Institute for Positive Leadership - BLOGS

The Secret Sauce for Leadership: Inspire and Motivate

Tue, 15 Nov 2022 20:18:53 GMT

By Dr. Howard Gauthier
ThePositiveLeader.org
November 15, 2022

It’s well understood that leadership is a process where you influence your people to achieve a common goal. According to many experts, there are three ways to influence human behavior, you can manipulate people, motivate them, or inspire them. The best of these is to find a way to inspire your people. Let’s look at

all three of these methods of influence.

Manipulation is an action where the leader tries to control the behavior of their people so that the work is completed. With manipulation, leaders don’t care about their people as long as they get the outcome they want. Manipulation can be as simple as when a child on the playground says to another child, if you share your candy with me, I’ll be your friend. This is manipulation. So are political ads where a politician promises to do something for the community, shares their stance on a particular issue, or uses fear to encourage you to vote for them. And so is bullying a person. Manipulation can work to control human behavior, but the effects are short lived, and it fails to build loyalty or trust within the employee/leader relationship.

Motivation on the other hand focuses on encouraging your people to accomplish a goal by providing an incentive in exchange for their effort. There are two types of motivation - intrinsic motivation and extrinsic motivation. Intrinsic motivation is where you work hard because you enjoy what you’re doing, or you’re driven to get better. This type of motivation comes from within you, and it creates emotions such as the desire to improve or the satisfaction of doing a good job. An example of someone who was intrinsically motivated was NBA great Michael Jordon. Jordan was cut from his 9th grade basketball team. Determined to never experience this type of failure again, Michael practiced every day, improved his skills, and by the time he had a growth spurt he was in a position to succeed as a basketball player. He continued his internal drive to be the best, and some people view him as the greatest basketball player of all time.

Conversely, extrinsic motivation is where you receive an external reward (or punishment) for your behavior. Extrinsic motivation can be as simple as receiving a reward for doing a good job (such as receiving a paycheck), getting a pat on the back, or being praised for your performance. It can also be where you behave a certain way so as to avoid negative consequences (similar to negative manipulation). This can include behaving a certain way, so you don’t get a speeding ticket, being belittled for making a mistake, or even receiving physical punishment for breaking a rule. Motivation, like manipulation, tends to be effective only over a short period of time. Once the motivation ends, so does the desire to achieve. A big difference between manipulation and motivation is that when an employee is positively motivated, they tend to have a more loyal and trusting relationship with their leader.

Inspiration is where the leader provides a mindset of desire and passion within you, so you want to strive to do your best, and to better yourself. When you inspire a person, you are intrinsically motivating that person to want to be their best. The best leaders try to find ways to inspire their people, so they have a purpose in what they are working towards. For example, Angela Duckworth, author of the book Grit, shares that Pete Carroll, head coach of the Seattle Seahawks, does a great job of inspiring his team by creating a feeling that being a Seahawk is more than just being a football player. That being a part of this team is special and unique. Carroll convinces his players that the Seahawks are different from other teams in the NFL. This is part of the Seahawk culture, and the result is that players work hard to live up to the expectation of being a member of this special organization.

Simon Sinek, the author of “Start with Why” shares a story of how important it is to instill a sense of purpose that inspires people. In his story he shared . . . image yourself walking down the street in a beautiful and quaint village in Italy on a beautiful sunny day. As you turn the corner you notice several stone layers building a magnificent stone wall. As you walk past one of the workers you comment that the stonework is magnificent and that he must be proud of his work. The stone layer shares, it’s just a job, the stones are heavy, the sun is hot, and the work is monotonous, but it provides a paycheck. As you continue to walk down the block you strike up a conversation with a second stone layer and compliment him by saying, this must be a difficult job, the stones look heavy, the sun is hot, and the work looks monotonous. The second worker replied, yes, the stones are heavy, the sun is hot, and the work is monotonous, but I’m so excited because we are building a beautiful, magnificent cathedral! The second worker has a positive mindset and is passionate for his job. He has a sense of purpose that he is a part of something bigger than just the job.

Sinek goes on to share in the video below, that leaders need to find a way to inspire their employees.

Simon Sinek shares his view on the need to inspire your tea

Four Strategies for Inspiring Your Team

So how do you inspire your team? Below are four possible ways to inspire your team members.

Convince your people that your team, and place of work is special (and it needs to be special). Remember how Coach Pete Carroll has created a culture where the members of the team feel a different vibe, a vibe that tells them that they work for a very special organization, and that they are lucky to be a part of this team.
Share with your team that their work matters, that they are making a difference in the lives of others. This might be saving lives in a hospital or building a cathedral in Italy.
Share with your people what they can accomplish. It’s okay to dream big. Remember Michael Jordan, his disappointment, and his desire to work hard and achieve greatness.
Create a working environment where people are close and connected. This can be achieved through various team build activities and outside the office get togethers.

Reinforce Positive Behavior - Build a strong and trusting relationship with your people by using their name in a compliment; and be specific in your compliment (versus just saying “good job”). Ask questions, get to know them, and nurture the relationship with each individual. Figure out what the purpose is for your organization’s existence, inspire and communicate this purpose, and reinforce behavior by using positive motivation.

However you decide to frame the purpose for inspiring your team, you need to think deeply on what strategy you will use to inspire your people. Remember that it takes a mindset of positivity to get the best from your people. Properly communicate with your team members (think about the result of your words) and reinforce their positive behavior.
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Dr. Howard Gauthier is a Professor in Sports Science at Idaho State University where he teaches courses in leadership and management. Dr. Gauthier is the CEO of the Institute for Positive Leadership, and is an author, writer, and an active speaker on positive leadership and culture. He is the author of five books, eight e-books, several research articles, and hundreds of blogs. Check out his book, The Positive Leader at www.ThePositiveLeader.org.

Are You a Leader or a Manager?

Tue, 18 Oct 2022 06:18:38 GMT

By Dr. Howard Gauthier

As a professor of sports leadership many people have asked me over the years, what’s the difference between leadership and management. In our leadership class we study this question, and as you can imagine there are awide array of thoughts and definitions. So I ask you, what’s the difference between management and leadership? Do you classify yourself as a manager or a leader?

One of the best definitions we’ve studied suggests that leadership is a process whereby a person influences a group of people toward a common goal. Do you buy this definition?  If not, what would you change?  If you do like this definition, what is the common goal (or vision) that you’ve set for the future of your team, and how do you best influence your people to achieve this vision? Leadership guru John Maxwell boils it down and suggests that leadership is about casting vision and motivating people. In other words, as a leader you need to provide a clear vision of how your team or organization will look in the future. You need to see the big picture (viewing with a wide-angle lens) and understand the obstacles that lie in front of you and your organization as you pursue this goal. Within this vision you need to identify your team’s mission - what the organization’s fundamental purpose (mission) is for existence beyond just making money or winning games. You also need to identify and implement what your unyielding core values are, align these core values with your mission/purpose, and establish a long-term strategic plan for how you plan to achieve your vision. You can see that these actions are big picture, wide-angle lens activities.

Management on the other hand deals more with making sure that the daily tasks are completed and completed correctly (the microscopic lens). Maxwell shares that management is a process of assuring that the objectives of the organization are implemented. More specifically, a manager is involved in (a) the planning process, (b) organizing the team’s activities, (c) staffing the organization/activity/event, and (d) controlling the people and tasks so you make sure that the tasks are completed and completed correctly.

An example of the difference between management and leadership comes from the history of how McDonalds Corporation became what it is today. In 1940, brothers Dick and Mac McDonald opened the original McDonalds in San Bernardino California. For eight years they had a drive-thru restaurant that served hamburgers, hotdogs, barbeque, and milkshakes using carhops, nice China dinnerware and silverware. The brothers had a business that was starting to thrive. Attempting to change with the times, in 1948 the brothers eliminated the fine dinnerware, utensils and carhops, and changed their concept to include paper packaging, reduced their menu to primarily hamburgers, fries, and beverages; and served only walk-up customers. They focused on providing a quality product, great customer service, and fulfilling orders within 30 seconds or less. They were good managers of their business and it showed. McDonalds was efficient and profitable, and the brothers began to discuss the concept of franchising.

In 1952 the brothers began franchising. Their first sale was to Neil Fox who wanted to open a franchise in Phoenix and call the restaurant “McDonalds”. This was a head scratcher for the brothers. They believed that nobody in Phoenix knew what McDonalds was and they believed that Fox would fail because of the lack of name recognition. In all, the brothers sold 15 franchises in a two-year period, of which only 10 opened for business. The franchise concept was failing. Dick and Mac just lacked the vison and strategy of what the future could be. But along came their milkshake mixer salesperson, Ray Kroc. Kroc could sell, and he could get people to buy into his vision. In 1955 Kroc and the brothers struck a deal about franchising the restaurant, and six years later Kroc purchased the company from the brothers for $2.7 million. Kroc could see the future for McDonalds, and he strategically moved the restaurant from one thriving entity in San Bernardino to multiple restaurants throughout the world. Today, there are more than 38,000 locations in over 100 countries. Dick and Mac where great managers, establishing a great concept, efficient systems, and a great business model for one restaurant; but it took a leader, Ray Kroc, to come along with his vision and strategy to make McDonalds what it is today.

So again, I ask you, are you a manager or a leader? Do you look at the big picture through a wide-angle lens (leadership), or are you more concerned with managing your employees (microscopic lens) and making sure they are completing their daily tasks? Most likely you fall somewhere in-between these two extremes. The leadership side of you is establishing long-term goals and creating strategic plans, while the management side of you is making sure that the duties are being carried-out as they should be so your group can produce and succeed. With this in mind, what steps do you need to take to become a better leader (moving your team toward a common goal or vision), or what steps do you need to take to become a better manager (planning, organizing, staffing, and controlling)?  As managers and leaders, we need to continue to develop and improve.

Dr. Howard Gauthier is a Professor in Sports Science at Idaho State University where he teaches courses in leadership and management. Dr. Gauthier is the CEO of the Institute for Positive Leadership, and is an author, writer, and an active speaker on positive leadership and culture. He is the author of five books, eight e-books, several research articles, and hundreds of blogs. Check out his book, The Positive Leader at www.ThePositiveLeader.org.

RETAINING GREAT EMPLOYEES BY BUILDING HIGH-QUALITY RELATIONSHIPS

Thu, 18 Jan 2018 02:25:34 GMT

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By Dr. Howard Gauthier

As a leader, manager, or coach, you’re only as good as the people you recruit and employ. Good leaders understand this. They also know that in order to hire and retain great employees, they need to build high-quality relationships (HQR) with the members of their team or organization.

A high-quality relationship is much deeper than the typical relationship. It is characterized by a strong and positive connectedness where people feel valued, trusted, and safe. When workers are in a high-quality relationship they are more apt to create and share solutions to organizational problems. This leads to an improved work environment, which leads to improved outcomes. Further, when a person is in a HQR, they experience more emotional carrying capacity (able to handle negative emotions) which according to researchers allows them to bend, withstand strain, change behavior, and bounce back from adversity.

High-quality relationships are developed through honesty, respect, trust, and truly caring for the people you work with. The outcomes of HQR are a tightknit team that people want to join, and don’t want to leave. This translates into a positive work environment where productivity increases, sales increase, and creativity flourishes. The ultimate outcome is that you build a strong and loyal customer base. When employees feel valued, they work harder, work longer, and care more about the product and service. The benefactor of this positivity is a great experience for the customer.

So how do you build high-quality relationships. The key is to focus on creating a positive work climate where people can be open and honest with one another. Where people build each other up (being genuine, caring, and sincere) instead of tearing them down. More specifically, you as the leader, manager, or coach should:

Have high expectations for proper and positive behavior.
Hire for fit instead of talent (but don’t discount how important talent is).
Be Positive - Communicate with a minimum of a 5:1 positive-to-negative ratio.
Take time to learn about, and care about, your employees.
Reward the correct behaviors and extinguish (usually in private) the behaviors that are contrary to the values of the organization (i.e. negativity, gossiping, work ethic, etc.).

In the end, positivity builds success and happiness. People want to work for teams and organizations that are positive and successful. If you want to build an organization that is the best in your industry, you need to hire and retain quality people. This is done through building high-quality relationships. As a leader, manager, or coach, you’re only as good as the people you recruit and employ.

Dr. Howard Gauthier is a professor in the College of Education at Idaho State University where he teaches leadership and management courses. He is also the CEO of the Institute for Positive Leadership. Dr. Gauthier is a current author and speaker. Check out his latest book "The Positive Leader" at www.ThePositiveLeader.org.

YOU NEED HIGH STANDARDS AND EXPECTATIONS

Tue, 26 Dec 2017 01:08:39 GMT

By Dr. Howard Gauthier

Positivity and Positive Leadership is more than just communicating in an upbeat, optimistic, and uplifting manner. Positive leaders have high standards and expectations for themselves, their employees, and the quality of their products. This leads to enhanced performance, quality products, increased sales, and strong customer loyalty. When a business, organization, or sports team compromises their standards of quality, the result becomes performance errors, an inferior product, or worse – the losing of customers and supporters. Take the case of Kim. Being the hardworking and loyal employee she is, when her boss (Kurt) announced his retirement, Kim and her team decided to throw a retirement party for him. Kim took the initiative to purchase a cake and the party was set.

When the retirement day came, Kim went to pick up the cake at a local bakery and was stunned by what she found. The cake had chunks of cake missing. She asked if the baker could fix the bare spots and he agreed. Since fixing the cake would take some time, she decided to run to the grocery store and pick up some plates and napkins. When she returned to the bakery, the chunks of missing cake were filled with a different colored frosting. The cake looked awful, and she decided not to make the purchase. Rather, she went to Costco and purchased a cake from their bakery.

Now, let’s take a look at a second situation in which a customer recently boarded an early morning Alaska Airline flight from Anchorage, heading to Austin, Texas. The trip would include stops in Seattle and Los Angeles. The first leg of the journey was smooth as the plane landed in Seattle. Since the customer only had about 25 minutes to catch her connecting flight to Los Angeles, she hurriedly exited the plane and made her way to the new gate. The issue was that she accidentally left her purse on the first plane. All of her ID’s and money were left behind. The problem was she didn’t realize this until the flight to L.A. had hit cruising altitude. That’s when panic set in. As she said, “full freak out tears flowing mode.”

In her state of panic, she alerted the flight attendants who told her to connect to the “Wi-Fi” and get in touch with her husband. She would then need to have him call the Seattle airport lost and found. At the same time, the pilot contacted Alaska Airlines in Seattle and they did find her purse. Alaska Airlines first tried to get the purse sent to Los Angeles, but due to another tight connection, they had to settle on sending it to her in Austin via FedEx. This would take a couple of days.

Just then, the flight attendant came back to her and asked her to wait for him once the plane landed in Los Angeles. After landing, she met with the flight attendant and he told her that he had reached out to his friend at SeaTac who walked down to baggage claim, claimed her purse, and walked it to the next flight to Austin. The flight attendant informed her that her purse would arrive in Austin about 30 minutes after she did. Once the plane landed, another flight attendant stepped off the plane and reunited her with her purse. This was an unusual situation for most organizations, but not with an organization with positive, “can do”, leadership. With positive leaders, customer service is a priority. It is a standard of excellence.
In both situations, something undoubtedly went wrong. At the bakery, whether this was a one-time error or a systemic failure, the outcome was a lack of standards that resulted in an inferior product. In the second situation, the employees at Alaska Airlines went above the call of duty. These standards of great customer service and outcomes are common at the best organizations.

Standards are not a once in a while behavior or activity that you do just when you feel like doing something a certain way. Rather, a standard is an understanding of the norm you establish for how something should be accomplished. It is a part of your culture. It is a clear focus on doing things right, on providing an outstanding product, and making sure the customer receives the value they deserve. In order to establish a standard of high quality, a leader needs to hire good employees, train them properly, hold them accountable for their behavior, reward the right behavior, and make sure the customer is satisfied. In other words, you as the leader need to have high expectations for yourself, your employees, your products, and your customer service.

In the end, the bakery lost a customer and severely damaged their brand within the community, and Alaska Airlines strengthened their brand and has built a customer for life. As a leader, what standards and outcomes reflect the core values of your organization? Positive leaders understand the need for having high standards and expectations. These leaders have a pulse on the quality of their products and services. They ensure that the established standards are maintained by being aware of the actions and activities that are occurring, and also by inspiring, encouraging, and supporting their employees to meet the high standards of performance that have been established for their team or organization.

OVERCOMING NEGATIVE OVERLOAD

Tue, 26 Dec 2017 00:51:16 GMT

By Dr. Howard Gauthier

Over the past few years many researchers have found a direct positive correlation between a positive organizational climate and a successful team or organization. Seligman & Shulman showed that happy employees sold 37% more and were 31% more productive than their unhappy counterparts. Another study, out of the University of Warwick, found that happy employees were 12% more productive than the average employee, while unhappy employees were 10% less productive.

I bring these statistics up because far too many coaches and leaders forget about the impact a positive environment has on the productivity and success of an organization. Whether it’s a sports team that wants to improve their win-loss record, or a business that wants to increase sales and improve customer relationships, a positive leader can make all the difference. This is how it works. When a leader creates a positive work environment and builds strong relationships, a team chemistry is built that inspires employees to care more about their job and the quality of work they do. In turn, these employees work harder, longer, and care more about their job, their products, and customer relations. The result is more sales in business, more wins in sports, greater productivity, and stronger customer relationships.

I recently had a chance to sit down with business executive Marc Abshire about the effects positivity and negativity have on the success of an organization. Marc is the Executive Director of the Port Angeles Chamber of Commerce in the state of Washington. He has held some pretty impressive leadership positions in operations within the Air Force and with NATO, and he is a big believer in the power of positivity. Marc shared that many organizations aren’t as effective as they could be because they have what he terms “negative overload”. He went on to explain that negative overload is when an organization’s work environment is negatively toxic. This includes leaders who treat employees poorly; which leads to employees having bad attitudes, gossiping, and negative conversations; which leads to employees not working hard; and this leads to an under-performing and toxic environment. In other words, a negative leader creates a negative and dysfunctional team or organization, which causes an unhealthy work environment where sales, productivity, and customer loyalty suffer.

Positivity is a Choice
So how do you overcome negative overload? The first thing you need to understand is that positivity is a choice and negativity is a bad habit. Researchers have found that approximately 50% of our disposition is determined by our genes. There’s nothing you can do about it. They also found that approximately 10% of who we are is shaped by life events. This leaves approximately 40% of our disposition (being positive or negative) that’s up to us and how we choose to look at life. Researchers have coined this concept as the 50-10-40 rule.

The second thing you need to understand is that negativity is about three times more powerful than positivity. In other words, it takes three positive comments or interactions for every one negative comment/interaction just to be in a neutral state (this is known as the Losada Ratio). Because of this, relationship experts recommend that coaches and leaders should teach and engage their people using a positive-to-negative ratio of at least five positives to every one negative. The key is that you as a leader be intentional and deliberate in your positive communication and building a positive organizational culture.

Five Leadership Strategies
In my book, The Positive Leader, I share five strategies a coach or leader can use in order to build a positive and highly effective team or organization. These five strategies take a commitment and hard work but the payoff is life changing. As a leader, you will be inspiring your people, encouraging them, teaching team, and supporting them. You will have high expectations for your people and you will hold them accountable; but you do this in a positive and supporting manner.
The five leadership strategies that I outline for you include:
• Building a Strong and Positive Organizational Structure
• Pursuing a Positive Purpose
• Cultivating a Positive Climate
• Building High Quality Relationships
• Using Positive Communication

Summary
So if you want to improve your team or business, try building your people up. Be like John Wooden and be a teacher – teach your team members how to do a task correctly. Then encourage them, motivate them, and support them. People and organizations are so much more successful when they operate in a positive environment. And when you create this type of work environment, you will be able to overcome the negative overload that is weighing down your team or organization.

About the Author: Howard Gauthier is a Professor of Sports Science at Idaho State University. He teaches leadership and is an expert in positive leadership and positive organizational culture. Dr. Gauthier is the author of several books including his most recent book “The Positive Leader.” You can contact him at howard@ThePositiveLeader.org.

POSITIVE LEADERS DON’T UNDERMINE THEIR EMPLOYEES

Mon, 25 Dec 2017 20:49:28 GMT

Positive leaders are focused on building a strong and highly functional organization by having high standards for performance, and by encouraging and supporting their employees. These leaders have high expectations for the quality of their product (team), performance of their employees (players), and through creating great customer service. Positive leaders praise their people when they perform well, and they correct and instruct them when they don’t perform well. But one thing positive leaders don’t do is throw their employees under the bus to cover up when the leader makes a mistake. Instead, the positive leader acknowledges the mistake, takes responsibility, and moves on.

People follow leaders who work hard, make good decisions, who are honest, and who care about their employees or players. This builds trust amongst the workforce. And a team or organization cannot be at their best if team members cannot trust their leader.
Recently, the owner of a national software company threw the marketing director under the bus after the owner made a major public relations mistake and put blame on the marketing office. Most, if not all of the employees, knew that the owner was trying to save face and scapegoat the marketing director. This created a tension amongst the workforce, which in turn started to create a negative environment. Tempers became short and people didn’t trust one another. This created a bit of a dysfunction within the organization. In truth, if this type of leadership behavior continues, the organization will suffer from employee disengagement. This will hurt sales, productivity, and customer service.

Whether you’re a coach who is trying to build a strong team, or a business leader who is trying to create a quality product, the key is that you need to build trust amongst your people so they are motivated to work hard and are positively engaged in the organization. Positive relationships and communication are key to establishing this trust and loyalty. If you can build strong relationships amongst your people, they will work hard to create a quality product and provide great customer service. The by-product of this is increased sales, higher net income, and more wins.

When you feel the impulse to lash out at an employee (or player), or to shift blame, remember that you are the leader and your people want to follow someone who works hard, makes good decisions, is honest, and who truly cares about his/her people. Being a positive leader and creating an outstanding organization is hard work. Understand that you need to encourage and support your people. Be self-aware and know when to take a deep breath and refrain from making a comment that will tear down your players or employees. Have high expectations, build them up, hold them accountable, and by all means, don’t throw your people under the bus.