Motivation is the key to effective leadership within your organisation. As a business leader it is your capacity to lead or drive change that really makes all the difference to what is possible. You must remember that motivation is a catalyst for action, marked with enthusiasm and interest.
The main spring of motivation is the belief that something different is possible. From these beliefs habits emerge that perpetuate happiness, possibility and the drive to achieve more. This will permeate the culture of your organisation whilst deepening human relationships.
The habits of motivational leaders foster a bias for action amongst all those fortunate to be inspired by such people.
The following habits are inspired from motivational leaders within our Vistage community:
1. Know your Employees
Listening is the key; it’s the glue that holds together vibrant and healthy relationships. Leaders that take a purposeful interest in their employees’ dreams and lives will foster a real connection and ensure that they feel valued. Don’t have time? - Make time.2. Be Optimistic
Put a brave face on, every day. Your attitude has an incredible level of influence among your staff. Be aware of the power of having a positive outlook. A sense of optimism at work will help to raise levels of effectiveness amongst your people and they will come together to apply their talents more effectively.3. Communicate your Why?
Communicate your passion and ensure that the values and vision are understood by every person in the organisation. It will guide others how to make decisions and shape how they communicate with one another. Without this, you and your team are merely operating on auto pilot, without passion.4. Recognition & Accountability
It is important for your employees to know that the application of their talents advances the team closer to the desired outcome. Valuable peer-to-peer recognition is key; this will foster a positive sense of belonging when they win the respect of their peers.5. Be open about the numbers
A shared understanding of what it costs to run a business creates higher levels of awareness that will drive ownership of business outcomes. If they can see how their actions are directly affecting the numbers it will motivate actions and drive their decision making process.6. Raise Your Expectations
Great leaders know what their team is capable of accomplishing together and individually and will hold them accountable to those expectations.But you must push them to be better- by giving a team or an individual the chance (a challenge) to push those expectations you are telling them that you trust them to do a great job and will give them the opportunity to grow their own skill set.
You must, however, ensure that these tasks are executed and reinforced in a positive way free from the fear of persecution.
7. Consistent feedback
Feedback is both positive and constructive. It is supposed to be used to motivate and encourage. Feedback should be viewed as a personal development tool rather than a performance appraisal.8. Be flexible
Leaders that understand and respect that their employees need to balance the demands and impact of their personal lives both at home and at work. Leaders must understand that it is a freeing motivation to work in an environment that lets employees manage this in a positive human way. Technology allows us to work from remote locations and many new studies show that employees are often more efficient when working from home.9. Make progress easy
You must ensure that you remove the barriers to success. This will keep employees motivated knowing that they can keep moving forward without resistance and will drive job satisfaction, motivation and innovation within your organisation.
Are you struggling to motivate your workforce- then put these leadership habits into action now!
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