Think back to the days when you first started working for someone and try to remember what it was that made you so excited about working for that person in that business. Many might say, I just needed a summer job. Others would say I loved working there because….. you fill in the blank.

If you loved working for that special boss, chances are it was not necessarily because of the massive amount of money you made. Heck, you were in high school with few marketable job skills! Most logically you liked working there because the boss made you feel important or valuable in someway.

What is it that good leaders do to make  employees feel important and valued? How do they get their employees as excited about their business as they are? That is the $64,000 question every executive, business owner, manager, department head and supervisor should ask on a regular basis. After all, it is not simply a product or service that brings people in to do business with you. How many of your competitors have the same product and pledge they too provide outstanding customer service? What will make your business different are the people who work with and for you IN the business.

The primary responsibility of all executives and management at any level is to train, motivate, engage, and mentor their people to be different than the competitor’s employees down the street. It is to help them be as excited about the positive results of your business as you are.

That is easier said than done, in many cases,  because the person responsible for motivating and mentoring hasn’t been properly trained to do such a critical aspect of their job. How many companies take their best widget maker and make them a manager of other widget makers and see results fail? Notice I did not say see the manager fail. That is because companies never take the time to train their people how to be motivating leaders of people and organized managers of processes. Many times there are no processes for the executive or manager to follow so they make it up and hope for the best. Well, hope is not a strategy.

Engaging employees to want to do what a leader needs done is a leadership skill that people must develop to be successful. Most experts agree leadership skills are learned and developed. So what are some of those leadership skills executives and managers can develop to get their people as excited about their business as they are?

1.    Ask employees for their opinions on how things could be done more effectively.

Then follow up and acknowledge their successes as their suggestions are implemented.

2.    Give employees the credit. Period  -  end of story.
Employees make the difference in a successful business as they are the one providing the extraordinary service everyone talks about.

3.   Present clear expectations then trust employees to do the right thing.
Micro management is the number one de – motivating and devaluing behavior a manager, at any level, can do to a person in any walk of life.

4.    Allow everyone to make mistakes.
We learn more from our mistakes as long as we don’t repeat them often.
Give employees the opportunity to try new things a new way. Successful leaders are not surprised at how innovation promotes engagement and enthusiasm. They encourage innovation.

5.    Train and retrain ALL employees from day one.
People will do a much better job and be much more engaged when they thoroughly understand what is to be done and how. The training should include their job functions as well as conflict resolutions and decision making.
Enlist outside expertise like a Certified Business Coach to help with  communication and leadership skills as well.

6.    WALK THE WALK AND TALK THE TALK.
Be the example all employees would WANT to emulate. Positive leadership drives employee enthusiasm. If managers want people more engaged and excited about the business, give them good reason to be.

All successful business managers must keep in mind that employees are a company’s greatest assets. Their collective ideas, feedback and enthusiasm for what they do can help business grow and succeed. People require the guidance of skilled managers and leaders who seek their ideas, ask for feedback and generate enthusiasm in order to have a sense of purpose and energy about what they do.

What will you do differently to increase your profitability by getting your employees as enthused about your business as you are?

How much more productive and efficient might your business be if everyone loved playing on the team?

Can you afford NOT to get everyone on board with consistent enthusiastic involvement?

Need someone to help you come up with ways or to help you get gain back the enthusiasm for your work and company as  the day you first got hired?

Call your Profitable Business Coach, Nancy,  to get back on track and get your folks on track at the same time toward measured success.

To your profitable success,

Coach Nancy

The Profitable Business Coach

In our last post we discussed the fact that listening is one of the most crucial, if not the most crucial aspect of communication. So why don’t they listen to me? Maybe because people speak 130 words a minute but our thinking speed is 500 words a minute…lots of time to become distracted. Chances are THEY listen the same way you do.

One important way to improve is to figure out what interferes with your active listening skills,  aside from the above statement. How do you slow your processing so you hear what is actually being said?

First, let’s talk about what other things interfere with effective listening — and consequently result in poor communications and poor interpersonal relationships:
• We don’t clear our minds before entering into a conversation or listening to a person’s presentation. Many people will multi-task, especially while on the phone. Even in a face-to-face exchange, some people multi-task in their heads, solving problems and making lists while the other person gets to their point (which we have decided we already know)!

• We experience emotions which distract us from listening further. It doesn’t take much of a trigger for our feelings to pop up. A look, a phrase, and we are off and running with anxiety, fear, or anger. Our ability to listen is seriously impaired when we are distracted by feelings, especially those we wouldn’t want to admit to.
• We are thinking about our reply. We are so concentrated on making a rebuttal, or on sharing a similar experience, we cease listening to the speaker, and may not even hear important information that makes our response inconsequential or inappropriate. We miss opportunities to build and strengthen relationships by jumping in and speaking too soon.
• We are thinking about the subject from our own perspective rather than trying to understand it from the speaker’s point of view. Our perception may so differ from the perception of the talker that a totally different interpretation of the information may occur. Our minds need to be open and exploring new information rather focusing on what we know.
While everybody “knows” how to listen, not everybody practices effective listening techniques which can rapidly improve communications, strengthen relationships and form strong interpersonal skills for work and family success.

Next time let’s discuss what is involved in active listening. Until then, remember that leading others starts by leading yourself first.

TO YOUR CONTINUED SUCCESS -

Your Profitable Business Coach Nancy