestling with Belief-1 problems (“I can’t do it”), or Belief-2 problems (“I will not get what I deserve even if I perform well”), or Belief-3 problems (“They won’t give me what I want, or they’ll give me something I don’t want”).
It doesn’t matter. You approach them all the same. Ask and listen.
And remember, whatever the problem, if they could fix it, they would.
This means they need some help. That’s where you come in.
To solve problems, you need information. They have it. So get it.
Then you’re armed to make good decisions. Nice benefit from just a little bit of conversation, isn’t it?
Think about it. This really is easy. Ask, listen, and then decide.
And hear this.
If you want to get employee performance improvement and better results from those you lead, you have to know
(1) how to motivate employees and
(2) how to improve employee job satisfaction.
You will not see a better way to do all this than with The Belief System of Motivation and Performance and the ask-and-listen approach.
Martha Forlines and Thad Green
