Managers often miss the most important part of performance management conversations by focusing only on results and accountability, says Susan Fowler, author of the new book Why Motivating People Doesn’t Work … and What Does. In an interview for The Ken Blanchard Companies’ Ignite newsletter Fowler recommends that managers shift their focus from holding people accountable…
In a recent online Forbes article, a start up CEO shares how he gets things done. He explains the mechanics of creating his master to-do list each week and how he transforms his many big projects into smaller to-dos on his daily action plan. He says that the process he uses keeps the projects moving forward…
My discussions with managers about employee motivation often center on getting employees to be more motivated for their work. Managers then describe the reasons they need employees to be “more motivated.” Usually it is to achieve the important goals (or tasks) for which they are responsible. But discussing motivation in terms of how much someone…
If you are a leader on a mission to focus the actions of your people this year, would you be surprised if I suggested having your people focus on something other than the actions you wanted them to take? It may feel counterintuitive, but the key to taking action is to shift your focus from…
“As a leader, how do I set goals and enforce deadlines without people feeling imposed by expectations?” This is a great question often posed in our Optimal Motivation workshops. I understand that you are between a rock and hard place—on one hand, you are responsible for getting results; on the other hand, the traditional tactics…
One of the most persistent beliefs leaders tell themselves and employees is that if you can’t measure something, it does not matter. I can easily refute that belief with two questions: 1. Do you love your partner/spouse, mother, father, or children? 2. If yes (no one has answered no yet), then tell me precisely how…
As we have discovered with all five of the eroding beliefs in this series of posts, completing this statement falls off the tongue: If you cannot measure it, it doesn’t matter. I was a longtime aficionado of SMART goal setting when the “M” stood for “Measurable.” However, over time, I found that a specific, measurable,…
Complete this sentence: In business, the only thing that really matters is _______. The answer to this entrenched belief is so obvious that at a recent speaking engagement, I had over 300 people spontaneously fill-in-the blank by yelling in unison, “Results!” I then asked them to consider the affect this tyranny of results has on…
One of the most perplexing questions in business is how to think about people. On the one hand, we realize that we need each other if our organizations are to achieve what the founders, current leaders, and employees—people all—wish to achieve. We are reminded that there is no “I” in team, and that all great…
All together now, finish this sentence—a traditional belief so embedded in our collective psyche that I can hear your answers through the internet: We need to hold people ________. Accountable. Cue the boos and hisses. Why Hold People Accountable? When your focus is on how to hold people accountable, it takes your focus off an…