Blog Articles about Motivation
December 02, 2008
Change is good. Even when it is bad.
Some would call me "the eternal optimist". In fact, I think I am.
I wake up early every morning, sit and read the paper look on the bright side. I love what I do. IMPACT is an organization of coaches who do really great work. I am really proud of the work we do. We have a diverse set of clients who seem to appreciate our work. I think about these things and I think, "We will be fine. Just keep focusing on quality work and stay in the market."
This morning I woke up and felt tired and frankly almost battered. The current Canadian political situation (there is a crisis of confidence in our current minority government) has tipped me over the edge. It is very difficult to remain an optimist in the face of relentless, negative press on the front page of the paper.
I am happy to report my exhaustion and pessimism was short lived. By the afternoon today, the optimist is back.
I read an article this afternoon from McKinsey and it helped me move back to the "bright side". This article reminded me of something I already knew but really needed to reminded of. Change is an opportunity even when it is bad. How is it an opportunity? Change "unfreezes the status quo" and is an opportunity to do what you've always wanted to do and fix what you've always wanted to fix. (See Kotter's 8 step change model for more on this)
November 20, 2008
Silence
My blog on performance management got a lot of positive energy and comments. My last blog was met with a thud of silence.
When I reached out, not everyone liked what I was proposing for compensation. Open systems are scary. Agreeing on salaries could take forever particularly with “some” people. I am not going to defend my suggestions because, truth be known, I’m not sure I’ve nailed it yet. But I will re-enforce a few things that I don’t think should be lost in the debate.
Remember my first blog? Performance management really doesn’t work very well. Everyone (almost) agreed with that. There was a feeling of “finally, someone said this” to your comments. Well, since performance management doesn’t work very well, we can’t link it tightly to other things. We should not link it to salaries.
November 16, 2008
Compensation is always a trade-off.
Once you come to terms with the fact that compensation is always a trade-off and never perfect, you are released from trying to justify compensation decisions. Wouldn't it be wonderful not to have to justify? I have coached many people on how to handle tough compensation discussions. It is rarely rewarding for either party.
In my last blog, "Performance Management is so Yesterday", I talked about how current performance management systems sap motivation and are often "widely inaccurate". I suggested changing to a true "coaching and development model". In this model conversations are frequent and focused on support and problem solving and not on assessment and ratings.
This blog resulted in lots of comments -- the vast majority of comments were supportive. Here's a sample.
"People are tired of the way we do performance management. It is cumbersome and the conversations are difficult." "It is unheard-of for the hockey coach to play his team for half the season and then sit down and spend an hour telling each player what he or she did right and what needs to be improved. He needs to be talking to his whole team and each of his players continuously."
I share this hockey analogy comment because it highlights how ludicrous our current approach is. I'll continue with this analogy as I move into the next question to be answered-- "if we can't rate them, how do we pay them?"
November 04, 2008
Performance Management is so yesterday
Think about it. Even the words "performance management" are kind of off putting. Begging the question "Who are you to manage my performance?". I have always disliked the performance management process. I say this, even though as an HR professional early in my career, I helped put in place many performance management systems.
September 17, 2008
Don’t Give Your Strategy a Haircut.
The front page of every newspaper is full of doom and gloom today and almost every client I know is the midst of business planning.
What is their temptation in this environment? Give your strategy a haircut. Cut back on everything. No new initiatives. No new hires. No business travel. No external consultants. No big pay increases.
What is the impact? Mediocrity.
September 07, 2008
We should all be independently wealthy. Don’t you think?
I just came back from an extended holiday at the cottage. After weeks of sleeping in, reading the paper cover to cover, playing "Crazy Eights" with our kids, who wants to go back to work? Not me.
And I love what I do.
What's the point? Two points. One, coming back from holidays is hard even when you like what you do. Two, few of us are independently wealthy (unfortunately) but we should all act like we are.
July 10, 2008
Blah, blah, blah
Leadership communications -- blah, blah, blah! That's how most people experience most leadership communications. Most are long winded email updates written by someone other than the leader or quarterly presentations on fancy Powerpoint slides (also written by someone other than the leader).
The subject matter of these communications is usually the organization's strategy. The strategy often comes off as sounding like platitudes. People feel preached at, bored or leave wondering what their role is. So how can you be different?
May 30, 2008
“Walking the Plant Floor”
I have two stories to tell, one from my personal experience and one from a client meeting I had yesterday. Both stories are about staying grounded and staying connected to what really matters at work. Both stories are about maintaining energy and confidence. This is tough to do sometimes particularly when we are busy and working on issues we don't love. I'll start with my story.
