The Right People Need No Motivation

Jim Collins, the world famous management guru, has said that "if you have the right people on your bus, you don't need to worry about motivating them". As a friend of mine said, "Does this mean that employee motivation programs are useless?" It would seem so - if only we could get our recruitment right, then we would employ a whole bunch of self-starters who would not need to be motivated by management. Wow, would that save costs? Yes. So this sounds like a good - no, great - idea, but is it?

My own view is that there is a truth in what Jim Collins says, but that he isn't exactly right either.

In the first instance we need to take the problem back a frame. Most people hire on the basis of qualifications and experience, often forgetting that high energy, which is effectively high motivation, is the number one factor for outperformance. So attracting and recruiting these people in the first place makes sense - but how are we to do that? It is not easy to establish in the first instance who are the genuinely motivated types of people; one thing we do know is that most people at interviews appear motivated, and furthermore that being superb at interviews usually means that one is great at interviews rather than being great for the role that one is being interviewed for!

But then having got these people, the notion that they continue to remain motivated if you do nothing about them is lamentable - sure, like the Duracell bunny, they'll run longer and more effectively than the non-motivated people you initially recruited, BUT they still need input - less input than the non-motivated people, but input nevertheless. Furthermore, although it could be argued that such very effective people are self-starters, the benefit of inputs is also aligned with reading their minds - if you don't input you are not likely to really find out what is going on inside their head - and bingo, the self-starter up and leaves because there is no engagement with him or her.

Thus it is imperative to provide the most motivated with even more reasons to be motivated; and that leads on to the reason of reasons - namely, the best people always have it in them to want to be better - so helping them really gets them and you up to the very highest levels of performance, and at the same time gets more buy-in, more staying power in the relationship - thereby reducing turnover costs.

The truth is - the obvious truth is - things change, and that includes especially motivation. We all know of high performing, highly motivated men and women who once were outperformers but have now fallen by the wayside, as it were, and become, in some instances, positive liabilities. What happened to them? Many things can happen to them - simple burnout for one thing; neglect for another; and yet for another just lack of meaning or core purpose - why am I doing this when I never see my family from one month's end to another?

So, yes, recruit the highly motivated - that's god advice from Jim Collins. But don't imagine job done! Motivation is like physical fitness: wherever you are on the scale of it, you need constant and persistent inputs stay fit, to stay motivated. True, the self-motivated can provide a lot of this for themselves, but let's be sure: management has a lot to offer to keep performance really high.

If you would like to find out more about what motivates you, go to:

http://www.motivationalmentoring.com/

and try a Personal Motivational Profile.

James Sale is Europe's premier expert on motivation. If you would like to book him as a speaker, contact:

- James Sale: +44 (0) 1202 393660
- Visit James on Linkedin - http://uk.linkedin.com/in/jamesmotivationsale
- Or email me - info@motivationalmaps.com

Original article

100% Of People in Business Need To Do This

The majority of online entrepreneurs make the mistake of not taking the time and crafting a mission statement. Even online entrepreneurs who are in the business for a while don't do it.

If you don't have a clear and concise idea of what your mission is, how will your business partners, your vendors, your employees, and your customers? They just can't.

Your business should have a mission statement. It tells your customers, business partners, potential clients what you are about and it removes the confusion.

No one will know what you are about and it will be hard to do business and have positive cash flow!
Once you have a mission statement, what you will find is that your customers will understand you better. They know what you are about. Your employees and your business partners will have a clear vision of how to work with you. It will make your life easier and their lives easier.

Your mission statement should be short and to the point of your company's purpose. It should tell people what your business is all about and why it exists.

Peter Drucker in his book, The Five Most Important Questions You Will Ever Ask About Your Organization says:

"A mission cannot be impersonal; it has to have deep meaning, be something you believe in - something you know is right. A fundamental responsibility of leadership is to make sure that everybody knows the mission, understands it, lives it."

If you don't have a mission statement yet, I suggest you come up with one right away. It would definitely set your business in the right direction.

If you never done one before, there are 5 points it should address:

1. What is the purpose of your company why does it exist?
2. Who are your customers?
3. What does your company aspire to be?
4. What makes your company unique?
5. What products or services does your company offer?

Your mission statement should be specific and narrow enough so that it doesn't apply to just any company, but it should be flexible enough to allow for growth and change. Make sure to review it on a regular basis to see if you and your company are following your mission statement. If your company is steering away from your mission statement, maybe it's time to change your mission statement.

It should be clear and does not contain "fluff" words and jargon that potential customers, partners, and employees to do not understand. Put it on your website where people can see it.

Writing a mission statement is not enough though, you must live it on a daily basis. Use it as a tool to guide your business decision-making, how you communicate with your customers, partners, and vendors. You will find that you won't be making any more questionable decisions.

Educate Yourself On Money and Entrepreneurialism In Order For You To Not Get Trapped

Like me, you were most likely conditioned to follow the traditional way of "making money." We know that is definitely not the way to true financial freedom. You must take the route that most people don't take in order to get truly rich.

To learn more, download my complimentary guide here: "The Baller Life"

Brian Nguyen is the founder of http://www.nowimballin.com/ " where he supplies the tools to give every young entrepreneur the ability to lead the ballin' lifestyle and to create a community of young entrepreneurs to achieve success online.

Original article

Caring What People Think Gets You Nowhere, Daring To Be What You Want To Be Is Priceless

To be yourself fully and unremittingly is the most costly thing in the world and all of existence, especially when considering the immediate prestige and approval from others you can seem to get when you conform completely and have the opportunity on top of that to conform completely. The point to that long sentence is, to be the real boss, you must pay the cost as we all must. Some try to escape this fact by completely seeking the approval of others, before considering themselves. Few consider themselves first, only and rationally for their own genuine benefit. The latter who acts for their own genuine benefit as a whole is what I am writing for. The people who want the approval of others first is what I am writing against. To have a genuine approval and understanding of yourself is the first and most important relationship there is, without that, there can be nothing.

Sure, sometimes I type repetitive messages in my writings and preach a lot, but I do not compromise my message for anyone or anything. I believe fully and wholeheartedly in what I am saying without fear or doubt. There are people who are going to say that I am not good enough, but I do not care about them, I only care if I am good enough for me. So, I want to say this: I am creative, not a competitor. So, I am creating for myself, not creating for someone else, and if someone else benefits wonderful, but I am creating what is good for me, then good for others in the same way it is good for me, in that order.

So, sure, genuine individualism and honesty may cost a lot of laughter, criticism and fear within others in the small picture of things. But the big picture long with its eternal values is what counts, not any small picture of foolishness that gets you nowhere except shortsighted. Here, I quote Mohandas K. "Mahatma" Gandhi on this concept of what counts.

First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win."

No one can hurt you without your permission to paraphrase Gandhi again. But, think about this, the ultimate leader is the ultimate individualist, the ultimate follower is the ultimate failure and fearful person. That is why being a follower is innately undesirable and being a heroic leader is always desirable even in the most undesirable situations. In fact, it is especially desirable in the most undesirable situations because of the fact that a good or great genuine leader can help make things from undesirable to desirable through their leadership and judgement. So, I end by playfully quoting Booker T. Jones and The MG's from Stax/Satellite/Atlantic Records in one of the few songs they did actual lyrics written instead of just instrumentals on:

Everybody loves a winner, but when you lose, you lose alone."

My name is Joshua Clayton, I am a freelance writer based in Inglewood, California. I also write under a few pen-names and aliases, but Joshua Clayton is my real name, and I write by that for the most part now. I am a philosophical writer and objective thinker and honest action taker. I also work at a senior center in Gardena, California as my day job, among other things, but primarily I am a writer.

Original article

Dealing With Difficult People in Your Personal and Professional Life

You know how it is, working with a co-worker who nitpicks every little detail and is never satisfied with the final outcome, or one who impedes your daily progress on the project your boss wants done on an impossible timeline. We all know who these people are, and deal with them on a daily basis. In fact, working with difficult people is just a part of human nature and part of the global culture these days. The real task is in learning how to verbally box and dance with those people on a daily basis while maintaining your sanity and your positive outlook on life.

Most corporations realize human interaction can be one of their main difficulties. They often seek outside consultation in order to remedy the problem, because businesses have figured out that happy and cooperative coworkers act like a "well-oiled machine," and in a business environment that equates into profits. Human nature has given us our own mechanisms for dealing with difficult people, some of us choose to ignore it, bend to the persons' will and become passive. Some of us choose to overtly antagonize the problem and in many cases make it worse. The latter tends to be the biggest problem many companies face these days.

Luckily, there are people out there, motivational speakers, who have mastered the art of dealing with difficult people inside and outside the workforce. They are not magicians, simply people who understand the vocabulary of human nature and have figured out the best methods to use to combat its offensive/defensive nature. As stated above many corporations have recognized this specific skill set and have set out to utilize it in the most positive manner possible. By putting on these seminars for their employees, corporations are looking to remove as many "road bumps" in the office setting as possible. By making the work environment a friendly atmosphere, the employee will tend to be happier and be more productive throughout the day.

At the end of the day we would all like to reduce the number of difficult people in our lives. Even though we may not be able to control those few that we run into at the supermarket or at the gas station, at least we know that when we head to work the next day, dealing with "that" guy or gal will be easier and less of a headache. By attending a seminar on business communication, not only may we get some time off of work, which we all enjoy, but we may also learn personal and intrapersonal skills that will help us in dealing with that difficult person in our live whether it is in our personal or professional lives. Everyone can benefit from a seminar such as this; we could all use some training on the verbal and nonverbal aspects of human nature.

Cias Hart is a veteran of the USMC and a resident of Arizona. Frederick Grey grew up in Washington, but currently resides in Southern California. If you find yourself dealing with toxic people on a daily basis, consider visiting a seminar on human communication. Marsha Petrie Sue is a speaker from Scottsdale, Arizona who specializes in dealing with difficult people in your daily life.

Original article