From “Forbes”…
Two Simple, Scientific Approaches to Motivational Leadership
Whether you’re directing a small team or an entire company, you already know that one of the most persistent challenges of leadership is motivating people. You’ve probably experienced a host of universal frustrations: “Why do they lose steam when I’m not here? Why aren’t they pushing themselves more? I know they can do better.” Here’s a secret: they know this too.
90% of your job as a leader is relentlessly encouraging people to do the things they already know they should be doing. Sure, leadership requires strategy and vision, but truly successful leaders also develop their ability to inspire, push and motivate their team in countless, imaginative ways.
The studies in the article above validate a lot of traditional thinking about continual reinforcement of achievement as a motivator to reach even further. This reinforcement behavior becomes more and more challenging as our increasingly educated workforce creates more and more in the abstract of software and compartmentalized work. Thus, as noted in the article, it is critical that we as leaders create an environment and culture of goal accomplishment and celebration, as controlled through project-derived work.
From “The Junior Executive”…
The successful executive will understand that the post-modern work environment cannot be managed with old methods of leadership and management. Rather, a highly educated and socially networked workforce must be allowed to drive their own success. Productivity in this post-modern world then is not managed nor measured through incremental tracking of hours or widgets. Rather, projects aligned with goals must be delegated to trusted lieutenants for delivery. The successful executive will establish metrics and policies of measurement based upon achievement of goals and delivery of projects, as staked by the individual team members to ensure organizational success.