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9 Top Inspirational Attributes Great Leaders Use to Motivate Employees

9 Top Inspirational Attributes Great Leaders Use to Motivate Employees

 

9 Top Inspirational Attributes Great Leaders Use to Motivate Employees

 

Are you one of the leaders who think that some employees only work for money? Do you spend sleepless nights worried that your good and talented employees might be looking for "greener pastures?"  Do you wonder why there are employees with negative attitudes about your organization, its goals and expectations? Are you concerned that there are bright and talented employees who are less likely to share new ideas and/or are afraid of change?

 

In my more than ten years of conducting hundreds of surveys on what employee consider their leaders' strengths (or wish their leaders had), and makes them want to work under that leader, the findings are consist across industries and across public and private organizations.

 

Results are the same for sports teams and for church or nursing home employees, or for employees of corporate America, sports team coaches, church employees or nursing home personnel.

 

While vision, ability to communicate and trustworthiness top the list of desirable traits of great leaders, how they (great leaders) treat employees is what makes them great. Here is a synthesis of what employees consider the difference that separates great ordinary leaders.

 

  1. They care. A caring leader is far easier to trust, work with and communicate with honestly and openly.
  2. They embrace an optimistic view of their organization's goals. Their positive energy and ability to believe in possibilities creates the "we-can-do-it" attitude which is the engine for creativity, accountability, team spirit, and increased productivity. They dislike pessimistic views of life.
  3. They respect employees as individuals with ability to have vision, make good decisions, and act on goodwill to make their organization a successful one. It is respect that buys in other people's commitment to team success.
  4. They create an environment where people don't work because they fear being fired, but work because what they (employees) do matters and has a meaning from an employee's perspective.  In such an environment, there is open communication, timely feedback, clear understanding of why things are the way they are and what is in it for everyone.
  5. They encourage new ideas and innovations by empowering employees to try doing things in different ways without the risk of losing their jobs. The fear of trying new things is the surest way to keep things as they are.
  6. They develop their employees professionally and personally at all times. The ability to maintain a healthy bottom line is made possible by people who have opportunities to broaden their knowledge and skills.
  7. Awards, giving credit where credit is deserved, and creating opportunities for employees' professional growth (promotion) speak volumes about the kind of leader you are. Great leaders understand that their own efforts are meaningless if employees are not clear about the organization's direction and are not recognized for their efforts.
  8. They know for a fact that 100% commitment in an employee's efforts, even if that employee is only 80% talented, is far more important than 100% talent that is only 80% committed. Total commitment guarantees expected results. Unpredictable commitment is guess work, frustrating and costly. You cannot make short or long term goals and set expectations with people who are not 100% committed.
  9. They make efforts to retain talented and committed employees with programs that don't destroy creativity or team spirit. Good people leave when they feel used, abused and ignored while productivity and team spirit suffer under un-thoughtful reward system.

Bonus

 

  1. They make having fun an integral part of work. The key is to break down positional or turf boundaries that stifle creativity, commitment and teamwork. Having fun at work minimizes work-related stress. It can and does spark innovation and makes accomplishment of monumental projects possible.
  1. Their enthusiasm, creativity and productivity are the by-products of the work, family and personal life balance they not only practice but embrace. Burning midnight oil and/or having unused vacation times are what people who work do. But people who have life to live and do what they love have time for what matters in life.
  2. They don't treat people as things.





9 Top Inspirational Attributes Great Leaders Use to Motivate Employees - To learn more about this author, visit Dr. Vincent Kituku's Website.

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Dave Kurlan
Dave Kurlan is the founder and CEO of Objective Management Group, Inc., the industry leader in sales assessments and sales force evaluations, and the CEO of David Kurlan & Associates, Inc., a consulting firm specializing in sales force development. Dave has been a top rated speaker at Inc. Magazine's Conference on Growing the Company, the Sales & Marketing Management Conference and the Gazelles Sales & Marketing Summit. He has been featured on radio and TV, including World Business Review with General Norman Schwarzkopf, in Inc. Magazine, Selling Power Magazine, Sales & Marketing Management Magazine and Incentive Magazine. He is the author of Mindless Selling and Baseline Selling – How to Become a Sales Superstar by Using What You Already Know about the Game of Baseball. He created and wrote STAR, a proprietary recruiting process for hiring great salespeople, and he writes Understanding the Sales Force, a popular business Blog and is a contributing author to The Death of 20th Century Selling and 101 Great Ways to Improve Your Life, Volume 2. - Visit Dave Kurlan's Website

Stephanie Robey
Stephanie Robey is President and CoFounder of Pivot Positive, LLC - an Internet marketing business focused on helping people start work at home ventures. Previously, she was employed at The Search Agency with over 20 years experience in graphic design and 10 years experience in online marketing. She was responsible for launching the Conversion Path Optimization (CPO) unit where she and her team have conducted hundreds of optimization tests for online companies across multiple verticals.

She is a successful entrepreneur having started and sold 2 companies and remains on the board of directors of the third, PhotoSpin.com   Stephanie began her career in the direct marketing realm creating and producing direct mail for many of the major cable television companies and directly attributes her understanding of Internet marketing to those early offline experiences.  Stephanie is a graduate of San Diego State University with a BFA in Graphic Arts and also holds an Executive MBA from the Graziadio School of Business and Management at Pepperdine University.

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Leanne Hoagland-Smith
Are your sales where you want them to be? Will you be one of the few who achieves sales or business success or one of the many who have failed to change? Are you tired of being told you are like everyone else? Then you may find my first book on sales of interest. Be the Red Jacket in the Sea of Gray Suits, The Keys to Unlocking Sales available at Amazon or at http://www.processspecialist.com/red-jacket.htm. This book is a reflection of my no-nonsense approach to improving sales to overall business results. If you are truly committed to making sustainable changes, then I can help you secure a positive return on your investment because I focus on executable solutions not telling you the problems you already know you have. From training to corporate (group) coaching to executive one on one coaching, my approach is to assess, create awareness, build a goal driven action plan and then execute. The bottom line question is "Not do you or your employees know it, but do you or they want to do it?" Please call for a free strategy session at 219.759.5601. - Visit Leanne Hoagland-Smith's Website

Cheryl Matthynssens

Cheryl is a life skills coach, licensed Chemical Dependency Counselor and a 20 year entrepreneur.  Cheryl's dedication to achieving a life of balance led to her expanding her teaching from the simple managing of life's daily challenges to adding financial well being as well.  A direct marketer with DrinkACT, she is gaining ground in the online community with her concepts of making sure business owners, entreprenuers and employees have well rounded life styles.  She opened up a small affiliate site - The Balance Guide-  to help others find resources for mental and emotional well being.  Visit Cheryl's blog to see more of the diversity beyond business she has began offering online at www.thebalanceguide.blogspot.com

- Visit Cheryl Matthynssens's Website

Dianne Crampton

Dianne Crampton is an executive leadership coach, team culture consultant, author and president of TIGERS Success Series, Inc. Dianne has been helping CEO's and Executives connect their employees to their core values and goals for over 20 years using the trademarked TIGERS team culture process, which stands for trust, interdependence, genuineness, empathy, risk and success. To download a free white paper on behaviors that build strong teams and behaviors that will predictably tear them down go here.

Dianne's contribution to the 2010 Pfeiffer Consulting Journal (an imprint of John Wiley and Sons Publishers) entitled TIGERS Hearted Teams is available in November 2009.  Her new book TIGERS Among Us: 5 Winning Business Team Cultures And Why, Three Creeks Publishing will release in March 2010.  To receive publishing discounts, subscribe to the free TigerTracks Newsletter here.

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David Acheson
David Acheson is the founder of DCJA Consultancy. DCJA Consultancy is a management consultancy business specialising in B2B sales consultancy. They offer bespoke and packaged sales consultancy including Sales Optimisation Review, Interim Sales Management, Sales & Marketing Review, 1:1 Sales & Management Staff Analysis, Management Training, Solution Sales Training, Creation of New Pay Plan, KPI's, run Customer Feedback Campaigns, assist with Recruitment, Coaching, Appraisals and set up Strategic Marketing Campaigns.  David spent his early career in accountancy and then moved into sales in 1982, working in Office Equipment, IT, Advertising, Training, Outsourcing and Consultancy. He has held many Senior Positions in SMBs and Global Organisations including Head of Sales Operations & Head of Business Development. His knowledge, skills and great experience of the Sales Industry has led to David making keynote speeches and running educational sessions to key businesses through organisations including The Chamber of Commerce and Business Link. - Visit David Acheson's Website

Linda Richardson
Linda Richardson is the Founder and Executive Chairwoman of Richardson, a global sales training and performance improvement company. As a recognized leader in the industry, she has won the coveted Stevie Award for Lifetime Achievement in Sales Excellence and she was identified by Training Industry, Inc. as one of the “Top 20 Most Influential Training Professionals.” Ms. Richardson is credited with the movement to Consultative Selling and is the author of ten books on selling and sales management, including Sales Coaching — Making the Great Leap from Sales Manager to Sales Coach, and Stop Telling, Start Selling. She teaches sales and management at the Wharton Graduate School of the University of Pennsylvania and the Wharton Executive Development Center. Linda is a frequent speaker at industry and client conferences, has been published extensively in industry and training journals, and has been featured in numerous publications, including The Wall Street Journal, Forbes, Nation’s Business, Selling Power, Success, and The Conference Board Magazine. Learn more about Richardson's sales training and performance improvement solutions at http://www.richardson.com web - Visit Linda Richardson's Website


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Dr. Vincent Kituku
(Visit Dr. Vincent's Website) Dr. Vincent Muli Wa Kituku, a native of Kenya and resident of Idaho established Kituku & Associates in 1995 to provide new approaches for dealing with workplace challenges. He likens the unpredictability of change/challenges to life with water buffaloes that invaded African villages without warning, devastating social structures, uprooting the harmonious livelihood of villagers and leave them feeling insecure and stressed out. During chaotic times, people think that there is no solution for their perceptively overwhelming situation. They wonder, �Why do we have to change from what we are doing?� Some think they are not responsible for making change work. Vincent says, �When a buffalo invades your village, you can not waste time blaming others, whining, or wishing it had not happened.� His high energy, content filled and entertaining keynote and training programs challenge and inspire audiences for maximum impact mind shift. They learn how to set themselves apart at work and in life, re-discover talents and resources they need for growth, thrive by repeatedly providing exceptional services, be involved with something bigger than a career and move forward without leaving life behind. Dr. Kituku is one of the less than 7% speakers to earn the coveted Certified Speaking Professional (CSP) recognition, presented by the National Speakers Association. He has been the motivational speaker for the successful Boise State University Football Team since 1998.

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