Alan's Recent Articles from Straits Times, Singapore

Do You Have The Likeability Factor?

Why do you think Barack Obama overwhelmingly won the US Presidential Election? Perhaps it was because of his policies for change, or even the amount of money invested in his campaign. Or perhaps it was his ability to eloquently express the hopes, answers and beliefs of a good chunk of the American people. Some people may even say that Obama was a better bet than his rival, John McCain.

I think it is probably a mixture of all these reasons, and a few more. But more than anything else, I do believe he also has, a high Likeability Factor.

So what’s ‘Likeability’ got to do with anything? Surely we’re going to vote for the policies not the person? Somehow I don’t think so! What so many politicians tend to forget is that we voters are humans and the thing about humans is, they’ll always be driven by their emotions not their logic. We let our heart rule our head all the time. If we decide that we don’t like someone then we have a heck of a job believing anything they say. How well our politicians score on the Likeability Factor is going to influence whether we believe them or not.

Roger Ailes the communication coach to Presidents Reagan and Bush Snr. Wrote - “The silver bullet in business and politics is the like factor. All things being equal, we are more likely to vote for people we feel we like.”

However so many of our politicians seem totally unconcerned by this. Consider some other public figures that have been affected by the like factor. Bill Clinton came through some ‘difficult’ situations relatively unscathed; the reason being that the American public quite liked him. Margaret Thatcher suffered more than she needed because too many people didn’t like her. Princess Diana’s funeral gave a clear indication of how many people liked her. I don’t believe we would have seen the same outpouring of public grief, had that tragic accident happened to another member of the Royal Family.

The Likeability Factor also affects products and the organisations that supply them. As with people, it’s not so much about what the product does, but do we like the brand? Some years ago Proctor and Gamble launched Ariel to compete against Persil. All the tests proved that Ariel washed whiter, but Persil remained the top brand. P&G managers tore their hair out looking for an explanation. Until one day someone told them, “Well I believe people quite like Persil.”
If your Likeability Factor is high, votes go up, sales go up and you go up.

But what about the other people in your life, are they likeable? What about your boss, your dentist or your accountant? I get some funny looks when I tell people that I’ve no idea if my accountant is any good or not. How would I know if he is a good accountant? I’m not competent to judge. I only know that I like and trust him, and that means he’ll continue to get my business.
Warren Buffet, Chairman of Berkshire Hathaway, sometimes acclaimed as the world’s greatest investor, once said, “I’ve walked away from some great deals because I didn’t like the people I was dealing with.”

Harry Redknapp has recently taken over as Manager of struggling soccer team, Tottenham Hotspur. Redknapp has engineered a remarkable turnaround in a short period of time. I believe that a great deal of his success is down to his high Likeability Factor.

Phil Neville the Everton, England and ex Manchester United footballer recently commented. “If the players like you then that decides ninety-five percent of your success as a manager.”

So how do we get this Likeability Factor if we haven’t got it? Or how do we improve it if we have, and what’s it all about anyway? Well as far as companies are concerned it’s all about whether we trust them and feel that they care about us when we contact them. Do they have the human touch? The advertising agencies know all about the likeability factor and the human touch. They want to make us laugh; they use cute children and animals. They feature celebrities that we like and can relate to.
Andrex TV ads certainly aren’t about what you can do with toilet paper; they’re more about puppies and children.

Some commercial organisations still don’t quite understand this. The high street banks in the UK were recently criticised in a report that suggested many customers didn’t like their bank. One senior manager replied in the press saying, “We continue to grow our business because our products and services meet customer demand and expectation.” He fails to realise that it’s not just about products and services; it’s about the human things, like dropping into your local branch and having a talk with the manager. It’s much harder to do that nowadays, which is one of the main reasons for poor reports in customer satisfaction surveys.

Likeability is about being human; it’s about displaying warmth. Bill Clinton displays warmth, Hilary Clinton less so. Being known as the ‘Prince of Darkness,’ doesn’t suggest too much warmth in UK politician Peter Mandelson. Richard Branson has warmth so did Princess Diana. Nelson Mandela has it; Margaret Thatcher didn’t display it in her time as Prime Minister.

Likeability in people will also be measured by their ability to really listen and be interested in others. Likeable people use your name and look as if they care. We like people who have something positive to say and don’t whinge! Likeable people empathise with our problems and accept that we may have a different view of the world from them. Likeability is demonstrated by a genuine smile, good eye contact, a sense of humour and relaxed open body language.

Much of our success in life will be determined by our ability to sell ourselves to others. Whether in our personal or working lives; people will judge us by what we say and what we do. However, more importantly, this will be influenced by how likeable we are.

The Likeability Factor—have you got it?

The Truth about Managing and Coaching

Let me ask you a simple question – what is the difference between a Manager and a Coach?

I like to watch football on TV (or soccer, as my American chums call it) and for years, in the UK; we have always described the person in charge of the team as the ‘Manager.’
In the US, the person running the team, be it football, baseball or basketball, is usually referred to as the ‘Coach’ However, I’ve noticed now, in the UK, that the football Manager is more likely to be called - The Coach.

So, what’s the difference? And how does it relate to your job as a manager?

When I ask participants on a seminar – “Tell me what a Manager does, what are their duties?” They usually come up with responses such as – planning – cost control – resource allocation – analysing data – interviewing – solving problems - dealing with customers and other ‘technical’ duties.

When I then ask – “What are the duties of a Coach?” I hear replies such as – leading –motivating – listening – encouraging – identifying training needs – communicating expectations – believing in their people – inspiring – winning and getting results.

There are cross-over duties between a manager and a coach; but let me ask you a question – which role is going to be the most important in achieving your objectives, goals and outcomes, is it a Manager or a Coach?

Now I know what you’re going to say – “My organisation and my boss want me to do all the ‘management’ things and that’s how I spend most of my day.” But always remember, at the end of the day, you will ultimately be judged on the success of your staff, rather than your ability to complete a report on time.

If you want a happy and motivated team who – don’t take time off work – don’t keep looking for other jobs - don’t give you too many problems and who generate results for your business. You need to spend more time ‘Coaching’ and less time ‘Managing’

Here are 3 steps to becoming a successful coach

1. Spend quality time with each team member - You need to get to know each member of your team better and they need to get to know you. If you listen and show that you’re listening, you’ll gain a much better understanding of each individual and how they’re handling the job. It will also send the message that you care about them and show that you’re there to help with problems, both business and personal. You can communicate expectations, encourage and inspire them to do even better.

2. Give feedback and coach them - You need to regularly tell each of your team members when they’re doing well and when not so well. When you see or hear one of your staff doing something you DO like – tell them about it! When you see or hear them doing something you DON’T like – tell them about it. You can then coach them on the job or identify training needs and agree a way forward. Most employees want to know how they are performing in their job; they want to know if they are doing it right or how they could do it better.

3. Believe in each individual - You need to constantly demonstrate to each team member that you trust and believe in them, by what you say, your tone of voice and your body language.
They will very quickly sense if you don't trust them to carry out their job and they'll act accordingly.
If you believe that your people are not to be trusted to do their job; that they’ll turn up late and go home early, then that is exactly what they'll do.
On the other hand, if you believe that your people will do their job well, that they can be trusted to make decisions that are good for the business and that they'll give you a fair day's work, then it is more likely this is what you'll get.

So there you have it; successful managers know that to get the best out of their people they need to spend less tine ‘Managing ‘ and more time ‘Coaching’.

10 Steps to Becoming a Powerful Listener

Let me ask you a simple question. Are you a good listener? Now you might believe you’re a good listener, but just stop for a moment and think; how would the following people rate you as a listener – your best friend, your boss, your employees, colleagues and even your nearest and dearest. Rather not think about it eh!

Let me give you some facts and figures about listening that have been established by research.
G R Bell established in 1984 studies that adults typically practise listening at no better than 25 per cent efficiency. In 1983 G T Hunt and A P Cusella reported how well Training Directors in Fortune 500 companies rated the listening effectiveness of managers and subordinates in their organisations. Ratings averaged 1.97 on a 5-point scale, somewhere between “fair” and “poor.”
Other studies suggest that 60-70 per cent of oral communication is either ignored, misunderstood or quickly forgotten. After 48 hours people are likely to retain less than 25 per cent of what they heard in a conversation.

Now I’m sure this makes a lot of sense to you because one of the most common complaints I hear from managers and employees is – “My manager doesn’t listen to me!”
It’s also one of the reasons why difficulties arise in our personal life. How often have people headed to the divorce court saying – “He never listens to me!” or “She doesn’t understand me!”

Listening is a very powerful management skill and if you want to become a Motivational Manager and minimise your stress then you need to become a Powerful Listener.
Powerful listening isn’t about hearing; it’s about really understanding the message that the other person is sending and letting them know that you understand and care about what they’re saying.

Hearing doesn’t take any effort; however listening, takes a great deal of concentration and effort. Of course, it gets easier with training and practise, so don’t give up on me yet.
It’s important to understand why listening can be difficult and there are whole lists of reasons why people don’t listen well. One of the main reasons is that we can be distracted both internally and externally.
People have the ability to think at around 400-700 words per minute. People talk at about 120-150 words per minute. So in any interaction there’s a huge amount of spare brain capacity unused by the listener.
Because we all have so many other things going on in our lives, it’s so easy to let our mind ‘wander off’ and use that surplus brain capacity to think about something else, when someone is speaking to us. We might have personal concerns that pop into our mind such as issues with our partners or children.
Listening can also be difficult if we’re tired, bored, in a hurry, confused or can’t make out or understand what the other person is saying.

Here are 10 key steps to becoming a Powerful Listener:
1. Listen logically – stay emotionally detached and listen for facts, ideas and details
2. Stimulate the speaker – nod your head, lean forward, keep good eye contact and concentrate totally
3. Make notes – if relevant get all the details down
4. Shut out distractions – change your environment or shut out all distractions in your mind
5. Listen between the lines for hidden meanings – listen to the emotional meaning of the speaker
6. Use your intuition and trust your gut feeling
7. Observe non-verbal clues – watch body language, be aware of what people are not saying
8. Listen for what people would like to say but have difficulty putting into words
9. Don’t pre-judge – keep an open mind
10. Don’t interrupt or jump in with an answer or solution

Commit to practising your listening skills everyday. Whenever you come into contact with someone, be it in business or socially, really listen to that person. It’s like any other skill, the more you practise the better you’ll become. (And just think how much you will learn)

Can’t Buy Me Love

You might disagree but hear me out on this. Money does not motivate employees!
In 1964 The Beatles sang – “Money Can’t Buy Me Love” and it certainly won’t buy you loyalty or team motivation.
And yet; when I’m running a Motivational Manager Seminar, some managers come back at me with statements such as:

• “My people are only interested in the money”



• “That’s why they come to work”



• “Sales people are motivated by money, that’s why we pay them commission and bonuses”



• “You try reducing their money and see what happens”

Let me say now; if you want to become a successful Motivational Manager please accept that for the majority of employees – money is not a motivator!

The psychologist Frederick Herzberg developed his ‘Two Factor’ theory in 1959 and established that money is not a motivator। However, if it’s inadequate, then it can be a de-motivating factor. In other words, it can adversely affect job performance.

If you were able to increase the salary of your employees by 5000 pounds, dollars or whatever currency you pay them in, then I’m sure they’d be really pleased and motivated to do well – but for how long? I reckon that within a couple of months that extra 5000 would be accepted as the norm with virtually no effect on motivation। And don’t think it matters if it was 10000 pounds or dollars, after a while it wouldn’t make a difference।

Yes there are people who are motivated purely by money; however, they tend to be in the minority.

The majority of employees are motivated by other factors and these are often more easily delivered than extra money. Many managers are unable to raise the salary paid to their employees as this is usually decided by company policy.

Employees can be motivated by several factors in relation to their work. Here are three things you can do:

1. Make their job more interesting by:

• Giving them more responsibility
• Giving them some of your tasks
• Asking them to train or mentor another member of your team
• Asking them to sit in occasionally on management meetings
• Giving them further training

2. Give them feedback and appreciation for what they do by:

• The occasional gift
• Time off work
• Gift vouchers
• Personal thank you letters

3. Make them feel ‘in on things’ by:

• Letting them attend meetings and conferences if they don’t already
• Letting them run a team meeting
• Listening to their opinions on how to run the team
• Listening to their feedback

I feel sure you can add several other things to these lists and put this to the test right away.

News Release

You Don't Have To Be a Tough Guy to Motivate Your 'Apprentice'

"You're Fired!" Sir Alan Sugar's immortal catchphrase was once again directed at unsuccessful candidates in the fourth series of The Apprentice, recently concluded on BBC Two.

This high flying self-made billionaire is portrayed as a tough no nonsense individual who fires people who don't come up to the mark.

Other 'tough guys' were recently referred to by Ruairi O'Kane in an article in the Sunday Times. He reports that bullying bosses who copy the behaviour of the celebrity chef Gordon Ramsay and Simon Cowell, the X Factor judge, have been blamed for a doubling in the number of employment tribunal cases over the past year.

We've all heard the old cliché, 'nice guys don't finish first' and, Edinburgh based Alan Fairweather, 'The Motivation Doctor' believes that the media and our culture send the wrong messages about how to manage people. This makes it difficult for Business Owners, Managers and Team Leaders to motivate their staff and run their business.

Fairweather goes on to explain, "I believe there are four reasons why there are many poor and mediocre managers; one, because it's such a difficult job; two, nobody shows you what to do or gives you the right training; three, the media and our culture send the wrong message and four; some people are just not cut out to be managers."

Alan Fairweather's new book, How to be a Motivational Manager, is a down-to-earth guide for Managers and Team Leaders. It reveals how to motivate your team, get results and do it in the easiest, least stressful way possible

It introduces three vital factors in team motivation that don't include the 'tough
guy' approach.

The book was written by Fairweather to develop the skills of anyone whose job involves supervising others.

He understands the challenges faced by business people and knows how hard it is to motivate a team. He's used the skills described in this book with great success; and as he points out – "you don't, in fact, motivate other people; you create the environment where they motivate themselves," this book will show you how to do that.

Readers will learn how to spend quality time with their team members, build relationships and gain a better understanding of each individual.

They will also learn how to give feedback and coach employees, particularly when facing poor performance. And finally, they discover how, by believing in their people, they can utilise the skill, knowledge and experience that's already within their team.

Fairweather points out that a team's performance is determined by the relationship they have with their manager. Don't be misled, this isn't some kind of 'touchy-feely' approach; it shows managers how to deal with 'difficult' employees and any other kind of unproductive behaviour and still keep the team motivated.

The overall aim of the book is to support the Customer Service activities of the readers business, generate more sales and make life easier.

You don't have to be a tough guy to motivate your 'Apprentice' you just have to be 'tough enough to care.'

About the author: Alan Fairweather, The Motivation Doctor, has for the past fifteen years been turning 'adequate' managers and team leaders into consistent top performers. After a successful career as a manager he founded his business in 1993 and works with people and organisations consulting, speaking and running training programmes in the UK and Asia. He specialises in how to motivate people at work so that they deliver business results.

How to be a Motivational Manager is published by How To Books Ltd
http://www.howtobooks.co.uk/ and is available at £12.99 in major bookshops and online retailers across the country. ISBN 978-1-84528-225-7

If you would like to arrange an interview
or receive a review copy please contact Alan 07767 050462 alan@themotivationdoctor.com

www.themotivationdoctor.com

Alan has written a number of articles and is happy to contribute to your publication. Please see the list below for titles and word count.

• The 3 Secrets of Team Motivation: 527 words
  
• Discover How To Motivate Your Manager: 1219 words
  
• Why aren't you using feedback to motivate your team?: 419 words
  
• One Way to Deal with a Difficult Employee: 385 words
  
• 5 Action Ideas to Deal with Difficult People: 613 words
  
• Three Steps to Stop Absence and Make People Happy at Work: 937 words
  
• A Must Do Tactic That Will Improve your Team Motivation Skills: 474 words
  
• Team Motivation – are you tough enough to care?: 439 words
  
• Feedback – how to make it effective: 1116 words
  
• Poor Performance – fix it by coaching: 661 words
  
• Managing People – no more Mr Tough Guy: 914 words
  
• Pick People Who Think: 495 words
  

Power to Your People

I don’t know a thing about you, but I’ll bet if you’re a manager, then you probably think you’re pretty good at your job. Some managers seem to think that they should know everything about the job that their team members do, and be better than them at doing it.

I can remember, in the past, working for managers like that; they gave the impression that they knew everything and were far better than I would ever be at doing the job. This, of course, didn’t motivate me at all.

The Motivational Manager accepts that members of their staff may be better at doing the job than they are. Their staff may be better salespeople, better at customer service, better administrators or better engineers.

I’ve had salespeople working for me who were better at selling than I was, however, that made me no less a good manager.

Sir Alex Ferguson, the manager of probably the world’s most successful football club, Manchester United, had a pretty undistinguished career as a footballer. He did at one time play for Glasgow Rangers but could hardly be described as a star footballer; he is now, of course, a star manager.

If you manage or supervise other people, have confidence in yourself. Accept your limitations and don’t feel bad if you don’t initially know the answer to every question.
Ironically, it isn’t motivational for your staff, if you come up with the answers to all of their problems or queries.

Encourage your staff to come to you with solutions, not problems.

If you spend your time solving problems; you’ll spend your time solving problems!

When someone in your team asks you what they should do, even if you know the answer, reflect back the question. Ask them what they would do; ask for opinions. What do they think is the best course of action; why do they think it’s the best? What are the consequences of this action, for the customer, the business and the team member?

Empower, support and congratulate them on their decision. If they feel that they’ve made the decision, they will have more confidence in themselves and be more motivated to do the job even better.

What you’re essentially doing here is utilising the knowledge, skill, experience and motivational power that is already with in your team.
Believe me, once you apply this, you will have a highly motivated team who respect and trust you as a manager.

Sell Don't Tell

I'll always remember the first sales course I ever attended. The definition of selling was drummed into my brain. "Selling is the art of creating a desire in the mind of a buyer and satisfying that desire so that buyer and seller benefit."

Now this notion may seem a bit old fashioned for many of today's salespeople but this article isn't about selling. I believe the principle still holds true in many situations, especially when you want to achieve a 'win-win' outcome.

If you want one of your team members to do something, how do you approach them? You can 'tell' them what you want, but 'telling' just makes your job a lot harder. The Motivational Manager gets 'buy in', so everyone benefits. There's sometimes a case for 'telling' but it's hard work. Sometimes you have to keep telling them if you want results.

Here's how a Motivational Manager would do it:

• 
  Recognise that your team members are your 'internal customers'. You need them to 'buy' from you in order to get the job done. And in order to get them to buy; you need to be a good sales person. I'm sure you've heard the phrase - 'get buy in.'
  
• Get better results by selling not telling. Use good sales and persuasion skills when dealing with your team, your colleagues, even your boss. The sales or persuasion process is very much part of our world, and it's far better to sell than to tell.
  
• Focus on achieving a win-win outcome. Any good salesperson or negotiator knows, a 'win-win' outcome is what you should always aim for. If you want one of your team to do something and they see a benefit for them, or they're just happy to do it, then you have a 'win-win' situation.
  

"You can get everything you want in life if you just help enough other people to get what they want" - Zig Ziglar

Now you've no doubt noticed that I've started to talk about sales people and buyers. It's because I believe we're all sales people and buyers from the moment we enter this world till the moment we leave it.

A baby crying for food, attention or a change of nappy is trying to persuade you to take action. If you don't respond to this initial 'request' then they step up the volume until you do. Because we love that child, because we care, we are very open to their persuasion.

It follows throughout our life; if people care about us, if they respect us, if they have good rapport with us, then they're more likely to respond to our persuasion.

If people understand the benefits for them, then they're more likely to respond in a positive manner. You're on to a winner if you benefit as much as the other person. If you get into a 'win-lose' situation, then you may not have used selling or persuasion, but manipulation, control or coercion. A win-lose situation doesn't benefit anyone in the long run.

So whether we like it or not, selling and persuasion is going on all the time. You need to utilise these skills if you are to be a successful Motivational Manager.

Motivation – You don’t need a carrot or a stick

The term, Carrot and Stick alludes to enticing a horse or a donkey to move by dangling a carrot before it, so urging it forward.

The term should really be Carrot or Stick; the carrot being offered as a reward for moving forward and the stick used as a punishment for refusing to do so.

Some organisations and managers still use the Carrot or Stick approach to motivate their people. They reward good behaviour and punish bad behaviour.
However, that's not what motivation is all about because, you don't in fact motivate people; you create the environment where they motivate themselves.

So how do you do this? It's quite simple really; here are 3 points to think about:

1. Spend some quality time - You need to get to know the individuals in your team better and they need to get to know you. You'll gain a much better understanding of them and how they're handling the job. It will also give the impression that you care about them and show that you're there to help with problems both personal and business.

2. Give feedback and coach -You need to regularly tell each member of your team when they're doing well and when not so well. Some managers still believe - "Why should I praise people when they're only doing what they're paid to do." The Motivational Manager knows better! It's also important to tell people when they're not performing. There are too many managers who either ignore poor behaviour or come down on the person like a ton of bricks when they do something wrong. There are particular ways to give feedback and coach the individuals in your team and they need to be learned.

3. Be a believer - You need to empower each individual team member. It's important to utilise the knowledge, skill, experience and drive that's already within each individual. The majority of people in teams and organisations throughout the world are severely under utilised. Your team have probably more to offer in terms of skill, knowledge and experience and if you utilize that, you'll achieve your business goals and you'll lead a highly motivated team.

So there you have it; 3 very important points which will help you get the job of managing done and do it without carrots or sticks.

PS: Check out ‘How to be a Motivational Manager’ at Amazon.

Customer Service Training is a Waste of Time

A waste of time! That may sound a bit strange coming from someone who has delivered hundreds of customer service seminars over the past fifteen years. However, there are two provisos.

Customer service training is a waste of time unless managers, supervisors and team leaders:

1. Attend the same training

2. Are trained to motivate and coach their staff when they return to the workplace

Managers, supervisors and team leaders need to experience the training undergone by their staff and then support the training outcomes by daily on the job coaching.

They need to spend quality time with their staff, walking the job, listening and observing interactions with customers either face to face or on the telephone.

When they see or hear something they do like, they need to tell the team member about it. When they see or hear something they don’t like, they need to tell the team member about it.

It’s important to do this coaching in a positive and productive manner in order to support good behaviour and rectify not so good behaviour.

To help managers and supervisors become more successful, I’ve developed this stimulating and highly interactive seminar – Motivating for Customer Service. This will give managers, supervisors and team leaders, the skills and abilities that will help them motivate their staff and support the customer service efforts of their business.

For more details check out my website.

Motivation Means Presence not Presents

Let me ask you a quick question; do you have any children? I don’t have any children, however, I appreciate the challenges that parents face and I’m most reluctant to tell anyone how to bring up their children.

Whether you do or don’t have children, I’m certain you appreciate the importance of raising them to be happy and successful.

To do that, you’d take a great deal of interest in them and what they’re doing; show you care about them and give them lots of your time and attention.

Children show us from an early age that they want lots of attention. We become aware of this by the way they physically and emotionally, reach out to us. If we fail to provide their required level of attention or acknowledgement, then they’ll almost certainly let us know; usually by behaving badly.

Some parents have difficulty in giving time and attention and often bribe or pay their children to be successful with offers of gifts or money. “Pass your exams and I’ll buy you a new bicycle!”

However, children want presence not presents and if they fail to receive their acceptable level of attention and acknowledgement, then they may behave badly.

Not a lot changes when we become adults; we still crave attention and acknowledgement from other people. We look for it from our partners, friends, children, parents and, very importantly - our boss at work!

Successful Motivational Managers realise this and provide their staff with attention and acknowledgement.

• They spend quality time with every member of their staff, giving feedback on job performance; be it good or bad.
  
• They listen to problems, both business and personal; they show interest and help the staff member find solutions
  
• They show that they trust and believe in their staff by empowering them to make decisions and be responsible for their actions
  

Successful Motivational Managers do not bribe or pay their staff to be successful. Incentives, bonuses and prizes are all acceptable; however, they will never replace attention and acknowledgement.

Some food for thought; take a minute and think about someone in your life who you did your best for. Perhaps it was a parent, a teacher or a manager. What was it about them that made you want to do your best; was it presence or presents??

The truth about staff who can’t perform

Let me tell you a quick story. When I started my first job as an apprentice engineer, I quickly realised that some of my fellow apprentices shouldn’t be in the job. They just didn’t have the aptitude or ability for engineering.

Back in those days, and I don’t mean Victorian times, staff selection wasn’t very sophisticated. All budding apprentice engineers were interviewed by a foreman, and if he liked the look of you; you got the job.

I was lucky enough to be interviewed by a foreman who, in his spare time, was a Captain in the Boys Brigade. I was a member of another BB company; so guess what, I got the job. Neither I, nor any of my fellow apprentices were ever tested for our ability, or for any natural talent we might have, for engineering.

Resultantly, many apprentices shouldn’t have been there in the first place. However, most of them struggled on and qualified as time served engineers. The problem is, they didn’t turn out to be particularly good engineers. And, I also suggest; weren’t particularly happy engineers.

I’ve experienced customer service people who shouldn’t be let anywhere near a customer. Secretarial assistants who couldn’t spell or type fast enough; engineers who couldn’t read blueprints and plumbers who couldn’t plumb.

If you have someone in your team who is unable to do the job and is unable to learn, then you need to transfer them into something they can do, or advise and help them to find other employment. Now I know that may seem harsh and it’s not always easy or feasible to release people, however, you’ll never achieve your outcomes with the wrong person in the job. The business may suffer and you’re in great danger of de-motivating the other members of your team. They won’t want someone on the team who can’t do the job.

A client of mine realised that the customer service person, they’d recently employed, couldn’t handle the pressure of difficult customers and situations. They realised that training wouldn’t solve the situation, so they transferred her to a job where she produced quotations and didn’t have to speak to a customer.
What you need to do is get people who can’t do the job, into a job that they can do or get them out of your team.

I joined three companies as a manager and in each case I inherited team members who didn’t have what it takes to do the job. I’d usually find three categories of people in the teams - The first group were the ‘good guys,’ the ones I knew could do the job and wouldn’t give me any hassle. The second group consisted of people who needed a bit of looking after, watching closely and definitely some coaching.

The third group were the ones who didn’t have either the skills or the characteristics to do the job and no amount of training, or anything I could do, would change that.
I would often find that these people, due to their lack of success, weren’t exactly happy in the job anyway and were sometimes only too pleased to be transferred to another position.

I hear you saying - “easier said than done Alan” and you’re right. But the Motivational Manager needs to address these issues and ‘bite the bullet’ for the good of the team and the business.

2 Ways to Deal with Difficult Staff

Let me ask you a simple question; do you have any ‘difficult’ people on your team? One of the subjects managers ask me to speak about more than any other is: ‘How to Deal with Difficult Staff.’

As we all know; dealing with the good guys is no problem, it’s the difficult ones that give us the challenge.

You might disagree, but hear me out on this; in my experience as a manager, I found that there are very few really difficult staff. The people on your team don’t necessarily, think, look or act the way you do, but that doesn’t necessarily make them ‘difficult.’ It just makes them different!

The other day, I was listening to a teacher on television, talking about how he was unable to handle ‘difficult’ schoolchildren. After listening to him for awhile, it became apparent that the problem didn’t lie with the children, as he was trying to suggest; but more with the teacher. He just didn’t have good communication skills.

If you have a difficult team member, or even more than one, you may feel there’s not much you can do; however, stay with me.
Instead of concentrating on dealing with difficult staff; it is much more productive to stop them being difficult in the first place. Spend less time ‘fire fighting’ and more time on ‘fire prevention.’
If managers and supervisors can create the right working environment for their team, then they’re less likely to experience difficult staff.

Here are two ways to deal with difficult staff:

1. Spend some quality time.

I didn’t say ‘quantity time’ I said ‘quality time.’ One or two minutes of quality time on a regular basis are far more productive than a one hour review every year.
You need to get to know your individual team members better and they need to get to know you.

• Build a relationship with each individual; you’ll gain a much better understanding of them and how they’re handling the job. It will also give the impression that you care about them and shows that you’re there to help with problems both business and personal.
  
• Find out as much as you can about them, their background, where they’re from, families, pets, hobbies, sports and their views on the world.
  
• Discover their philosophies and faiths; how they think and how they feel. Just think about it like any other relationship – what do you want to know about this person?

Now I’m not suggesting you sit around all day gazing into each others eyes or spend half the night talking to them on the phone. I’m suggesting you do this over time, and slowly but surely, build up your understanding of the Person.

Don’t get nervous; this isn’t prying!

You might also be thinking that your team members won’t want you to get to know them that well. Well let me reassure you – most of them will, if it’s done discretely.
Almost everyone wants to know that someone is genuinely and positively interested in them. They may not always give that impression by their demeanour but trust me – they want to know you care; they want acceptance from you.
If they know you care about them, then your relationship will be much more productive.

2. Concentrate on what they do well

Here’s another way to deal with a ‘difficult’ employee.

Try concentrating on what they do well and tell them about it. Spend less time with, and even ignore bad behaviour.
It’s not uncommon for managers to invest 90 per cent of their energy responding to negative performance and only 10 per cent strengthening positive performance. If you ‘reward’ good behaviour - you’ll get more of it. If you ‘reward’ bad behaviour – you’ll get more of it.

It’s also very easy for a manager or supervisor to fall into the trap of condemning one of their team as a no-hoper or a problem child.
It may turn out that this person shouldn’t be on your team, and you may need to help them find another position.

However as Abraham Lincoln once said about someone he had a problem with -
“I don’t think I like that man, I must get to know him better.”

Some food for thought; get to know each member of your team much better, concentrate on what they do well and you’re less likely to have difficult staff.

How to feel even more self-motivated

I have a confession to make; I, on occasion, have felt a little de-motivated. Yes, me, the ‘Motivation Doctor,’ feels a bit lacking in motivation from time to time, just like everybody else.

In last month’s Powerpoints we looked at how to develop your Brain and Body Energy to build self-motivation; so here’s another suggestion – Spend time with positive people.

Last Saturday I had lunch (well beer and chips) with five of my really good friends. They’re always interested in what I’m doing, really supportive and they really make me laugh! When I leave them, I feel much better and more motivated than I did before we met.

I like to think that I do the same for them, and that’s the secret to receiving support and motivation from others; you need to hand out some ‘Warm Glows’

So let me ask you; do you remember how you felt after your last interaction with another person either on the phone or face to face? That person – it could have been one of your customers, a colleague, a salesperson, a friend or even a member of your family. Did they make you feel good, uplifted and more positive? Did they leave you feeling neutral or, even worse, did they make you feel down and more negative?

Unfortunately, most of us have grown up in a negative culture where it’s much easier to tell people what they did wrong rather than praise them when they succeed. Research in the United States found that 65% of employees received no recognition for good work in the past year. Similar research in other countries of the world shows comparable results.

Other research has shown that the number one reason people leave their job, and customers take their business elsewhere, is that they don’t feel appreciated. (And if you think about it – many people leave their partners for the very same reason)

If customer’s leave an interaction with you or one of your team feeling better than they did before, then they’re much more likely to come back, recommend you to other people and spend more money with you.

If one of your team feels better after an interaction with you then they’re much more likely to pass that feeling onto a customer.

If a friend feels better and more motivated after spending time in your company, then they’re much more likely to return these feelings to you.

So, go ahead; give some positive and motivational comments to the other people in your life and you’ll have - a workplace that’s more productive and more fun - more happy customers – more friends – better relationships and a healthier, happier and longer life.
Remember – 'Hand out warm glows, not dampeners.'

2 sure-fire tips for self motivation

Let me tell you a quick story. When I started my business in 1993, I faced all the challenges experienced by most new business start-ups. I also had to deal with the all the negative situations; the people who said – “The Speaking and Training business is a hard market to break into, it’s very competitive, you’re very brave!" There was also the rejection from potential customers and the people who’d let me down at the last minute.

I quickly realised that if I was going to be successful, there were two things that I really needed:

Lots of BRAIN ENERGY and lots of BODY ENERGY.

Sure-fire tip number 1 is – Build your Brain Energy.

Imagine that you’ve just been rejected for a bank loan, or you’ve just been turned down by a potential customer, or a publishing company has rejected the book that you’ve slaved over for the past couple of years.
If you react with – “Oh no, not again, I’m really fed up with this. These people are a real pain. They’re making a big mistake. What am I going to do now?”
This sort of reaction drains your brain of energy, adds to your stress levels and destroys your self motivation.

Reacting drains the brain – thinking less so.

Get the thinking part of your brain working and say to yourself – “I’ll make an appointment today with a better bank! I’ll phone the next potential customer on my list right now! The next publishing company will see the potential in my book!”

There are also many minor situations that happen every day that’ll drain the energy from your brain. If I receive a parking ticket, I pay the fine right away; get rid of it; forget it and move on. Moaning and complaining about it drains the brain and the fine still has to be paid.

Do not, and I repeat, do not say – “Oh no, what am I going to do now?” Every time you say – “Oh no” your brain has a huge drain of energy.

Build up your brain energy using lots positive self-talk.
Your level of success in terms of your happiness, emotional wellbeing and anything else you desire is a direct result of how you talk to yourself. The most important relationship you’ll ever have is the one you have with yourself.
Listen to the self-talk that goes on in your head and ask yourself – “Is what I’m saying allowing me to be confident, on top and going for it?” If so – great!
“Or is it holding me back and stopping me achieve my goals?” If this is the case – STOP IT, change the program!
Think about the things you say to yourself and make every statement in the present tense.
Don’t say, for example – “I’m going to make a success of this business” or “I’m going to get organised,” or “I’m going to be much more confident.”
Say – “I am totally in control of my life. I am totally confident and positive. I’m achieving my goals. I have determination and drive.”
What you’re actually doing here is re-programming your subconscious. If you talk to yourself in a positive way, that’s what your subconscious will focus on and you’ll have lots of brain energy

Sure-fire tip number 2 is - Build your Body Energy

The body and the brain are linked together so when the brain drains of energy so does the body. However, the body also does a lot of running about, up and down off the seat and often takes a bit of a beating.
For it to work well, it needs to be in good condition in the first place. We all know by now that if we eat too much or eat the wrong things, smoke too much or drink too much alcohol, then our body is in danger of breaking down.
However, if you want more body energy, then you’re going to have to do some exercise. (Do I hear you saying - “I need the body energy before I can do the exercise!?”) You know as well as I, that if you take more exercise, you will have more energy.
Now I know you think you don’t have the time. You may also be the type that doesn’t want to go to the gym and lift heavy things or leap about in an aerobics class; however, you need to take some exercise that makes you sweat a little.
I’m sorry, but a round of golf doesn’t count, it isn’t the kind of exercise you need. Golf is great and it’s good for the stress but it doesn’t make you sweat.

If you’re going to walk then walk fast for a distance, enough to push up the heart rate and increase the breathing.
Again, get your internal program right and start to think how you can make your exercise enjoyable. I see some people at the health club making the whole business a real chore. They get on a bike or a rowing machine and try to kill themselves for twenty minutes. If that’s your thing then fine but please don’t make it a chore, plug into the sound system and catch up with what’s on TV.

If you’re really not into exercise then please make sure you have other activities outside of your workplace and make them fun. Too many people are going home and slumping in front of the TV - successful people don’t do that.

Make no mistake about it; if you look after the body and the brain; you’ll have lots of VROOM! (And that’s another word for self-motivation)