When we were walking on the beach today I saw a feather lying on the sand, I said to Des we could use this for Beach Notes today. An instant writing implement. I usually write my beach inspirations with a stone, a stick or a dried sea pod. The beach offers so many opportunities for improvisation and creativity.
Amazing how ideas appear just in time.
Money is the easiest and least personal way to motivate people (if you have money). If you donât, you need to get down to the real business of making people actually care about what they are working on.
In any economy, itâs important to focus on the non-financial motivators for three key reasons.
1. Remove Uncertainty about the work. The biggest de-motivator you can have is when people donât know exactly what to work on or why it matters. Make sure you keep people engaged in meaningful work, and always connect the dots of why it matters. Just because you are waiting for answers from above, donât keep your team waiting. Never pass uncertainty downward.
2. Communicate a lot, on a regular cadence. Clear consistent communication from above is a magical motivator that so many leaders miss. You get huge points for leadership and credibility when you communicate well. People are always more motivated to work for people they know and respect, than invisible, or checked out leaders. Even if you are not checked out, if you fail to communicate regularly, you will appear to be checked out.
3. Donât guess what people care about, ask them! Personally ask each person that works for you. Youâll be amazed at the answers, and how many things you can do without money that will make a material difference to them.
4. Say Thank You. Create a habit in your organization to recognize contributions. Donât over complicate it with processes, nominations, reviews, and spreadsheets. Just make it clear to your staff that you want to know when anyone in your organization does something remarkable, and then have one of the executives say, âthank youâ.
Iâll talk more about each of these and share some great stories about what really works (and what really pisses people off) in my free webinar: Motivating Without Money, Wednesday, Aug 25.
Sign up now to learn more great motivation techniques.
—–
Patty Azzarello works with executives where leadership and business challenges meet. She has held leadership roles in General Management, Marketing, Software Product Development and Sales, and has been successful in running large and small businesses. She writes at The Azzarello Group Blog. You’ll find her on Twitter as @PattyAzzarello
Words have a deep effect on
how we interpret and interact with the world.
The words we use and how we define them
reveal our interests, concerns, and values.
This series explores the words of social media.
We meet people in all facets of our lives online and offline. We meet our online friends offline at gatherings, conferences and meetups. We invite people we know offline to connect with us at sites where we spend our time online as well.
People online and offline make up our communities and the networks that provide our learning and our support. We call these people our colleagues, our coworkers, our families, our acquaintances, our pals, buddies, BFFs and our friends. But occasionally some one in that community of people we reach out to bring closer a smaller group stands out because we begin to know they’re in for the longer haul.
We call those people friends for life. They are the people for whom we would drop everything and fly around the world to help solve their problem. They are the ones for whom we’re always ready to answer the 2 a.m. call.
Recently on Twitter, I asked this question … 33 people answered.
How do you know a lifelong friend when you meet one?
Lifelong friendship is a bond of trust and loyalty. We communicate with our lifelong friends without the filters that make us stop to consider what they might be thinking about us. I am proud to follow all 33 of these folks on Twitter. @LizStrauss
I’ve made a TweepML list of 33 Twitterers Who Recognize a LifeLong Friend in case you want to follow them too.
How do you recognize a lifelong friend?
SEE ALSO:
What Is Social Media?
What Is Social Networking?
Got more to add? C’mon let’s talk.
–ME “Liz” Strauss
Work with Liz!!
Gotta wonder what draws me back to the keyboard when I have things calling to me and already the moon is thinking about heading back the other way.
Gotta wonder what keeps the clock ticking or the brain working when so much needs doing and yet … I stop to write something like this for a few.
Is it a wonder really?
No, not really.
It’s like taking a minute to drink in the moonlight.
It’s a second to remember the you … the who … out there that keeps me doing what I do.
Thank you for the energy.
–ME “Liz” Strauss
Work with Liz on your business!!
I’m a proud affiliate of
Trust is simple really.
Trust is knowing …
and believing …
that every minute …
that company, that human being …
will choose for you over his, her, or their own insecurities.
Trust is not wishing anyone will give up anything.
Trust is feeling safe that, when danger or grief is near,
others will have a care to protect what we value and hold it dearly.
Trust is …
knowing I can bet my life on you and I’ll win when the chips are down.
It can happen in family, in friendship, in business, with strangers.
Trust is equal opportunity.
It’s all inclusive yet at the same time discriminating and exclusive.
Trust is our cells reflecting an aspiration — a breathing — that could elevate our species.
We cannot trust without being it.
If you wish trust, be trustworthy.
Be what you wish.
–ME “Liz” Strauss
Work with Liz on your business!!
I’m a proud affiliate of
Every week Suzie and Des send the most amazing thoughts and photographs from the beaches of OZ. But everyone deserves a day off.
Do you ever take one? Do you ever take a day for yourself?
You don’t need beach. Actually you don’t even need a whole day, if other things call you.
What you need is time with yourself and the sky.
Find a sunrise, a sunset, a blue sky, a cloudy day and spend some time with it.
With our feet on the ground and our eyes on the sky, we get a new perspective on what matters and what doesn’t. It’s hard to take the little things seriously when we’re looking up at that. It’s harder yet to stay too much in our heads with so much expansive to take in.
Why not take a few minutes for yourself and the sky?
–ME “Liz” Strauss