Changing Team

Motivating a Team to Change

He who rejects change is the architect of decay. The only human institution which rejects progress is the cemetery. – Harold Wilson

Previously we have talked about what motivates people and what can we do to motivate somebody else. The discussion had generally been on self motivation or one to one motivation. Today the focus will be how can we motivate our team to change for the better.  The difficulty level climbs exponentially if we have to motivate more than one person as barriers to change are different for different people.

These barriers to change being

a)       Agreement to Change or Improve  (We should  change or Its time to change)

This is the first step in building a critical mass towards change. However, this is one of the most difficult steps as people are very happy in their comfort zones and perspectives. Convincing them to move out of comfort zones or change perspectives is an uphill task.  Pointing at numbers or graphs may not convince people to change because those who are doing good at numbers  feel no need to change, while others take is as criticism and feel that they are not more needed and hence generally start looking to be part of another team.

To make people agree to change, focus should be to bring them out of “behind the desk” and bring them face to face with reality, so that they see what you are seeing.

b)       Availability of means to Change or improve  (We have the resources that will help in change)

Once people agree to change, they will surely find ways to change as they will start leading their brain  http://hunt-for-motivation.blogspot.com/2011/01/pushing-people-to-give-in-their-best.html

But still they would not have fully moved out of their comfort zone and would start question the availability of resources that will help them in changing, the question being will we be successful in this change. These questions either make them trim the ambitions to change or start waiting for the resources to be available to change. Unluckily, we currently live in a “resource constrained world” hence the team leader focus should be in redirecting the resources to areas with biggest possible payoff.

c)       Wanting to Change or improve (I am motivated to change)

5As of Motivation   http://hunt-for-motivation.blogspot.com/2011/01/motivating-others-driving-others.html (1) Appreciation, (2) Authority, (3) Avoiding Pain (internal to self) (4) Affluence and (5) Association. And the 9 tactics around the “5As” that lead to self / others motivation being (1) Recognition, (2) Trust, (3) Challenge, (4) Direction and Communication, (5) Opportunity, (6) Personal Stake, (7) Freedom of Choice, (8) Incentive and (9) Association with a team or group.

We have discussed recognition, and how it is used to tame killer whales http://hunt-for-motivation.blogspot.com/2011/01/rrecognition-can-tame-killer-whale-why.html

Trust as a motivator http://hunt-for-motivation.blogspot.com/2011/01/people-respond-to-trust-by-upholding-it.html

Challenge as a motivator http://hunt-for-motivation.blogspot.com/2011/01/life-challenges-help-us-discover.html

Direction and Communication as a motivator http://hunt-for-motivation.blogspot.com/2011/01/efforts-and-courage-are-not-enough.html

Association as a motivator http://hunt-for-motivation.blogspot.com/2011/02/camaraderie.html

Motivation via growth opportunity http://hunt-for-motivation.blogspot.com/2011/02/growth-1.html

Motivation via personal stake http://hunt-for-motivation.blogspot.com/2011/02/own-risk.html

d)       Politics (This change are in alignment with my vested interest)

Vested interest always resist change, the more likely the change becomes, the more loud these voices become. The focus is always to protect one self or one self position. Creating alliances is one way out of the political hurdle, another being making people think win-win and lastly you can always make people focus on the objectives of changing / not changing  rather than the position they have taken towards change.  Position is an emotional state and is difficult to break with the objective is more logical and easy to break / convince.

Again, its not simple as ABC. The importance given by different team members to the above barriers changes with time, hence making it difficult to bring about a quick change. This makes it very difficult to have a formula to change. However, a time comes when a lot of people are “For the change” or “Against Change” and this direction/inclination of the critical mass of people decides will the change be successful or unsuccessful.

Your comments will be appreciated, Please feel free to add...... and visit the full blog at http://hunt-for-motivation.blogspot.com/

Change is inevitable - except from a vending machine.  ~Robert C. Gallagher 

Growth 2

Motivation via Growth Opportunity

Part 2

If we don’t appreciate our life, and the opportunities it throws at us, then we are doing is only existing and waiting for death.

A few days back we discussed http://hunt-for-motivation.blogspot.com/2011/02/growth-1.html  that, we should not get bothered if people point fingers at us and tell us that “you are no good, stop trying, stop doing things you have not done before”, we should also not blame our losses to somebody else, lets not be cowards. In the end, it is not about how hard you are hit in trying a new thing, its all about keep moving forward and exploring new things and ideas.


Today lets talk about, how do we push people out of their comfort zone?. Unfortunately, we as humans avoid pain and move towards pleasure, moving out of our comfort zone is a painful experience, we are entering the unknown, there is this fear of failure or chance of embarrassment. HOWEVER, if the world would not have been a better place, if people had not marched into the unknown. If we continue to listen to the same music, read same magazines, take same route to office etc, we would not know what we are missing in this world. May be the new type of music suits are ear buds better, maybe the other magazine has a better prospective etc.


Simple steps to push people out of their comfort zone and towards growth.

Step 1:- Explain what’s in it for them. The main reason why people don’t move out of their comfort zone is the fear factor. Fear of unknown, fear of embarrassment, fear of failure. BUT if somebody can make them see how would their life be positivity impacted by marching out of the comfort zone. They will gain some impetus towards the unknown. However, they may still have the fear because of the lack of self belief.

Step 2:- Show confidence / Trust that they will succeed. One time or the other, everybody needs a reassurance to boast back  self belief. “Yes you can”, “I can bet my life on your success” etc are some phrases that one might need to use to smoothen the shaky start, and also to communicate, that you are right besides them and will help them all the way. This confidence boaster is necessary, especially when the person has just moved out of the comfort zone, because at that time the mind is calculating all the negative  “What ifs” and help is needed to lead the brain in positive direction. http://hunt-for-motivation.blogspot.com/2011/01/lead-brain.html

Step 3:- Try to hand over the power/authority over “plan of action” and “plan of implementation”. Every human has more ownership of their OWN plans rather than plans of the others. Chances of success are enhanced if the plans are made and implemented by the same team.

Step 4:- Follow up to maintain the drive. It not a “walk in the park” when somebody heads out of their comfort zone, brain plays all the negative scenarios, and the easiest thing to do is walk back into the comfort zone. The urge to do this is immense. Hence, somebody should follow up to explain what’s in it for them, build confidence, to help in planning / implementation so as to maintain the drive.

Your comments will be appreciated, Please feel free to add...... and visit the full blog at http://hunt-for-motivation.blogspot.com/  

People respond to trust by upholding it. Trust is a motivator

During the next few days we will discuss the 9 tactics that lead to self / others motivation. The nine tactics being (1) Recognition, (2) Trust, (3) Challenge, (4) Direction and Communication, (5) Opportunity, (6) Personal Stake, (7) Freedom of Choice, (8) Incentive and (9) Association with a team or group.

Yesterday we talked about Recognition, and how it is used to tame killer whales http://hunt-for-motivation.blogspot.com/2011/01/rrecognition-can-tame-killer-whale-why.html .

Today lets think  “Trust”

It takes years to build up trust, and it only takes suspicion, not proof, to destroy it
Trust is one of the most powerful forums of motivation and inspiration. People want to be trusted and they respond to trust by trying to uphold it. Nothing is as fast as the speed of Trust.

Below is a small summary of a book I read over the past few days titled “The Speed of Trust”. Simply put Trust means confidence. The opposite of trust – Distrust- is suspicion. The moment there is suspicion about a person’s motives, everything he/she does becomes tainted. That is the moment when people automatically start discounting everything you say by 20/30 % or even more. We are living in a very fast paced and changing world. As you go to work or home or somewhere else, your top responsibility should be to build trust.

Trust is a function of two things: character and competence. Character includes your integrity, your motive as perceived by others, your intent as perceived by people. Competence includes your capabilities, your skills, your results, and your track record. Competence is situation: it depends on what the circumstance requires.

There are 13 behaviors that can help you build trust with anybody. All the 13 behaviors require a combination of both character and competence. The first five flow initially from character, the second five from competence and the last three from an almost equal mix of character and competence.

Behavior # 1 – Talk Straight i.e. be honest, tell the truth. Let people know where you stand. Don’t manipulate people or distort facts and hence don’t leave a false impression.

Behavior # 2 – Demonstrate Respect i.e. genuinely care for others. Show you care. Treat people as human beings, if they know you care, it brings out the best in them. Respect the dignity of every person and every role. Treat everyone with respect, especially those who can’t do anything for you. Each contribution needs to be honored and respected no matter how small a contribution is to an activity or an effort. Show kindness in the little things. Don’t fake caring.

Behavior # 3 – Create Transparency i.e. Tell the truth in a way people can verify. Get real and genuine. Be open and authentic. Operate on the premise of “What you see is what you get. “ Don’t have hidden agendas, don’t hide information.

Behavior # 4 – Right Wrongs i.e. More than simply apologizing, make restitution. Its doing what you can to correct the mistake and then a little more. Make things right when you are wrong. Apologize quickly. Demonstrate personal humility. Don’t cover things up. Don’t let pride get in the way of doing the right thing.

Behavior # 5 – Show Loyalty i.e. give credit freely. Acknowledge the contributions of others. Speak about people as if they were present. Represent others who aren’t there to speak for themselves. Don’t bad mouth others behind their backs. Don’t disclose others private information.

Behavior # 6 – Deliver Results i.e. Get the right thing done. Make things happen. Accomplish what you are hired to do. Don’t over promise and under deliver. Don’t make excuses for not delivering. Results give you instant credibility and instant trust. They give you clout. They clearly demonstrate that you add value that you can contribute, that you can perform.

Behavior # 7 – Get Better i.e. continuously improve. Increase your capabilities. Be a constant learner. Develop feedback systems both formal and informal. Act on the feedback you receive. Than people for feedback. Don’t consider yourself above feedback. Don’t assume today’s knowledge and skills will be sufficient for tomorrow’s challenges.

Behavior # 8 – Confront Reality i.e. take the tough issues head on. Its about sharing the bad news as well as the good, Don’t bury your head in the sand.

Behavior # 9– Clarify Expectations i.e. Remember all conflict is a result of violated expectations. Clarifying expectations is all about creating shared vision and agreement about what is to be done up front. You can also call it behavior of prevention by disclosing and revealing expectations, discussing them, validating them, Renegotiating them if needed and possible. Never assume that expectations are clear or shared.

Behavior # 10 – Practice Accountability i.e. Take responsibility for results. Be clear on how you will communicate how you are doing and how others are doing. Don’t avoid or shirk responsibility. Don’t blame others or point fingers when things go wrong.

Behavior # 11 – Listen First i.e. Listen before you speak. Understand. Diagnose. Listen with your ears and your eyes and heart. Don’t presume you have the entire answers o all the questions.

Behavior # 12 – Keep Commitments i.e. Say what you are going to do, then do what you say you are going to do. Make commitments carefully and keep them. Make keeping commitments the symbol of your honor. Don’t break confidences. Don’t attempt to PR your way out of commitment you have broken.

Behavior # 13 – Extent Trust i.e. Demonstrate a propensity to trust. Extend trust abundantly to those who have earned your trust. Extend trust conditionally to those who are earning your trust. Learn how to appropriately extend trust to others based on the situation, risk, and credibility of the people involved. While Behavior 1 to 12 help you become a more trusted person, this behavior will help you become a more trusting leader. Not only des it build trust, it leverages trust. It creates reciprocity, when you trust people, other people tent to trust you in return.

Please feel free to add...... or visit the full blog at http://hunt-for-motivation.blogspot.com/

 

Motivation = Drive towards doing something

Life isn't about finding yourself. Life is about creating yourself. It does not matter where you have been, what matters is where you are going, what are you becoming.....

Motivation = Drive towards doing something.

Today lets look at the “Whys” behind motivation i.e. “why do we do the things we do?” or “Why we make a certain decision?” or “Why are we driven towards a certain direction?”

To answer the “Why” lets look at what motivates an average human?  I call it the 5A of Motivation

Appreciation (recognition, acknowledgement, respect etc)

Authority or Achievement (Power, influence, control etc )

Avoiding Pain “internal to self” ( Internal sense of duty, Philanthropy, accountability, freedom of choice etc)

Affluence  (Wealth, prosperity, income etc) 

Association (Part of a group etc) 

Depending on the day, mood, historical perspective, we give higher weight to one of the above “A” and make a decision that leads us towards it.

Please feel free to add…..

If you learn from defeat, you haven't really lost.

Return Stronger and more determined and see success unfold in front of you ..…..


Expectations are not always fulfilled in life. Unfulfilled expectations can become setbacks and losses if we don’t return stronger or determined. Unfulfilled expectations can become learning experience and character building milestone in life, if we learn from them and move on determined to be stronger.

Twice world footballer of the year, Lionel Messi, suffered from growth hormone deficiency at the tender age of 11. He is now the shortest player in the field, BUT, still the best given his determination and mental strength. Focusing towards, what he can do rather than what he can not.

Kaka (another star footballer) suffered a career-threatening, paralysis inducing spinal fracture at the age of 18 due to a swimming pool accident. Today (at 28), he is one of the most feared footballer.


Character is developed after defeat or unfulfilled expectations. We can walk out stronger or weaker; the choice is ours……


Share your stories of determination and strength……..

Self Trust = Conviction and Confidence of “Yes I Can”

Your attitude is either the lock, or the key to the door of success. The decision is yours.......

Have you ever seen a child take the first step. It is the prime example of self-trust. Never ever in his/her life has he/she walked, but there is this urge to walk, to take that first step. It takes the step and before he/she completes it, they are on the ground. What does a child do……………….He/she stands up again and try to take that step again, falls again, gets up again and try again, with in some time or days, the child has taken the first step. If there was no self trust or confidence after the first fall the child would have stayed on the floor for ever and ever, never to walk again. But no, every child is born with the self trust and they can walk.

Its all to do with our mindset, if we maintain a growth mindset, we will create a world view of learning and resilience the basic for great accomplishment.

From today:- Lets enter every problem with an attitude that I will overcome this problem and walk out stronger from this room.

Please share your stories of self trust ......................