5 Surprising Ways Leadership Can Motivate Employees and You
These are extraordinary times to be a manager. Sure you can point out the horrendous examples of management so common these days. You could even make a strong case that management is broken. In fact we believe management has plenty of sloughing off old practices and beliefs no longer suited for today’s dynamic business environment.
Yet despite the plentitude of crappy management, I still see today as an extraordinary time to manage and lead. If fact, it is because of the plentitude of crappy management practices that make today extraordinary for managers.
See, with endless examples of ethics scandals, greed, and the disregard for treating employees as people, the time is ripe for surprising leadership that motivates employees and you. Employees, customers and you need encouragement.
Disregard for treating employees as people points the way for surprising leadership that motivates employees
It’s time to reset the workplace environment to one that makes way for great work to be done.
The reset starts with you – the individual manager. As a manager you have the greatest influence over the workplace environment in which your team works. Your relationship with staff has greater influence on them, not the C-suite or higher-up senior managers.
As a manager you have the greatest influence over the workplace environment
The day-to-day leadership you show can have a tremendous impact on each of your employees and their work product. This day-to-day leadership is what I call leading locally. Lead from where you are. Have the audacity to believe your leadership and management can make the workplace great again.
As a manager you can longer let management malpractice from those above or around you prevent you from making the workplace great. It’s up to you to create a workplace that inspires, is marked with optimism and is a source of joy in your employees’ lives.
You can longer let management malpractice prevent you from making the workplace better
Surprises await you when you decide to lead locally and motivate your team . . .and you
1. Choosing to lead locally demonstrates you’ve got employees’ backs
Employees like knowing their leader is willing to stand up for them. To lead locally means you care about employees’ well being – a motivating spark.
2. Choosing to lead locally reveals your leadership mettle
It takes courage and determination to stand up for something you believe important. To do so reveals a part of your character that attracts gratitude – at minimum. This is a powerful way to connect with your team.
3. Choosing to lead locally signals people matter
To decide to improve your employees’ workplace despite the bigger context is a powerful way to show you care about your employees’ success.
4. Choosing to lead locally demonstrates the power of unity
Choosing to bring people together when circumstances seemingly want to divide people is a powerful reminder of the value of connectedness and collaboration. We cannot achieve great outcomes divided.
5. Choosing to lead locally inspires optimism
Optimism is rooted in our basic needs to survive. If we believe abysmal work environments would never improve, we’d not want to work at all. But the leader who chooses to lead locally sparks hope in her employees.
Choosing to lead locally is your way to draw a line in the sand and say, “I will not let my team’s talents be dulled by a crappy workplace.” To lead locally is a way to motivate your team once again to believe in their work and themselves. Your employees deserve better. You deserve better. Your customers deserve better.
Art by Justin Barber
Shawn Murphy
Change Leader | Speaker | Writer Co-founder and CEO of ExchangeGain. Passionately explores the space where business & humanity intersect. Promoter of workplace optimism. Believes work can be a source of joy. Top ranked leadership blogger by Huffington Post. The Optimistic Workplace (AMACOM) out 2015