Tweet

Good Bosses - The Small Wins Count Mindset

Guest post by: Dr. Maynard Brusman

Article Overview: Exceptional bosses know how to motivate people tapping into their intrinsic motivation. They set goals that empower people and builds confidence. Big audacious goals can initially sound great, but can backfire when people fail to achieve milestones resulting in a de-motivated workforce.

Good Bosses - The Small Wins Count Mindset

Good Bosses

Exceptional bosses know how to motivate people tapping into their intrinsic motivation. They set goals that empower people and builds confidence. Big audacious goals can initially sound great, but can backfire when people fail to achieve milestones resulting in a de-motivated workforce.

As a boss who strives to do great work, you may need to adjust your thinking about goal setting. Small wins over time can add up to tremendous success. Sometimes less is more.

Stanford University management professor Robert I. Sutton, PhD, author of the New York Times bestseller The No Asshole Rule, knows about bosses. He has received thousands of emails about the bad ones since the 2007 publication of that title. In his most recent book, Good Boss, Bad Boss: How to Be the Best...and Learn from the Worst (Business Plus, 2010) Sutton focuses on what it takes to be a better boss.

If you set big goals to energize and direct people, you can fall into the trap of overwhelming and discouraging them. The path to success is lined with small wins. Framing goals as a series of small steps helps people see the importance of their participation.

Smaller goals also help people make better decisions, sustain motivation and manage stress. When subordinates experience a challenge as too big or complex, they can freeze up. When problems are broken down into bite-sized pieces, a boss inspires clarity, calmness and confidence.

The Questions to Ask Yourself

Small Wins

a. Do you frame what your people need to do as a series of small, realistic and clear steps?

b. Do you propose grand goals?

c. Do you break things down into bite-sized steps?

Are you working in a professional services firm or other organization where executive coaches provide leadership development to grow emotionally intelligent leaders? Does your organization provide executive coaching to help leaders set goals that instill confidence and motivates people? Leaders tap into their emotional intelligence and social intelligence skills to fully engage employees and customers.

One of the most powerful questions you can ask yourself is "Do I set smaller goals that helps people make better decisions, sustains motivation and manage stress?" Emotionally intelligent and socially intelligent organizations provide executive coaching for collaborative leaders who know how to establish appropriate goals when working with people.

Working with a seasoned executive coach and leadership consultant trained in emotional intelligence and incorporating assessments such as the Bar-On EQ-I, CPI 260 and Denison Culture Survey can help you create a culture where all employees are fully engaged. You can become a leader who models emotional intelligence and social intelligence, and who inspires people to become fully engaged with the vision, mission and strategy of your company or law firm.

Related Articles
  Tip of the Week - Reaching Out to Former Bosses
  Make Your Contacts Count
  Bad Bosses Are Reflection of Bad Management Are Bad Leaders and Are Bad for Business Profits
  Savvy Bosses - The Goldilocks Management Mindset
  Entrepreneur Education: Do Good Bosses Really Exist?
  Do I Need to Have a Millionaire Mindset to Be Successful? Secret Revealed
  Big Wins from Small Beginnings by Harvey Schiller
  Small Wins, Quick Success
  Yo Adrian! You Don't Have to "Win" to be Great
  How to Adopt a Positive Entrepreneurial Mindset
  Staying in the Entrepreneurial Mindset Online
  What should you do with your poor sales performers?
  SME's - the impact of government mindset on entrepreneurship
  You Must Have the Right Mindset to Succeed with a Money Making Home Business
  Cut the dead wood
  Setting Coaching Fees So That Everyone Wins
  Lessons from Worst Bosses
  Reinforce People More Consistently
  A Complementary Team
  Winning Isn’t Everything…

Article Tags: confidence, how to motivate people, intrinsic motivation, mindset, workforce



Related Forum Posts
Re: Testimonials Needed for Business Plan Workbook - Hi Evan, Count me in. I am sending my email immediately
Books for Women Entrepreneurs - There's a thread for good books in the Resources folder, but it doesn't target books for businesswomen particularly, so I figured I'd start such a thread here. It doesn't matter how successful you are in your business - it's always possible to learn something new. In subsequent posts I give Table of Contents and brief descriptions for various titles - most of them devoted to the businesswoman - and sometimes a review. If anyone else has read a review, or has read the book and found it useful, please comment! 1. The Old Girl's Network 2. Mother's Work 3. The 7 Greatest Truths About Successful Women 4. Pitch Like A Girl 5. Workplace Warrior 6. Treasure Hunt: Inside the Mind of the Modern Consumer 7. Contingency Planning & Disaster Recovery 8. She Wins, You Win 9. Napoleon On Project Management 10. Why Good Girls Dont' Get Ahead, But Gutsy Girls Do 11. Comeback Moms: How to Leave Work, Raise Children, and Restart your Career even If you Haven't Had a Job in Years 12. The One Minute Millionaire 13. Talking From 9 to 5 14. Soloing: Realizing Your Life's Ambitions 15. 101 Best Home Based Businesses for Women: Everything You Need to Know About Getting Started on the Road To Success 16. Work With Passion: How to Do What You Love for a Living. Revised and Expanded 17. Fail-Proof Your Business: Beat the Odds and be Successful 18. Confidence: How Winning Streaks and Losing Streaks Begin and End 19. Women Don't Ask: Negotiation and the Gender Divide 20. Millionaire Women Next Door: The Many Journeys of Successful American Businesswomen 21. Start Small, Finish Big: Fifteen Key Lessons to Start - and Run - Your Own Successful Business 22. Rewired, Rehired or Retired: A Global Guide for the Experienced Worker 23. The Martha Rules: 10 essentials for achieving success as you start, build or manage a business 24. The Essentials of Entrepreneurship: What it takes to create Successful Enterprises 25. Net Ready: Strategies for Success in the E-conomy 26. The Promotable Woman 27. Leave The Office Earlier: The Productivity Pro shows you how to do more in less time and feel great about it 28. The Work At Home Balancing Act: The professional resource guide for managing yourself, your work, and your family at home 29. Secrets of Six-Figure Women
The Little Man Introduction - Good Morning, This is John Hoover from Little Man Consulting. Our company has been floating along as a after thought for a few years. This year we decided to make a go of it. So far we are doing great. We are Virtual Administrators, Web Developers, Database Designers, and Software instructors. Basically, if you have someone in your office to do it, we can do it virtually. Our company was created to "Provide Big Business Resources to the Small Business". Wish me luck, I plan on revolutionizing the small business world with this!
Re: Budgeting Approach - [quote="baconmarius":252nopeg]Budgeting plays a vital role in any business. I totally agree with Ringo what he said and how they had planned to invest and continue with their business. The information you share over here is nice peter. Small entrepreneur will get a great help from your provided information.[/quote:252nopeg] Good points. Also, there's no successful business without a settled budget for this and that so you really have to mange the money inside the pocket, the assets/investments as well as the liquid ones so you'll always have something to grab the moment you need it the most.
These maybe the coldest franchises out there: - Here are the worst 15 performing franchises in regards to having the highest Small Business Administration (SBA) loan failure rates. The list is dotted with sub sandwich shops, fitness centers and car shops. WORST FRANCHISE LOAN FAILURES Failure % 1 OBEE'S SOUP SALAD SUBS 55.56% 2 LADY OF AMERICA 41.94% 3 COUNTRY CLUTTER (BED & BREAKFAST) 41.18% 4 COPY CLUB 36.36% 5 ALL TUNE AND LUBE 35.71% 6 PICKERMAN'S 35.71% 7 PHILLY CONNECTION 35.59% 8 ROLY POLY ROLLED SANDWICHES 34.78% 9 COTTMAN TRANSMISSION 34.48% 10 HAIR COLOR EXPRESS 33.33% 11 LEE MYLES AUTOMOTIVE TRANSMISSIONS 33.33% 12 GODFATHER'S PIZZA 33.33% 13 SMOOTHIE FACTORY 33.33% 14 BLIMPIE 31.39% 15 GOLF U.S.A. (RETAIL GOLF EQUIP.) 30.77% Source: Small Business Administration, SBA Loan Performance Within Franchise Code for the Period of FY 2001 - 2005


Share this article with your friends. Fund someone's dream.

Leave a comment below or share on the left and you'll help support entrepreneurs in Africa through our partnership with Kiva. Over $50,000 raised and counting - Please keep sharing! Learn more.

Newsletter

Get advice & tips from famous business
owners, new articles by entrepreneur
experts, my latest website updates, &
special sneak peaks at what's to come!

Name:
Email:

Popular Articles

RULE YOUR BUSINESS LIKE A SHINE STAR

Convening a focus group for a niche product

Google Panda and Your Search Engine Rankings

Suggestions

Email us your ideas on how to make our
website more valuable! Thank you Sharon
from Toronto Salsa Lessons / Classes for
your suggestions to make the newsletter
look like the website and profile younger
entrepreneurs like Jennifer Lopez.