Does your leadership style motivate people for high performance?

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Motivate Teams to Achieve and Perform

The key for creating a high performance organization that produces outstanding results is people. Even in a poor economic climate like we are witnessing now, we can still have high performance in our organizations. In fact we must always strive for this and it needs to be a habit of thinking that we can always improve and do better.

The benefits of striving for a high performance organization is, ORGANIZATIONAL LEANNESS, TEAM AUTONOMY, SPIRIT OF INDIVIDUAL AND COLLECTIVE INTIATIVE AND OF CONTINUOUS IMPROVEMENT.

This translates into a better work climate, increased employee retention, reduced absenteeism, higher productivity, lower stress and increased profits.

Just the other day a friend dropped by the office and expressed discontent with the organization for which he was working. He said the problem was poor leadership right from the top. Managers do not inspire people and have them participate in decisions. He compared this with a previous employer where he considered the president a great leader. That president knew people by name, was accessible to people and showed charisma.

The style of leadership we use has a tremendous impact on the people we manage and lead, more so than we can imagine. Leaders often do things without thinking about the impact it has on the motivation of employees to fully engage their talents for the betterment of the company.

Leaders need to understand the best style of leadership to use with each person to create a high performance organization. Any type of leader can learn this and put it into action.

I have been working with several companies to help leaders create a high performance organization. The process begins with leadership development. One such company is Prisma Pressure Sensitive Products. General Manager Falk Kyser said that working with me through our Leadership Styles and Team Development program has helped him better understand people and how to use their talents strategically. I have I created a video featuring Falk and manager Dru Davis speaking about the impact improved leadership is having on their organization. You can view the video in a previous post here.

Here are three tips about the best leadership style to use to motivate others to give their best and collaborate with you.

  1. Use the appropriate style of leadership for the situation and person. The style of leadership to use is dependent on several factors; time, urgency, commitment of those involved and the type of person you are working with. You must understand how and when to use each style so you gain peoples’ commitment to action.
  2. Establish unwavering trust with your direct reports. There are a several key things you need to be aware of in your behaviour that either builds or lowers. When trust is low, they will probably resist doing what you want and may lack initiative to improve things.
  3. Know each person well that you work with directly and what motivates them and why they tend to behave the way they do. A simple process is needed to make this easy and effective.

A client specialized in a specific medical practice called me last week and said that after going through the Leadership Styles and Team Development training program with their team, productivity is up 20% over the previous year and the staff are now meeting and making decisions on their own on how to keep things organized and effective.

These are the kind of results we need in our organizations if we are to tackle the huge problems and threats that many of us are facing today. Continuous investment in the talents and abilities of people that we work with enables our organizations to find new creative ways to solve old problems that keep re-surfacing with a new way.

 

Stephen Goldberg

 

 

The Wooer telemarketer

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Just back from a week’s vacation in the beautiful Charlevoix and Saguenay regions of Quebec and so I was a bit slow in getting myself out the door this morning. This gave a chance for the telemarketer from Bell to catch me at home.

My first inclination when I heard the word Bell was to say I was in a rush and to call back, but after a few sounds of the sweet voice of Pascale, I was had. I have been experiencing difficulty with their services at home and work over the last few months and so I am not a great fan of theirs at this time.

And so it goes to show you that no matter how bad you may have performed yesterday (I refer to Bell as a collective You), an engaging, wooer type of employee can turn things around in a few moments and even sell more services. Which is amazing because just 2 weeks ago I wanted to get rid of them as a supplier.

A wooer employee or person is one who is so nice and empathetic you cannot resist their kind charm and words. And the ones that know and understand their own qualities and how to use them are really effective, case in point being Pascale the Bell girl.

The thing is in sales these wooer types are often weak because they are not at all aggressive. So don’t put them into aggressive type sales roles or situations where they need to use high pressure closing techniques. They are often attracted to and do well in social work type occupations including nursing and human resources. But they can be really effective in sales roles where they can use a gently approach to selling.

Pascale did a really good job of attempting to close me on a sale. She didn’t ask me to buy, she just assumed by my reaction and interest in her offer that I was ready to buy and was taking me down the lane of getting a final agreement. I did hold out saying I wanted to compare her offer with my current supplier and to call me back tomorrow. She agreed and said she would call at 9:30. Let’s see if she does.

So it is important for both the employer and employee to understand the type of person they are and how to best utilize the qualities of their type and the talents and skills they have developedthough learning and training. This person’s style was in great contrast to another Bell telemarketer who called me last month to sell me Internet hosting and design services. The guy was so aggressive and obnoxious I hung up on him They obviously work for 2 very different bosses and cultures within the Bell organization. I am even thinking the Internet guy may work for a third party.

I have been working with Frtiz Glaus and learning and teaching his typology approach to better understand people. The wooer type comes from his types of people system and is the Supporter type. I can tell this just by her behaviour on the phone, which I think is pretty darn good.

Fritz and I are working on a new website and on-line learning system to teach the types to business leaders and coaches. You can start by reading his book CrazyZoo available at http://www.lulu.com/content/394116. I was reading it again on vacation and it amazed me how much you can learn about yourself and others and how to improve relationships using this system.

Let’s see if the Bell girl does call back and succeeds in closing the sale.

Stephen