During my travels as a professional motivational speaker, I get to meet people from all walks of life. And often times I find pearls of wisdom from the most unlikely sources.
/0 Comments/in General, Professional Development /by Brad Montgomery
Motivational Speaker Brad Montgomery on how to get more out of your job, your situation, and your life.
Planning an epic meeting means creating an experience of value for ALL attendees—from the newbies to the veterans. Everyone who attends needs to feel like it was the best meeting ever and that they got so much out of the event that they can’t afford to miss it next year.
Engaging in positivity and encouragement is proven to enhance both personal and business relationships. And happier people are more productive, more focused and ultimately more successful in all aspects of life.
Change Management Comes Down to a Simple Choice
As a motivational speaker, almost 9 out of 10 clients ask me to address change management. I’m honestly amazed at how many of my clients are freaked out about change. The change is real, and their pain is real. But the answer to their stress and unhappiness might be more simple than they think.
Check out two of my recent clients, both of whom are dealing with a ton of change.
Client 1:
- Hired a Change Management Consulting Firm
- Lots of analytics, measurements and surveys around prepping for change
- Work culture is toxic
- Huge exodus of people on all levels
- Profitability is down
Client 2:
- Focused on growth, profits and the future.
- Feels a positive work culture is crucial to success.
- Like Client 1, has had major changes in their technology, client base, and organizational structure. But they consider all of these things, “Challenges we are making progress on.”
- Has a VERY positive and well-loved work culture
- Profits are up
- Growth up
- Future is bright
Client 1 Is freaking out.
Client 2 has most of the same issues regarding change, but just considers constant adaption as part of their business.
So What is My Point?
What you focus on is where the power is! In order to stay relevant and profitable, every organization is going to have to adapt to changes in our markets, our technology, and even our employees. Change is just a given. You don’t have a choice regarding change, but you do have a choice in how you react to it. You can freak out. Or you can roll your sleeves up, get started, and move forward towards success.
Client 2’s focus is on epic culture, and epic customer experiences. That’s the focus. Yes, they have to constantly deal with sometimes HUGE changes, but for them it’s just part of their job.
The management at Client 1 is freaking out, and everybody on staff knows it. They feel unsettled and upset, and they are NOT doing well with productivity or profitability. They need to calm down, take a breath, and just get started with moving forward. I’m convinced that the very fact they are surveying and analyzing every person and every bit of their company is primarily telegraphing their anxiety to their staff.
It’s not easy, but it is simple. When it comes to change you either have to accept it as a constant part of your job, or … You need a new job.
Dealing with change is simple, but not easy. Do you want to get behind it? Or do you want it to happen to you?
Yes, I know I’ve over-simplified. Yes I know that sometimes you DO REALLY NEED a huge amount of study regarding workplace processes, structure and culture. But on the other hand, it isn’t THAT complicated. Change is the new constant, and if you let it freak you out you are not going to do well.
Take a breath, roll up your sleeves, and start chipping away at your new problems. Give into the fact that you’ll NEVER be “finished” with these problems. (If you ever do finish with these problems, you’ll be out of a job!) And see if you can find some joy in the phrase, “We’re working on it, and we feel like we are making progress.”
You can do this. You’ve got this. Now stop whining.
====
Brad Montgomery is a business and motivational speaker based in Denver, Colorado. He speaks to the people side of business. Call today to bring him in to speak to your group about change.
Employees leave their jobs for many reasons. Sometimes it’s because of the money, but most of the time it’s not. Proper compensation is excellent, but managers and business owners should understand that employees need more than financial growth. Let me explain to you the four reasons good employees leave.
You have a great team of employees that constantly exceeds your expectations. They seem to be enthusiastic and motivated, as well as passionate about the work they are doing. The only problem is, they are leaving one by one. They are sending you resignation letters, and you do not have an idea how to stop it.
It’s sad. When employees seem to have one too many bad days, they may be thinking of leaving their job behind. Employee retention these days is more than just about making employees happy in the present. It is also important to consider their happiness and satisfaction for the long term.
Here are a few reasons why employees are packing their bags, and insight on what you can do to keep this from happening:
No Career Growth
It is extremely important for employees to have the ability to grow in their career path. This is why employers need to ask team members about their own goals and expectations. It is always important to find out the skills they want to sharpen or acquire. It is also advisable to offer leadership training and mentorship programs.
When you give employees the tools they need, they will be motivated to achieve their professional goals. They will also be motivated to come to work and contribute to the company’s success.
No Success Contribution
Employees want to know that their work affects the company. The bad news is, team members are just compensated for their performance, and not how they contribute to the organization’s overall success. It can be disappointing to know that they are just part of the process and not the result.
It always makes sense to give employees a share of the profit or reward them for their contribution. This will help make them feel like they are truly an important part of the organization, rather than just replaceable staff members. Profit shares, if feasible, will strengthen relationship with employees.
No Promotion Within
When employers do not promote from within, employees may feel the need to leave their jobs to advance at another company. If you have a new management position, you don’t always have to hire outside. It is always better to promote a top performer to save on time and resources spent on training someone new and unfamiliar with internal processes.
There are plenty of ways to inspire staff members. Brad Montgomery knows that employees need the right motivation to be happy and satisfied. As a trusted motivational speaker, he can inspire employees and help strengthen bonds within an organization. Contact Brad today and find out how he can inspire and motivate your employees.
A company rises and falls depending on the state of their employees. The more productive they are, the better the company will perform as a whole. But if it is the opposite, it is also the business that bears the brunt.
Employee productivity is essential towards a company’s success. But how do you cultivate it in your office? Master the art of giving and receiving feedback. Here are some reasons feedback is essential towards improving employee productivity.
It signifies appreciation and interest
Employees tend to become more motivated and productive when they know that their efforts in the company are getting somewhere. They need to know how they are performing and whether it will matter to them. Providing feedback from time to time gives the impression that you are interested in their work and you appreciate their efforts.
It solves the employees’ areas of improvement
Just as employees have their strengths, they also have areas where they need to work on to become more productive. Through feedback, you give them the opportunity to address those areas. This means you help them improve their performance and eligibility for career growth, which is something that will motivate them to work harder.
It helps you address company needs
Sometimes, a company will have problems that require collaboration between company leaders and employees. Since the latter are the ones who know most of the work, getting their feedback will help you address such challenges to improve your company’s performance. Receiving and applying employee feedback will help improve operations for them, which will eventually improve their productivity.
It takes the right feedback
These are just some of the reasons companies should pay more attention to feedback to and from employees. However, it also take the right kind and delivery of feedback to help make employees more productive.
Company leaders should focus on giving constructive feedback and the rationale instead of just positive or negative statements. These will make employees feel that they are doing a good job, but they can still improve their performance.
Instead of just criticisms, company leaders should also provide suggestions to help make them more productive. This allows people to stop dwelling on their shortcomings and act on the solutions.
It takes motivation through feedback to make employees more productive. Fortunately, Brad Montgomery can help you on that. He provides motivational speeches about productivity and other essential sides of the business. Companies will cause a positive change in their environments with his assistance.
Click here for more information on Brad Montgomery.
Employees enter a new job with high motivation — excited and eager to perform better and do a good job. As months pass, however, motivation starts to wear away. This is not because managers are failing to engage their employees. What actively demotivate workers the most are organizational policies, systems, and management actions.
Managers Can Be the Problem
Sometimes, the managers cause the problems; instead of motivating their employees, they demotivate workers with their actions. Micromanagement or dictating each detail of how a task should be done is one major demotivator. It deprives people of autonomy and communicates that the manager believes employees are incompetent and incapable of making important decisions.
The Unachievable Deadline
Many managers believe that workers can unlock their potential by giving them extra work with unachievable deadlines. This belief, however, only contributes to employee disengagement. Some workers are willing to work hard to achieve a challenging deadline, as long as there is a reasonable chance of making it. If you give them an impossible timeline, the motivation may dribble away.
Simply Bad Management
Workers become demotivated and then leave their jobs because the management unconsciously makes it difficult for them to accomplish their tasks. Never-ending paperwork, unachievable timelines and high levels of required approvals make employees feel frustrated. Managers also supply inspirational directives, without thinking if they can answer legitimate concerns. Supposedly engaging directives (Failure is not an option, You can do it) do not always solve the problem; they just communicate that managers don’t understand the issue.
Organizational Procedures
Apart from bad management, organizational systems and procedures can drain motivation. Companies always seem to acknowledge that people are their greatest assets, and are important in producing good results. Systems and policies, however, communicate the opposite message. They push people to work hard, without even realizing that it negatively affects employee wellbeing.
There are plenty of ways to engage employees and foster positive relationships. Brad Montgomery believes that employees need proper motivation to perform better at their jobs. As a trusted keynote speaker, he can inspire the whole team and help managers develop close bonds with their direct-reports. Contact him today and find out how he can engage your whole team through motivational speaking.
A team leader’s job is hard work, and it’s even more difficult figuring out how to make those under you follow you. The most common trap most struggling leaders fall into is exerting power and influence over their subordinates in an attempt to have them follow without question.
This is not only ineffective, but counterproductive as well because the people you manage will see you as merely an authority figure instead of someone they’d want to follow. If you want to be an effective leader, you should start leading by example.
Motivation and the Power of Leading
The Chinese military general and strategist Sun Tzu wrote in his book, The Art of War that “a leader leads by example, not by force.” You’re not exactly fighting invasions in the office, but there’s no denying that the workplace can be a battleground if you don’t know how to lead your subordinates.
Leading by example is the simplest and most effective way to get your people to follow you and like you at the same time. They’ll respect someone who can get things done without having to resort to commanding their subordinates, and it motivates them to do their own work properly and efficiently. They also feel more at ease with you and won’t see you as an authority figure that they need to fear to respect.
Knowing Your Weaknesses
An important part of leading by example is being open to criticisms, especially from the people you manage. This may be off-putting to some, but remember that the difference between you and your ‘subordinates’ is that compared to them, you only have more responsibilities.
Your status as a leader shouldn’t give you any reason to ignore your weaknesses and potential failings; in fact, you should be more open and accommodating to feedback. The people you manage know from experience the qualities you may lack that you may be unaware of, so make sure you establish a quality of openness.
My name is Brad Montgomery, and I know how difficult it is to become an effective leader whom the people you work with will follow and respect. Contact us today to learn more about our motivational talks that will help you lead by example.
303.691.0726