Motivation comes in waves. One day you feel locked in, building the future. The next day you’re staring at your laptop wondering what you’re even doing. That’s just part of the game of being an entrepreneur. But the ones who make it, the ones who really build something, know how to keep moving even when the fire dies down.

You don’t need hype. You need habits. You need principles for that pull you forward when your emotions won’t-because the road to becoming a business owner is a high climb.

Here are six things I keep in my back pocket that have helped me stay motivated through the highs, the lows, and everything in between.

1. Read

The content you consume becomes the thoughts you live with. That’s why reading matters. Books are fuel. You want to think better? Start reading better.

When you treat your brain like a blank canvas, then the books read help paint the picture. When you feed your mind stories of people who’ve pushed through worse, or principles that sharpen your thinking, you start seeing your own path with more clarity. You move differently.

Find motivational books that aren’t just hype but actually gear towards positive thinking and teach you how to get better. Some notable ones are “Start with Why” by Simon Sinek, “Think and Grow Rich” by Napoleon Hill, “Seven Habits of Highly Effective People” by Stephen Covey,  Read daily, even if it’s 5 pages. It adds up.

2. Progress

People overthink this. If you want to stay motivated, go get a win. It doesn’t have to be big. Just something. Progress gives you fuel. But you won’t always feel like it. That’s the trap. You can’t sit around waiting to get inspired. You’ve got to move, then the motivation shows up. Most people wait. The ones who win get moving before they feel ready.

3. Faith

If you believe in God, that has to be your anchor. For me, I know I’m not doing this alone. There’s a reason behind the hard days. Faith keeps me grounded and closer to God when everything feels uncertain. It reminds me this isn’t just about success, it’s about doing what I’m called to do. When I keep that perspective, I stop chasing outcomes and start moving with purpose–starting my day with meditation, setting milestones, and focusing on achieving my targets. 

4. Rest

Sometimes you’re not unmotivated, you’re just tired. Really tired of all the struggles with managing, trying to find a source of funds, coming up with business ideas, pitching to investors, etc. You don’t need another push. You need a break. Go outside. Close your eyes. Shut it down for the day. Rest isn’t something you earn after success; it’s part of how you get there. For a startup owner, it’s important to leave your weekends free to wind down, spend time with family or friends, hang out or even go for a hike. 

5. Motivating People

Your circle matters more than you think. Hang around people who do nothing, and you’ll do nothing. But if you’re around people who are building, who are locked in, you start to rise without even noticing. Energy spreads, so does belief. And likewise so does laziness. Choose your people wisely-not just your friends, and family but also colleagues, business partners, and who you hire.

6. Accountability

You can lie to yourself all day; tell yourself you’ll do it tomorrow. But it is different when someone else is watching. Someone who actually checks in and says, “You said you’d do this. Did you?”
That kind of pressure keeps you sharp. That’s why I always recommend having an entrepreneur coach or a partner who won’t let you coast.

Final Thoughts

Motivation isn’t magic. It’s a byproduct of how you live, what you focus on, and who you let speak into your life. More so for an entrepreneur who is all alone venturing on a long path of struggle. So, work hard but remember to: 

Read often. Chase progress. Anchor yourself in faith. Learn to rest. Stay around people who push you. And stop trying to do it all on your own.

The truth is, the most motivated entrepreneurs aren’t always the most fired up. They’re the most committed. And that’s a mindset you can build starting today.

Image source: Unsplash

The post 6 Real Ways to Stay Motivated as an Entrepreneur appeared first on Get a Dose of Inspiration | Motivation Matter .

Definition of Employee Engagement

Employee engagement is the passion and dedication employees feel toward their work. It is an important factor for organizational success as the more the employee is engaged, the higher he/she performs which eventually benefits the organization. According to the HR Cloud,  highly engaged workers increase profitability by 21%.

There are a few components of employee engagement including the likes of:

• Strong Communication
• Leadership
• Appreciation
• Personal and Professional Development
• Feedback and Evaluation

Employee Engagement Models and Frameworks

An employee engagement model can help provide a framework for keeping employees happier, and satisfied with their work life, and make them feel more trusted and appreciated. There are several employee engagement models, we are listing a few here.

• The Zinger Model –  teaches employee professional development through an established strategy. 
• The Gallup Model – helps bring out employee talent, knowledge, and skills.
• The Aon-Hewitt Model – measuring business development as a result of employee engagement
• The Kahn Model – employee engagement through cognitive, physical, and emotional well-being.
• The JD-R Model – identify stress that imbalances the well-being of employees and productivity.
• The Deloitte Model – through interviews identify the core strengths and weaknesses for developing employee engagement. 

Investing in happy employees pays off in big ways! When people feel good about their jobs, they put their hearts into it. These employees stick around, work hard, and can produce amazing results.

No matter what employee engagement model you choose, the goal is creating a workplace where workers feel respected, rewarded, and safe. Where they have the tools, skills, and drive to do their best work and soar beyond expectations. That’s not just some HR jargon, that’s real engagement.

Benefits of Employee Engagement 

Employee engagement is important because it affects all aspects of work and benefits employees, teams, managers, and the whole organization in the long run. Some immediate effects that are seen because of employee engagement include these:

• Lower risk of burnout
• Less workplace stress
• Increased productivity
• Increased team performance
• Higher employee retention
• Easier recruitment

Understanding Staff Engagement

It’s  not a new term and it is a significant factor in a productive workplace. It goes beyond just job satisfaction, and employee connection for developing a positive workplace, a common purpose, and contribution from everyone. At its core, staff engagement revolves around a work environment where the team members are valued, motivated and they feel important. 

Considering staff engagement as an investment is apt. By working on staff engagement, leaders gather a dream team that works for productivity, and overall organizational growth. When employees feel they are an important part of their workplace, their energy and talent prosper and bring exceptional results.

Job Satisfaction and Employee Engagement

Job satisfaction is about being comfortable with salary, workload, work-life balance, and career growth. A satisfied employee feels comfortable and adequately compensated but may not necessarily be deeply invested in the company or its goals.

Employee engagement, on the other hand, delves deeper. This concept revolves around making employees feel connected to their company, motivated to contribute, and work for success. Engaged employees aren’t just content; they are passionate, empowered, and willing to go the extra mile.

Imagine job satisfaction as the foundation of a building. It provides the basic structure and stability, but the building itself remains inert. Engaged employees typically experience a degree of job satisfaction because their fulfillment goes beyond mere compensation.

Sustainable Employee Engagement

Sustainable employee engagement is different from just temporary bursts of enthusiasm in employees. As the word itself suggests, it is about working on a lasting connection between employees and their work. 

Here are some important factors for sustainable engagement:

• Purpose: Make employees see how their work contributes to the success of the organization. 
• Growth: Provide opportunities for learning and development to keep skills sharp and motivation high.
• Well-being: Prioritize employee well-being through flexible work arrangements, mental health support, and ensuring a healthy work-life balance.
• Recognition: Celebrate achievements, big and small, to show employees their contributions matter.
• Feedback: Create a culture of open communication where employees feel heard and valued for their input.

By investing in these key factors, organizations cultivate a thriving workspace where their teams are engaged, productive, and happy to stay. Investing in sustainable employee engagement is an ongoing process, not a one-time effort. 

Work-Life Balance and CIPD

According to research by the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD), the work-life balance provided by organizations commonly enables employees to handle and juggle better between their domestic and work-related responsibilities. Based on the 2011 Workplace Employment Relations Survey (2011 WERS), better work-life balance improves overall well-being by increasing the job autonomy of employees and making them feel that their organization is supportive and values their life beyond the office. 

Employee Engagement Strategies 

Employee engagement is a highly effective business strategy. To devise an effective employee engagement strategy, start by evaluating related studies, research, and data. The best employee engagement strategies are developed keeping the below key elements in mind:

• Be practical: Set realistic standards and outline specific goals. For example, if you think turnover is beyond a practical point, work to reduce it by 10%.
• Be flexible: Be open to new ideas and suggestions by employees who you want to keep engaged. Adjust your strategy as per their expectation and desires. 
• Be specific and measure: Regularly measure the employee engagement rate and analyze data to find out what is working and what needs improvement in your strategy. 

Gone are the days of stale perks and one-size-fits-all approaches. Cultivating genuine employee engagement demands targeted strategies tailored to your unique team. Here are a few sparks from real-life companies:

• Zapier in “17 different time Zones”: Zapier gives opportunities to people working in various countries to become part of its workforce – giving them freedom of time and place.

• Netflix’s “Unlimited Vacation” policy: Trust replaces rigid schedules, empowering employees to manage their time and prioritize well-being, leading to increased productivity and reduced burnout.

• Google’s “20% Time”: Google unleashes creativity by giving employees one day a week to pursue personal projects. This develops innovation, problem-solving, and a sense of ownership, resulting in groundbreaking products like Gmail and Google Maps.

Employing Employee Engagement Frameworks

Think of an employee engagement framework and models above, as a recipe for a happy, productive workplace. It is not just about throwing ingredients together, but knowing which ones work best and how to mix them right. 

To choose an engagement framework that works for your workplace, you need to understand the goals you want to achieve through employee engagement. Some of the most common ones are better skill development, increased employee retention and productivity, and higher overall financial outcome.

Employee Engagement HRM

Human Resource Management plays the most important and key role in devising employee engagement initiatives. The important aspects that an HR departments of an organization see for employee engagement include the likes of these:

• Communication: This is where the employee engagement process begins. Effective communication by HR ensures employees are engaged and they understand what initiatives are being taken. 
• Recognition: Nothing works better than recognition when it comes to employee engagement. HR makes sure employees feel recognized and are rewarded for their constant engagement. The smallest gestures like employee shout-outs can do wonders to keep the team motivated. 
• Retention: HR plays an important role in employee retention of an organization. Surveys and exit interviews can be used to develop retention strategies such as career growth, purpose of roles, and engagement. 
• Providing a sense of well-being and safety: HR creates an environment where employees feel safe and comfortable through job safety, insurance, healthcare, and tangible benefits.
• Training and development: Providing training and development is an important responsibility of HR, this includes growth initiatives. HR can facilitate employees with IDPs (Individual Development Plans) to keep employees engaged.  

KAHN Employee Engagement

William Kahn was the first person to identify the concept of employee engagement. He was a psychologist and wanted to better understand the factors involved in employee engagement. In his research, Kahn mentions three principal dimensions of engagement including these:

• Physical: The more energy and passion people put into their work, the more engaged they feel.
• Cognitive: To feel truly engaged, employees must understand the company’s goals and how their work fits in. Knowing what is expected of them helps them contribute their best.
• Emotional: Being emotionally attached to work is important for engagement. Create a friendly and connected environment where employees feel trusted and can share their ideas. 

How to Measure Employee Engagement

KPIs are important indicators for any organization. They provide valuable insights regarding the relationship between the company and the employee beyond the quantitative analysis. 

These KPIs include ways such as effective communication channels, employee satisfaction, turnover rates, and engagement in the company. Organizations must monitor these factors to have a clear understanding and make amendments where needed. 

Tools for Measuring Employee Engagement

For measuring employee engagement, these tools can be used:

• Confidential one-on-ones
• Exit interviews
• Surveys and anonymous feedback
• Focus groups

By talking one-on-one and conducting regular surveys, employees can give their feedback without feeling any pressure. Exit interviews are also useful to have a clear picture of how the team feels. When there are large numbers of employees, it is difficult to conduct one-on-ones, focus groups can be made to distribute large teams where they can talk and express themselves. 

Some available software for the purpose are:

• Culture Monkey
• Culture Amp
• Officevibe

Dimensions of Employee Engagement

Work, reward, belonging, and growth are the dimensions that fuel happy and engaged employees.

What Do I Get?: Salary, benefits, and a positive work environment are what attract an employee. They are the essentials that keep them coming back, motivated and dedicated.

What Do I Give?: Clear expectations! Knowing what is expected from them creates a sense of purpose and trust. The feeling of contributing to something bigger is important.

Do I Belong?: Feeling valued and heard matters. When opinions are counted, employees feel connected and invested in the company’s success. It builds strong relationships across the team.

How Can I Grow?: Growth opportunities through promotions, skill development, or simply new challenges, keep employees motivated and engaged. This shows that the company cares about employees’ future.

Engage for Organizational Success 

Employee engagement, the lifeblood of any successful organization, thrives on a powerful motivator: positive energy. When individuals feel inspired, challenged, and valued, their dedication transcends mere job fulfillment. They become enthusiastic contributors to mutual success and growth. 

Motivation’s ripple effect is undeniable. Engaged employees come to work with a purpose. They can foster collaboration and exceed expectations. Using appropriate tools and following best-fit strategies can make it simpler to plan and implement practical employee engagement and help in achieving objectives.

Feature image: unsplash.com

The post How Motivation Benefits Employee Engagement appeared first on Get a Dose of Inspiration | Motivation Matter .

A highly reputable platform such as TED Talks has featured some of the world’s leading experts on motivation, mentoring, and team building, sharing their insights on how to create a work environment where everyone feels valued and empowered to do their best work. When teams are motivated and mentored, they become more productive, more creative, and are more likely to achieve their goals. A right-mentored team is more likely to achieve their targets and become successful professionals.

There are also a few TED Talks for inspiring everyday leaders. We have collected some of the best ones for mentoring and motivating any team.

“Science of Mentorship” by Shawn Blanchard

Sharn Blanchard explains mentorship in detail on the TED Talks platform. He categorizes mentorship into three categories. He tells his own story of transforming from a mentee to a mentor. Shawn delivers this incredibly well-structured talk and explains the cross-generational impact of mentorship.

Key takeaway

“The Power of Vulnerability” by Brené Brown

Brown, a renowned researcher on vulnerability, challenges the notion that vulnerability is a weakness. On the contrary, she believes embracing vulnerability while accepting mistakes and acknowledging shortcomings can be used as the foundation for deeper connection, trust, and authentic leadership. This TED Talk resonates perfectly with team leaders who are passionate to create a safe space for their team and believe in the results of open communication.

Key Takeaway

By showing their vulnerability, leaders can pave the way for team members to do the same, leading to stronger bonds and more effective collaboration.

“Failure and the Importance of Mentor” by Patrick Boland

In this TED Talk delivered in 2015, Patrick Boland explains why failures are an important part of growing and learning and how it plays an important part in success. According to Patrick, a mentor can help understand the causes of failure and help overcome any obstacle. He explains how effective mentoring can guide a mentee through a failing phase.

Key Takeaway

Try and discuss that failure is a destination, it is a turning point in a journey. Explain this to your mentee and help them turn any failure into a guiding light towards success.

“The Gift of Failure” by Jessica Lahey

Lahey, an educator, challenges the fear of failure often ingrained in educational and professional settings. In her TED Talk, she conveys the importance of embracing failure as a learning opportunity that fosters resilience, creativity, and ultimately, success. This talk became popular among both leaders and team members who wanted to overcome perfectionism while learning from mistakes and thrive in challenging environments.

Key Takeaway

Leaders should encourage a culture of learning from mistakes and celebrate growth over immediate perfection. When their team embraces failure as not an endpoint, they will find stepping stones towards growth and achievement.

“Start with Why” by Simon Sinek

Sinek explores the Golden Circle, a framework for effective communication and leadership. Simon emphasizes on the importance of inspiring a team by starting with  “why” – about their purpose, cause, or belief – and then building their “what” and “how” around it. People don’t buy “what” you do, they buy “why” you do it.

 This TED talk is helpful for leaders to connect with their team on a deeper level and motivate them to pursue a shared vision.

Key Takeaways

 Leaders must be able to communicate their core purpose, cause, or belief first, then build their actions and methods around it. This way they will inspire deeper engagement and motivation with their team.

“3 Key Elements to Thriving Mentorship” by Janet Phan

In her famous TED Talk Janet Phan takes the aspect of the mentee. She emphasize on the importance mentorship for achieving the impossible for someone at the start of their career, or in need of developing the skills they don’t have. Mentorship helps bridge the gap between the current skills you have and what you want to achieve in the future. She gives three steps or elements to establish a thriving mentorship.

Key Takeaways

The first step is to overcome the fear of rejection and simply ask for the first meeting. Give it some time and wait for the mentor to accept you.

Then activate the relationship by adopting the coaching advice you receive and applying it in your work or career.

Finally, keep the relationship maintained by updating your mentor with simple texts or asking for suggestions.

“The Secret to Motivation” by Emily Esfahani Smith

Smith examines the power of human motivations beyond extrinsic rewards. Emily believes people are intrinsically motivated by purpose, autonomy and connection. This TED talk encourages leaders to work on these neglected elements within their teams, leading to increased engagement and self-direction.

Key Takeaways

For motivating a team, give them ownership, trust them to choose their path, and witness their self-driven passion.

“How to be a Great Mentor” by Kenneth Ortiz

In his over 14-minute-long TED Talk, Kenneth Ortiz gives tips on providing meaningful mentorship. He subtly says that mentorship requires significant time, investments, and thorough planning. Kenneth says all these efforts are worth it in the end. This is true not just for aspiring mentors but also for mentees who are looking for a mentor.

Key Takeaway

Leaders can listen to this TED Talk and get to improve their mentorship process. Giving time to a mentee and being patient is inevitable for becoming a successful mentor.

“Mentors: Through Research, in Practice, and on Reality-TV” by Kimberly Griffin

Kimberly Griffin defines mentorship and discusses the ways to avoid common mistakes during mentoring. But what does reality TV have to do with mentoring? She connects how watching reality shows taught her about mentoring and how a mentor in a reality show mentored the contestants brilliantly. Kimberly, an associate professor uses some uncommon examples to explain different approaches for mentoring.

Key Takeaways: 

Leaders should learn about the common mistakes that they can avoid during mentoring and build strong connections with mentees.

“Mentoring’s Broken: Here’s How to Hack It” by Roxanne Reeves

Roxanne explains how to fix the traditional mentorship style. She uses the anecdotes of how she became a mentorship expert from a college dropout. Roxanne argues that today, mentors should structure their thought process around their mentees as there is no rule of thumb in mentoring.  

Key Takeaway

Focus on the mentee. Flip the power structure of the mentor-mentee relationship. Diversify the style of your mentorship according to the transformed workforce that includes women, specially-abled individuals and people of determination.

Beyond the Talks

To truly leverage the insights from these TED Talks, action is key. Here are a few ways to mentor and motivate your team:

• Open Forum Discussions: Organize team discussions around specific TED Talks, encouraging reflection on key takeaways and their application to your team’s context.
• Mentorship Initiatives: Foster a culture of mentorship by pairing experienced team members with new recruits or creating peer-to-peer mentorship programs.
• Feedback Culture: Promote an open and respectful culture of feedback where constructive criticism is welcomed and used for growth.
• Embrace Experimentation: Encourage creative problem-solving and experimentation, celebrating failures as learning opportunities and stepping stones to success.
• Invest in Personal Development: Provide opportunities for team members to learn and grow through workshops, conferences, or access to educational resources.

What All These Ted Talks Want to Convey?

The Golden Circle: The Golden Circle framework (“Why” in the core, “What” next, and “How” outermost) represents the natural order of communication and leadership. Starting with “Why” ensures your message resonates deeply, connecting with the limbic brain where emotions and decisions reside.

Inspire Shared Vision: By sharing your “why” and helping team members discover their own, you create a shared sense of purpose and meaning. This manifests key factors such as unity, commitment, and motivation. All this works to achieve a common goal beyond individual tasks.

Speak to the Heart, not Just the Head: Effective leaders communicate clearly, but also emotionally. Share stories that connect with team members’, their values and strengthen bonds for overcoming any hurdle. 

Empower Your Team: Encourage team members to share their “why” and contribute their unique talents and perspectives. This will help them to take ownership of their work and role in the organization. Also, they will develop the skill of creativity, and a sense of belonging.

The Ultimate Takeaway for Mentoring and Motivating Your Team

By incorporating the powerful insights from these inspiring TED Talks and taking action to implement the idea behind them, you can create an inspiring team environment where your team members feel mentored and motivated. To fulfill the goals, they must be ready to perform using their full potential. Effective mentorship is an ongoing process, and these TED talks are valuable guides for those looking to build a productive team that is not only successful but also deeply connected and motivated. Remember, it is not about pushing, but pulling out the spark that already exists within!

The post Best Mentorship TED Talks to Motivate Your Team appeared first on Get a Dose of Inspiration | Motivation Matter .

Leverage a familiar tool

As a corporate manager, I have been using a range of checklists for the last 20 years to conduct my business and operations. A checklist is a linear list or a multi-column table to track things like attendance, production, inventory, work quality, errors, compliances, etc. Checklists are simple, accessible, and intuitive tools used by ground staff as well as management. In general, almost all projects, processes, and operations use some form of checklist-based matrix method. As a professional or a manager, using checklist-based tracking systems may have already become your daily habit without even realizing it. Why not use this deeply rooted habit to build, enforce, and track your new habits?

When you use a familiar tool to learn new habits, it becomes easier to adopt new behaviors. All you have to do is make a few modifications in the process and extend it to build new habits in your professional and personal lives.

Read More: 26 Simple Habits to Boost Your Motivation and Productivity

3 Steps to create habit-enforcing checklists

Working in a high-paced corporate environment, we all acquire this unavoidable work practice to boot up the laptop again in the evening after returning from work. In no time, we find ourselves responding to emails late at night. Many of us do this simply out of years of hardened habit. During the pandemic, I got a chance to think about how unproductive this practice was making me. So I decided to form a new habit of “shutting down the laptop at 5 p.m.” and not opening it until the next morning.

Often, making new habits means breaking the pattern of an old one. However, hardened habits are not easy to break. You need a tool that can help you break the patterns and build new ones. I began to think about how I have been using the checklists effortlessly at my workplace to track non-compliance and enforce processes. So I applied the same effortless tool using three steps to enforce my new habit-forming routine:

1.   Define actionable micro-steps

The mistake most people make is to print their big goal (or the habit they are trying to adopt) on a piece of paper and paste it on their desks as a reminder, hoping that it will fill them with motivation to achieve it. However, this does not work because habits are not formed in the mind. Building a new habit requires a series of micro-steps that are actionable, practical, and physical in nature. The best-performing micro-steps are those which require the use of hands or body.

I broke down my impossible-looking goal into a manageable and trackable list of micro-steps. Some of my micro-steps included:

1. Stop replying to any email one hour before the decided shutdown time.

• Shut down the laptop at 5 p.m. manually.

• Don’t open the laptop at home, no matter the anxiety of missing out on something.

Now, I could envision my big goal in terms of these micro-steps. Each of these micro-steps required me to act or not act physically. When you write micro-steps in the form of physical actions, your mind notices if you did it or not and provides you with the feedback you need. This feedback gives the mind a sense of achievement and makes new habits feasible and achievable. The scientific rationale behind why micro-steps are efficient is connected with the reward mechanism in the brain. As you accomplish a task as simple as checking off a micro-step in your list, your brain releases dopamine, a neurotransmitter associated with feelings of accomplishment, satisfaction, and happiness.

Thus, the next time you’re faced with creating a new habit, make the process rewarding for yourself by adding micro-steps to your checklist.

1.      Capture compliance of micro-steps

Most people track the compliance of the habit itself, and more likely it does not work. Instead, you need to note the compliance of each micro-step. Once you start recording the pattern of which micro-step is the bottleneck, you can take targeted actions to fix it to attain the overall habit you aim for.

A checklist is a powerful way to capture compliance with those micro-steps. Once I identified the core items to be placed on the checklist, I posted these items next to a 30-day calendar. I listed the micro-steps in a table form, with the first column being the micro-steps and the remaining columns being the dates of the month. Each day, I would check the items that I followed or complied with. This is a simple strategy that acts as not just a reminder of the micro-steps you need to accomplish but also a tool to track your own progress. Additionally, this also serves as a visual representation of your consistency.

2.   Score your performance

The final step towards creating effective checklists is evaluating your progress by scoring your habits. I scored myself daily to see how many ‘yes’ I marked for all the identified micro-steps. That count became my daily score. At the end of the week, I averaged the scores to evaluate my progress. The following week, I compared the average with the previous weeks.

When I saw my scores were not improving from one week to the next, I paid more attention to areas where I missed out. Since the micro-steps were physical in nature, it was easier to identify contributing factors affecting my compliance. When I observed my scores trending upward week after week, I felt the sense of being on the right path. The mind received a sense of achievement. Eventually, I stayed 100% compliant every single day for several weeks.

Read more: 10 Motivational Habits of Successful People to Adopt for a Better You

The result

The new habit became a part of me. I have not opened my laptop any day after 5 p.m. in the last three years.

From a scientific standpoint, a habit is said to be formed when you consistently do something to the same thresholds, with the same frequency or comfort level. Once you achieve consistent scoring for several consecutive measurement intervals, you will be sure that you have formed a long-standing habit. Your scoring mechanism can be repeated hourly, weekly, or even monthly, depending on the type of habits you are forming.

Why it works effectively

The key here is to track your compliance at the micro-step level and then assess your recurring adherence to the habit. If you start scoring the habit directly without scoring the micro-steps, forming new habits becomes an impractical and often tricky goal.

The checklist method will likely work for you as a working professional because your mind unconsciously recognizes it as a familiar habit of years of programming to act upon low scores. Subconsciously, you may act faster on low scores on your checklist, which can lead to full adherence to forming a new habit far quicker than you think.

Additional readings

Clear, J. (2018). Atomic Habits: An Easy & Proven Way to Build Good Habits & Break Bad Ones (Illustrated). Avery.

Clear, J. (2020, February 3). Checklist Solutions: Do More of What Already Works. James Clear. https://jamesclear.com/checklist-solutions

Francisco Sáez @franciscojsaez. (n.d.). Micro-Tasks. The Pleasure of Checking Off. FacileThings. https://facilethings.com/blog/en/micro-tasks

Gawande, A. (2022). The Collected Works of Atul Gawande: The Checklist Manifesto + Better + Being Mortal + Complications. Penguin.

Guest Contributor

An award-winning learning scientist, Dr Raman K Attri specializes in the science of speed in personal and professional performance. He helps leaders and organizations to accelerate leadership to stay ahead. A prolific author of 50 multi-genre books, he writes on leadership, learning, performance, and workplace learning. Awarded as one of the Brainz Global 500 leaders, he is featured in over 200 media features. To learn more tips to speed up your learning, achievements, and leadership, visit https://get-there-faster.com or follow Dr Raman K Attri on Instagram or LinkedIn

The post How To Build New Habits ‘Faster’ Using Checklists appeared first on Get a Dose of Inspiration | Motivation Matter .

The following collection of collaboration quotes will help you understand the importance of teamwork and productivity as well as how leaders can create efficient teams. These collaboration quotes garnered from experts on teamwork and collaboration are nuggets of wisdom that you can learn and apply to the management process. We hope you find them useful and effective for your professional development and building your team.

Here are the collaboration quotes curated just for you.

• “Alone we can do so little; together we can do so much” — Helen Keller

• “Our duty, as men and women, is to proceed as if limits to our ability did not exist. We are collaborators in creation.” — Pierre Teilhard de Chardin

• “Strategy is not really a solo sport – even if you’re the CEO.” — Max McKeown

• “To collaborative team members, completing one another is more important than competing with one another.” — John C. Maxwell

• “Team Topologies provides four fundamental team types—stream-aligned, platform, enabling, and complicated-subsystem—and three core team interaction modes—collaboration, X-as-a-Service, and facilitating. — Matthew Skelton

• “…beyond the merely collaborative or technically proficient, when their expression becomes as easy and graceful as friendship or love.” – Ian McEwan

• “In professional networks that acted as fertile soil for successful groups, individuals moved easily among teams, crossing organizational and disciplinary boundaries and finding new collaborators.”— David Epstein

• “When we serve, we see the unborn wholeness in others; we collaborate with it and strengthen it. Others may then be able to see their wholeness for themselves for the first time.”— Rachel Naomi Remen

• “People never remember the crowd; they remember the one person that had the courage to say and do what no one would do.” — Shannon L. Alder

• “The beauty of collaboration between older and younger generations is that we combine strength with wisdom—a surefire way to accomplish more for the glory of God.”— Brett Harris

• “We must consider the building not as an object but as a collaborative system tightly linked to it’s natural environment; an ecological niche.” — Neri Oxman

• “People are more likely to remember the great social interaction they had with a colleague than the great meeting they both attended.” — Ron Garan

• “The way forward, I’m suggesting, is not to stop collaborating face-to-face, but to refine the way we do it. For one thing, we should actively seek out symbiotic introvert-extrovert relationships, in which leadership and other tasks are divided according to people’s natural strengths and temperaments.”— Susan Cain

• “The idea is that collaboration and innovation flourish when human relationships replace bullying and bureaucracy.” — Kim Malone Scott

• It may make sense to establish incentives for business units to collaborate in new ways so that younger talent sees innovation as a path to success rather than as a career risk.”— Tim Brown

• “Too many companies believe people are interchangeable. Truly gifted people never are. They have unique talents. Such people cannot be forced into roles they are not suited for, nor should they be. Effective leaders allow great people to do the work they were born to do.” — Warren Bennis

• “You’re radically collaborative, profoundly empathetic, and deeply communal. Everyone who tells you anything different is selling the fear that is the only thing that can break that nature.” — Hank Green

• “Find a group of people who challenge and inspire you, spend a lot of time with them, and it will change your life.” — Amy Poehler

• “The only thing that guarantees an open-ended collaboration among human beings, the only thing that guarantees that this project is truly open-ended, is a willingness to have our beliefs and behaviors modified by the power of conversation.”— Sam Harris

• “Collaborators don’t steal others’ ideas, take advantage of people, or sit back while others accomplish their tasks for them. Collaborators take action to ensure that everyone with whom they work can enjoy the maximum potential outcome.” — Raoul Davis Jr.

• “Collaboration has no hierarchy. The Sun collaborates with soil to bring flowers on the earth.” — Amit Ray

• “Art is a collaboration between God and the artist, and the less the artist does, the better.” — André Gide

• “But the main lesson to draw from the birth of computers is that innovation is usually a group effort, involving collaboration between visionaries and engineers, and that creativity comes from drawing on many sources.”— Walter Isaacson

• “Our inability to think beyond our own species, or to be able to co-habit with other life forms in what is patently a massive collaborative quest for survival, is surely a malady that pervades the human soul.” — Lawrence Anthony

• “Synergy without strategy results to waste of energy.” — Ogwo David Emenike

• “Collaboration is vital to sustain what we call profound or really deep change, because without it, organizations are just overwhelmed by the forces of the status quo. ” — Peter M. Senge

• “Unity is strength… when there is teamwork and collaboration, wonderful things can be achieved.” — Mattie J.T. Stepanek

• “A business is a collaboration of people. Businesses also become more valuable when they gain skills and capabilities that enable them to add value to people’s lives.” — Hendrith Vanlon Smith Jr, CEO of Mayflower-Plymouth

• “Replace cyber-bullying with cyber-believing. Let us build each other up instead of bringing others down. BELIEVE & BUILD” — Janna Cachola

• “If we adopt the same collaborative mindset and practices that got to the moon and back, and that built the International Space Station, we can alleviate poverty—and do much more.”— Ron Garan

• “First and foremost is that creativity is a collaborative process. Innovation comes from teams more often than from the lightbulb moments of lone geniuses.”— Walter Isaacson

• “Hidden biases prevent us from recognizing high-potential workers and retaining talented managers. They stop us from collaborating effectively with partners.” — Harvard Business School Press

• “To be full of love and enthusiasm for your work is a prerequisite for collaboration, a professional obligation;” — Lyssa Adkins

• “Provide a transparent scheme for seeing improvement opportunities, thereby enabling change to a more collaborative culture that encourages continuous improvement.”— David J. Anderson (Kanban)

• “Collaborative people know that success is limited by the worst performers, so they are either going to elevate them or have a serious conversation.” — Ben Horowitz
• “As a leader, it’s your job to get everyone to share what they know.” — Jane Ripley

• “Collaboration allows teachers to capture each other’s fund of collective intelligence.” — Mike Schmoker

• “The idea is that collaboration and innovation flourish when human relationships replace bullying and bureaucracy.” — Kim Malone Scott

• “The capability of self-organizing teams lies in collaboration. When two engineers scratch out a design on a whiteboard, they are collaborating. When team members meet to brainstorm a design, they are collaborating. When team leaders meet to decide whether a product is ready to ship, they are collaborating. The result of any collaboration can be categorized as a tangible deliverable, a decision, or shared knowledge.” — Jim Highsmith

• “Central to the performance of any team is accountability to the people and to itself, for the course to which the team is responsible.” — Dele Ola

• “Collaboration begins with focusing on the collective good rather than personal gain.” — Jane Ripley

• “High Performance Teams create cultures of caring, connection, commitment, collaboration and clear consistent communication” — Tony Dovale

• “Our method was to develop integrated products, and that meant our process had to be integrated and collaborative” – Steve Jobs

• “Not only were the best forecasters foxy as individuals, they had qualities that made them particularly effective collaborators—partners in sharing information and discussing predictions. Every team member still had to make individual predictions, but the team was scored by collective performance.” — David Epstein

• “A strategy is multi-dimensional planning, multi-team collaboration, and multitasking action.” — Pearl Zhu

• “If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together. African Proverb” — Ryan T. Hartwig

• “Design thinking has been associated with massive team collaboration, which in turn, fosters employee engagement and maximizes productivity. Hence, it is a tool that should be emulated and implemented for the success of any business.”— Hibatullah Jawhar

• “An individual can make a change but a team can make a revolution.” — Amit Kalantri

• “New collaborations allow creators “to take ideas that are conventions in one area and bring them into a new area, where they’re suddenly seen as invention,” – sociologist Brian Uzzi, Amaral’s collaborator.

• “Smart decisions reflect diverse opinions across disciplines, experiences, and outcomes. In today’s collaborative mindset culture, teams strive to optimize each of these inputs.” — Paul F. Magnone

• “First, collaboration is built on relationships, and product teams—especially co‐located teams—are designed to nurture these relationships.” — Marty Cagan

• “We are committed to the mission and to each other’s success: We will not let each other fail. In fact, we will ensure each other succeeds. We will elevate each other as we work together to achieve” — Keith Ferrazzi

• “The best team leaders enable and empower others to collaborate. They have made the critical pivot from performer to facilitator.” — Britt Andreatta

• “ADAPTAGILITY is the core responsibility of a leader, to ensure connection, collaboration, capacity, competence, and commitment, in High-Performance Teams” — Tony Dovale

• “The quest for innovation against newly emerging realities requires us to bring disparate teams closer together and to create more bandwidth for actually collaborating with one another.” — Kevin G. Bethune

• “People learn together by working together. Don’t waste time on fake team-building activities such as anything physical. Those activities might be fun for some people, but they don’t help people learn how to work together at work.” — Johanna Rothman

• “The most important change that happens, however, is that all teams (in our case, all submarines) are now collaborators working against a common external goal as opposed to competitors working against one another.” — L. David Marquet

• “Thinking of small tiny improvements would be exhausting if not impossible from the leadership team. Hence it has to happen at micro level, at each team level to control their own product & their own destiny. They are the closest, they know more about it.” — Ines Garcia

Going the opposite way of collaboration (quotes)

Not all believe in collaboration. In fact, individualism works well too for some. If you think about the adage “too many cooks spoil the broth”, going the opposite way of collaboration makes sense. This is why we have also thrown in a few non-collaboration quotes as insights how and when to adopt this approach for efficiency and productivity.

• “No matter how many golden lectures a leader gives imploring people to “Be collaborative” or “Work as a team,” if the people hired have destructive habits, the lecture will lose.” — Scott Berkun (The Year Without Pants: WordPress.com and the Future of Work)

• “The same bias contributes to the common observation that many members of a collaborative team feel they have done more than their share and also feel that the others are not adequately grateful for their individual contributions.” — Daniel Kahneman (Thinking, Fast and Slow)

• “If you value collaboration over individualistic achievement, then you’ll know what to do when your best salesperson skips team meetings and refuses to share information with colleagues.” — James M. Kouzes (The Leadership Challenge: How to Make Extraordinary Things Happen in Organizations)

• “I’ve never trusted collaborations, because most people in this world are not closers. They don’t finish what they start; they don’t live what they dream; they sabotage their own progress because they’re afraid they won’t find what they seek.” — Neil Strauss (The Game: Penetrating the Secret Society of Pickup Artists)

• “There are no good collaborations, whether in music, in art, in poetry, in mathematics, in philosophy. Once the miracle of creation has taken place, the group can build and extend it, but the group never invents anything.”— John Steinbeck (East of Eden)

• “Those who can ask without shame are viewing themselves in collaboration with—rather than in competition with—the world.” — Amanda Palmer (The Art of Asking; or, How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Let People Help)

• “I’d collaborate with my clones, because I’m a team player who wants all the credit.” — Jarod Kintz (This Book is Not for Sale)

Whether you are a team player or a leader with a vision, these collaborative quotes from professionals and collaboration experts are just the tools you need to build a dynamite team. We hope you find these collaboration quotes useful and add dimension to your management style.

Photo by Mapbox on Unsplash

The post 65 Collaboration Quotes for Teamwork, Leadership, and Productivity appeared first on Get a Dose of Inspiration | Motivation Matter .

Let’s take a look at a few ways we might start appreciating peace of mind and taking small steps to incorporate it into our daily lives.

Here are five ways to increase your productivity while maintaining a calm mind:

1.  Exercise

The long-term benefits of regular exercise are well worth the effort. Regular exercise has a lot of benefits. It improves your health, reduces stress, boosts confidence, and places your mind in a better position to perform.

Always seek ways to have fun while exercising. It doesn’t have to be hard; there are numerous ways to bring delight to the physical movement of the body, such as yoga, Zumba, sports, and running. If you want to be sharp and active in your physical life, start with exercise, no matter how you exercise.

2.  Strive for clarity

You can’t accomplish that aim until you first define it. Always place your vision first. You take a lot of actions that don’t get you anywhere, and you often become demotivated as a result of no vision. Get clarity on the kind of life you want to live, the goals you want to attain, the environment you want to create around yourself, and the kinds of relationships you need. Take a piece of paper and write down the life you want to live, as well as the actions that will support it.

Clarity is the key to happiness and a peaceful mind. Measurement and being connected to vision on a regular basis is like giving your car a tune-up to keep it running well. Your clarity will get hazy and lost in time if you do not track at regular intervals. Continue to track and measure your progress toward your desired direction. The kind of thoughts you put your energy into are determined by your clarity of mind, and any others can be ignored. Honestly say that it saves you a lot of time and energy that you can put to much better use.

3.  Creative Energy

 Creative energy is the most important thing when it comes to boosting productivity in life. You become alive when you’re surrounded by creative energy, and the kind of atmosphere it may generate in your office or at a business is extremely encouraging and benevolent. When it comes to being creative, people want to give it their best.

It’s wonderful to discover what you’re capable of, so make your goals achievable and enjoyable to ensure a positive emotional experience. Try it for yourself: plan a creative activity with people in the area, and the activity might be related to your work; you’ll be amazed at how many people will participate and support you.

4.  You are incomplete without meditation

Productivity leads to success and happiness, and your level of success and happiness is defined by your level of fulfilment. Extraordinary people have gone on to do amazing things in life as a result of having been fulfilled within. Without fulfilment, your life is incomplete, and fulfilment comes from within. Begin with meditation to start your inner journey.

Meditation will benefit you in channeling your energy, introspection, gaining a better perspective on the day, and calming down. Because we are constantly indulging our ideas and intelligence at work, meditation has become a need in today’s fast-paced environment. Meditation helps us deal with stress, worry, and overthinking by calming our minds.

5.  Subtler to Gross

It’s easier to be productive in life if you focus on your subtleties. Always begin with the most subtle. The physical world that has been constructed began with an idea, and we have held to that idea because our desires drive us. Many cravings have been planted in us by society, as well as temptations from advertisements and television.

You have some desires that you have nurtured since childhood and you enjoy acting on them. Discovering and working on those desires will provide you with ultimate satisfaction. The quantity of energy released naturally by our deepest desires is far greater than the work we accomplish without heart.

These are the five simple ways to increase your productivity without becoming competitive or struggling. The calm mind facilitates the use of the highest level of intelligence, and there are numerous other benefits to being calm. Being calm is a trait shared by successful and fulfilled people. With this attitude, you can bring about a greater amount of transformation within yourself and in the world.

Keep the methods in mind and begin working toward them, and you will notice a difference in yourself within a few weeks.

About Guest Author:

Shoonyo is an author and spiritual mentor His book “Looking for the Obvious” is an enchanting spiritual journey of Love, death and resurrection. This book is relentless in its reach. If one allows it, there is nothing short of awakening to be found between the inky depths of these pages. For his mentorships, meditations, retreats and other articles please visit his website: Mystical Reality.

The post 5 Simple Ways to Boost Your Productivity with a Peaceful Mind appeared first on Get a Dose of Inspiration | Motivation Matter .

Ashley Zahabian, a renowned business strategist, is a committed campaigner of emotional intelligence. She attributes her hospitalization for severe anorexia as a teenager to her then lack of emotional intelligence, and her eyes opened to the importance of the skill.

She believes emotional intelligence is the key to succeed in your personal and professional life. In an article by Forbes, Zahabian indicated that “Every time that you invest in emotional intelligence, your outcome will be ten times better.”

But what is emotional intelligence and how can you achieve it to boost everyday motivation? Here’s what we’ve found. 

What is Emotional Intelligence?

A significant part of being human is the ability to feel emotions. Emotions can be positive such as happiness or negative such as envy. They can be useful but can also hold you back, for instance, fear prompts you to escape dangerous situations, but it can also keep you from exploring new opportunities. Managing emotions thus requires a particular set of skills known as emotional intelligence which can be defined as the measure of a person’s capacity to identify and control both their emotions, and those of other people.

The idea of emotional intelligence was first popularized and associated with life success by psychologist Daniel Goleman in his 1995 book Emotional Intelligence.

Daniel found that high professional success requires more than IQ. An above average intelligence enables one to acquire technical skills such as medicine and law. But once these people get into the workforce, the only differentiator of those who rise above their peers is emotional intelligence.

According to a study by TalentSmart, a leader’s performance is 58% the result of emotional intelligence. Out of all top performers, 90% possess high emotional intelligence while out of low performers, only 20% have a high score in emotional intelligence.

If you can learn how to control your emotions, you can maintain the motivation to succeed in any endeavor. And if you can manage the emotions of others, you are capable of building a highly motivated team.

Goleman identified five elements which define emotionally intelligent people.

Self-Awareness

People who are high in emotional intelligence are always in tune with their emotions. They are not afraid to take an honest look at themselves, point out their strengths and weaknesses, and improve on what they can. They also trust their instincts.

Self-Regulation

They do not act on impulse but rather think before acting. They don’t allow themselves to have angry outbursts or jealousy fits. Emotionally intelligent people are always in control of their emotions.

Motivation

Emotionally intelligent people have the ability to work with their eye on the long term goal. They are always effective and productive in what they do regardless of their present emotions.

Empathy

Empathy is the ability to identify with the feelings of those around you. Emotionally intelligent people can understand the wants and needs of others and are excellent listeners.

Social Skills

Excellent social skills are a sign of emotional intelligence, and they make one a team player. Emotional intelligent people are excellent mediators and focus on helping others develop and shine.

How to Boost Motivation through Emotional Intelligence

Motivation comes from within a person and is subject to emotions. 

“If your emotional abilities aren’t in hand if you don’t have self-awareness if you are not able to manage your distressing emotions if you can’t have empathy and have effective relationships, then no matter how smart you are, you are not going to get very far.” – Daniel Goleman

Following Goleman’s edict we identify the following four elements of motivation.

Achievement Drive

Your ability and motivation to achieve a goal has to be driven by a strong inner desire to succeed. It has to come from within you and cannot be forced on you by external influences.

People with a high achievement drive strive for excellence and are result-oriented. They seek to improve their performance and achieve more than expected.

Achievement drive can only be present if you believe your goal is within reach, and think that you deserve to achieve it. It then builds a strong spirit and enthusiasm to work towards it despite the obstacles.

Attach meaning to your goal. If it’s a career, remind yourself why you got into it in the first place. Forget the numbers and focus on the deeper meaning the task in hand, holds for you.

A team leader who is not passionate about the team’s goals cannot cultivate the same passion in the team members.

Commitment

To succeed in your pursuits, you need to come up with a strategy and stick to it. It entails making sacrifices when required and seeking opportunities to achieve your goals.

To stay committed, ensure that you are in the right mindset, prepared to hold nothing back but work until your goals are achieved. It means fighting laziness and procrastination.

Set your priorities right and have a clear mental picture of the end result. Focus on achieving this and be strong enough not to fall for short-term rewards. Sometimes, to stay committed, you need reinforcement in the form of role models and accountability partners. When stuck, get a coach who can guide you into a different perspective.

From time to time, stir up your commitment by reflecting on how bad you want to succeed.

Initiative

Having initiative is the ability to assess and seize opportunities while overcoming the fear of failure. People with initiative are always willing to go beyond what is expected of them. They are innovative and are never trapped in a comfort zone. They seek opportunities from all corners and are never satisfied with the average performance.

Always try to do something extra with every task at hand. In your workplace, change your mindset by seeing yourself as a partner and not an employee. The company’s success then becomes your success, and it gives you the motivation to devote yourself to your duties.

At every opportunity ask yourself, “is this the best that can be done?” or “how can this be improved?”

If you are a team leader, motivate your team by giving your members a chance to share their ideas. Create a space where they are free to apply their creativity without fear of criticism.

Optimism

Everyone enjoys being around optimistic people. They always look at the bright side of things. Optimistic leaders can successfully pull their team members through the worst setbacks without losing their members’ commitment to succeed.

A leader with a positive attitude knows how to reassure his team that their efforts account for something and keep them motivated and hopeful about the future. He can read and control the emotions of his members and always knows what to say to keep them going.

Individually, optimism keeps you working with great enthusiasm even when the future is not so bright. A positive attitude keeps you motivated in spite of how many times you fail.

Develop a learner’s mindset, taking each failure as an opportunity to learn. Emotionally intelligent people do not take failure personally. They see it as a result of specific identifiable causes that can be managed.

“I have not failed. I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work.” – Thomas A. Edison

Motivation is critical in succeeding in life, and you can manage it by learning to control your emotions at any given time. It means being fully aware and in control of your weaknesses, having the ability to control your actions, reactions, and impulses so that they do not stand in the way of achieving your goals.

As a leader, understanding the emotions of your team member puts you at a better position to use the right words and the right incentives that can keep them focused on succeeding.

Build your emotional intelligence and learn to effectively influence your motivation and that of others.

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“Leadership is unlocking people’s potential to become better.” These are famous words by the former American Senator, Bill Bradley.

Each member of your team comes with a unique set of skills. Your role as a leader is to unlock them and ensure that they utilize their skills to the full potential.

In the end, as you help each member achieve their individual goals, the collective team goals are met.

You can employ different strategies to boost your team’s productivity and vary them depending on the nature of the task at hand, and the individual’s strengths and weaknesses.

With the following motivational skills, you can learn how to boost your team’s productivity and handle daily issues with ease without breaking their spirit.

Goal Setting

You need to present clear goals to your team members. The lack of a clear picture of what the team is aiming at causes confusion, and ultimately leads to unproductivity.

Reasonable goals and deadlines give your team a purpose and sense of direction. They need goals to know the initiatives to prioritize.

A clearly defined goal makes it easier to see the impact their hard work has on the team’s progress.

Setting goals should not be enough. The members should be able to relate to them at a personal level and adopt them as their own, after all a shared vision unites the team.

Communication Skills

Effective communication skills refer to the ability to express yourself in a way that your listener gets what’s on your mind. What you think and what you do should be closely aligned.

You need effective communication skills to let each member know what you expect from them, communicate priorities and strategies, to answer questions adequately, and update the members on the team’s progress.

Active listening in effective communication holds the same importance as speaking. You need to pay attention to your members’ ideas and feedback on your plans and strategies. It makes them feel valued and included. This fuels their efforts and commitment to the achievement of the team’s goals.

Optimism

A optimistic and positive attitude even in the face of challenges encourages your team members to adopt the same approach.

Learn to see every challenge as a learning opportunity. Be positive about your goals. When a member fails in a task, encourage them and still believe in them.

Using words like “useless” and “you can’t do anything right” are demeaning. Even when used on one member, they demotivate the entire team.

Maintain a happy and healthy work environment. Use humor during stressful periods, but not at the expense of others.

A positive work environment makes working enjoyable for your team and makes them more willing to add extra hours when need be.

Emotional Intelligence

Emotionally intelligent leaders can manage their emotions. They do not get angry outbursts or jealousy fits. They maintain composure in all circumstances.

They understand each team member’s personality and connects with them at an individual level; being aware of their strengths, weaknesses, and triggers.

Build a stronger relationship with your members by being empathetic. Empathy means you can put yourself in a person’s shoes and feel what they feel. Practicing this on your team members makes them feel valued. It makes them trust you more, and this translates to better performance.

The ability to manage your emotions and the emotions of your team members goes a long way in helping you influence their performance.

Diligence

Diligence is a skill necessary to achieve success in any area of life. It’s the ability to focus on the tasks at hand to completion; to be persistent in hard work and stick to the plan.

Diligent people are not easily distracted by short term gratification.

This is one skill that constitutes great leadership. If you as the team leader are committed to the team’s goals, you are sure to influence your team members to adopt the same attitude.

If you are always on Facebook and Twitter, and you take too long to deliver on your part of the project, how can you expect your team members to act any different?  

Related: 6 Strange Facts About Inspirational Leaders

Giving Praise, Rewards, and Correcting Members

Acknowledging exceptional performance from your team members with affirmations is a way to motivate the team member to continue with the hard work while inspiring the rest to put their best efforts.

Recognition should be done in the presence of all members and could take the form of praise, or rewards.

On the other hand, correcting behavior should be done in private. It preserves the individual’s ego. It avoids embarrassment for the member which can affect their performance and instill fear in the other members leading to low morale.

Instead of shouting and making threats, provide focused guidance. It helps the member improve their performance and earns you respect as a leader.

Empower and Inspire

Empowering and inspiring your team members makes them confident in their abilities. It makes them eager to learn and deliver. This results in a motivated and productive lot.

Entrust them with new roles. Give regular and genuine feedback. Help them sharpen and develop new skills. Where possible, take them to seminars where they can receive coaching and achieve growth.

Appreciate your members and show them you are grateful to have them. Listen to their suggestions. Raise their spirits using creative stories and narratives. Show them different perspectives to situations.

Every leader desires to work with a team that is focused and committed to achieving goals. A team that does not have to be followed around or supervised every single minute.

As the team leader, you can create a motivated team by creating goals that give your members focus and direction. Sharpen your communication skills and always maintain optimism and positivity.

Learn to control your emotions and how best to influence your team members by understanding their strengths and weaknesses. Team members are more committed and engaged when their leader shows the same commitment to the team’s goals.

Finally, learn to bring out the best in each member. Praise good performance in public and correct in private.

A motivated team does not just happen; you create it. It is up to you as a leader to develop the right skills and use them to build a team that performs optimally.

For more tips on this topic, get your copy of our Ebook Ultimate Guide to Motivate Leaders and Teams.

The post 7 Motivational Skills for Leaders to Effectively Lead their Teams appeared first on Get a Dose of Inspiration | Motivation Matter .

The world of business is highly competitive; it takes a lot to stand out from the crowd, and make an impact. A business leader in this environment has to meet expectations as well as lead their teams.  

The sole purpose of any business is not just making profits, but making positive changes in people’s lives while practicing sustainable production. Leadership requires flexibility and awareness of the changing world.

The following leaders have made a name for themselves; some have built empires from the ground up while others have brought back dead giants to profitability. They have created company cultures that have inspired employees to commit to producing results. They are the top leaders to watch out for in 2019.

10. Brittany Merill Underwood

Founder and CEO of Akola project, Brittany Merill Underwood, has devoted her life to creating a brand that focuses on empowering women economically and holistically.

The Akola project provides job opportunities with a dependable income to over 500 women in Uganda and Dallas through Akola Jewelry. The women have then transformed the lives of over 4000 children who are under their care.

The Akola elevated jewelry line launched in Neiman Marcus became the first Full-Impact Brand to be sold in the luxury space. Merill has also opened a store at Deep Ellum, an arts and fashion Dallas neighborhood.

When it comes to millennial run businesses that seek to impact the world, Merill has set the bar high. She reinvests 100% of the profits from the jewelry business back to helping women in poverty.

She is a real example of servant-leadership coupled with philanthropy. She dedicates herself to the Akola jewelry brand, not for profit but to touch lives.

9. Jane Lu

“Work hard, play hard, more wine, less whine.” Jane Lu, founder, and CEO of Showpo lives by this motto.

She quits her job to venture into business. In 2010, she started Showpo, an online fashion brand, in her parent’s garage which has grown into an online global empire. They boast of a social media following that goes over 3.5 million.

The free spirit and fun lifestyle Lu flaunts on social media reflects in her products. She describes her brand as fun, lively, and colorful.

In May 2018, Lu admitted in public to her company undergoing some hard times. She used her own experience to remind entrepreneurs that it’s not always easy when it comes to business. Her honesty gained positive response from business owners and her customers.

Despite the setback, she never wavered in her vision. She believes when you do something you love, you never have to work again, and this explains the name on her social handles “thelazyCEO.”

The business stands at $30 million in annual sales and Lu aims to have it at $100 million by 2020.

8. Brian Chesky

When Brian Chesky and his friends introduced a platform that encouraged home-owners to provide their home to visitors at a fee, few had faith in it. However, the idea has grown into a giant profitable company. It currently lists over 800,000 properties across 90 different countries.

Co-founder and CEO of Airbnb, Chesky has brought the company to profitability only ten years after its birth. The company has remained profitable for two years in a row and private investors value it at $31 billion.

The things that have made Chesky successful as a CEO in spite of having no prior business experience are his humility, a strong instinct that he trusts, and taking the brand as a passion, and not just a job.

“Never assume you can’t do something. Push yourself to redefine the boundaries” – Brian Chesky

7. Stewart Butterfield

Founder and CEO of the $7billion company Slack, a business messaging service, has not always had it easy. He has lived in a log cabin in British Columbia with his parents where they had no electricity or running water.

Despite trying out an online game which failed, and Flickr which they sold barely a year later to Yahoo, Butterfield did not give up. He says Slack is evolving into a “corporate nervous system” for businesses, and it is growing fast. Butterfield plans to provide a solution that can automate trivial office tasks and make Slack a necessity for every business.

The one quality that makes Butterfield stands out is that he strongly believes in empathy. You cannot effectively lead or help your employees improve if you do not understand them, and you cannot satisfy your customers’ needs if you cannot relate to them.

“Life is too short to do mediocre work, and it is too short to build shitty things” – Stewart Butterfield.

6. Dan Springer

Two years ago, Dan Springer was a stay-at-home dad. Having been out of the business world for four years, Dan returned with a bang as CEO of DocuSign.

Under his leadership, DocuSign successfully went public. Although they had an IPO of $29, that price rose by 37% within the first day of trading. The company reported year-over-year growth of 37% in their quarter ending October 2018.

When asked about his extended leave, Springer did not regret it, but he missed the opportunity to help people build their careers. That is the reason why he made it a practice and authorized an increased parental leave for DocuSign’s employees, making it six months for the primary caregiver.

He believes in creating a work environment that is each employee’s best place they’ve ever worked in. He took third place in the 2018 Glassdoor’s list of the best CEOs. It’s easy to see why.

5. Dan Price

“I never want to make screw-you money like the rest of the financial services industry” – Dan Price

When it comes to unpredictable game-changing CEOs, Dan Price is one of them. CEO and Founder of Gravity Payments, he believes in doing what is right even when it’s not popular. He created a culture of honesty, transparency, and responsibility at Gravity.

Price made a bold move in 2015 by setting Gravity’s minimum wage at a crazy $70,000 and reduced his salary by 93%. Although most people expected this to bring the company under, it currently has 80% more clients than it did then.

Price does not define success by financial results but by changing people’s lives. His mission is to create a world where business leaders focus on more than just making millions, a world where value-based companies exist and are about purpose, service, and making an impact.

“For me, having more empathy is one of the most powerful things I can do to improve as a leader.” – Dan Price

4. Cheryl Bachelder

Author of the book Dare to Serve, Cheryl Bachelder believes and practices servant leadership. Her leadership style saw her turn around a sinking company, Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen, back to profitability.

When Bachelder took over the company in 2007, some of the store sales were negative, and the stock sales had dropped significantly. Bachelder created a work environment where everyone was respected and treated with dignity and still challenged to perform optimally.

By 2014, the turnaround saw the franchisees’ satisfaction rise and they began reinvesting in the brand.

She recently became interim CEO at Pier 1 Imports in December 2018, and her proven track record is bound to bring the company into a steady growth pattern.

“The leader must have both – the courage to take the people to a daring destination and the humility to selflessly serve others on the journey” – Cheryl Bachelder

3. Eric S. Yan

“Don’t be afraid to admit you have made a mistake and start fresh. My only regret is that I didn’t found my company earlier, so I could start getting better sleep sooner!”- Eric S. Yan

Yan won the 2018 Glassdoor Top CEO award, a clear indication of his exceptional leadership skills and the strong support he has from his employees.

His innovative company offers an affordable all-in-one platform for IM and presence plus web, audio, and video conferencing. It enables collaboration in the workplace helping employees work at home. Teams are also able to work together across geographies.

Yan launched the Zoom platform in 2012, and only seven years later, they have hosted over 20 billion annualized meeting minutes. They have acquired a customer base consisting of a third of Fortune 500 and 90% of the top 200 Universities in the U.S.

He believes in hard work and has developed a culture of delivering “happiness” to the customer and each other in Zoom. There’s a happiness crew in the company headed by the Chief Happiness Officer, which is responsible for promoting the culture of happiness in the company, fantastic right?

At the fast rate that Yan is facilitating the growth of the company, there is a lot to expect from him this year.

2. Isabelle Kocher

Women too often say to themselves, ‘It’s too difficult. I’m not going to get there.’ I tell them: ‘Listen: do not question your abilities. Dare to do what you want to do and realize that you can do it.’– Isabelle Kocher.

Kocher was appointed the CEO of Engie in 2016 after the company lost billions in 2015. Bringing the energy giant back to its feet was a challenge Kocher took head-on.

Her first move was to initialize a three-year plan to reduce the company’s reliance on fossil fuels and shift it to renewable energy sources. She achieved this in 2 years.

Kocher has brought back Engie to profitability in the short period she has been there, and we can only anticipate the milestones the company is bound to undertake under her leadership.

She advocates for women empowerment and aims to have 35% of the high potential staff in Engie as women. She is currently the only woman running a CAC 40 company.

Kocher’s leadership style is direct; she is a good listener, decisive, and visionary. Having been brought up by a religious mother, spirituality and values are essential to her. She has five children, proving to all women that you can have a successful career and still make it as a parent.

1. Mary Barra

“Do every job you’re in like you’re going to do it for the rest of your life, and demonstrate that ownership of it” – Mary Barra.

Being the first woman CEO in the automotive industry, Mary Barra makes the top of the list of business leaders to watch out for this year. She advocates for women empowerment and is one of the most influential women in the business space.

As chairwoman and CEO of General Motors Company, Barra has a record of leading the exit of GM from the Russian market, pulling the Chevy brand out of Europe, and winding down Australian manufacturing project; these have all been bold moves.

She facilitated the launch of ride-sharing service Maven and the all-electric Chevy Bolt, acquired Cruise Automation, and made a worthwhile investment in Lyft.

She plans to transform mobility and make GM a leader in electric vehicles and self-driving cars. The company aims at making Cadillac the company’s lead electric vehicle brand.

She uses inclusive leadership, believing each employee has a lot to offer. Such an attitude draws the best efforts from her employees.

With the recent 7% increase in stock price, the year looks bright for Barra.

These business leaders are disrupting the future of the business world with their great leadership skills and innovations. Some have taken paths no one else dares to take and made moves that appeared crazy.

But with their boldness, diligence, and exceptional leadership skills, they have made their ventures even more successful and influence the path that fresh entrepreneurs may take in the future.

The world can only sit back and anticipate their next moves.

Related: 6 Strange Facts About Inspirational Leaders

The post Top 10 Business Leaders to Watch Out for in 2019 appeared first on Get a Dose of Inspiration | Motivation Matter .

Motivation is a key element for the success of any team.

As a leader, you may try all sorts of methods to give your team motivation such as giving praise, using inspiration, organizing seminars, and rewarding good performance with awards, but it’s not always enough.

Besides, these kinds of motivation can be expensive and may not always work as you hope. Organizing seminars require money which may not always be available. In most cases, your team members may be all fired up after the workshop but a week later, the fire dies, and you are back to an unproductive team.

Awards may leave some members feeling unappreciated, depressed and this can affect their performance.

The right kind of motivation should flow from within the members. All you need to do as the leader is stir it up with the right words.

Show your team members that you believe in them, and they will believe in themselves. Show them that they are an essential contributor to the team’s success and they are sure to act the part. Empower them through positive affirmations.

What are positive affirmations?

These are positive statements that fight the self-sabotaging negative thoughts preventing individuals from living their best life and being productive. The statements have to be positive, in the present tense, and spoken as facts, not possibilities. Positive affirmations drive away depression, help bolster confidence, and ignite neural pathways to motivate individuals towards healthy behavior, according to MS Broudy.

Why give positive affirmations to team members?

Appreciate your team members for doing a good job. Although one person may appear like they are directly linked to the team’s success, the truth is everyone played a part.

Take for instance a soccer game, the goal striker may appear as the primary person responsible for the team’s success, but they could not have done it on their own. If the member who passed the ball had done it wrong, there could have been no goal.

Every member needs to be appreciated.

The right affirmations can build an emotional connection within the group and bring the members closer to you as their leader, and this is when the performance goes over the roof.

Your Members Want to Feel Loved

As a leader, your role is to be a nurturer to your team members. They want to feel that you care about them and their feelings. They should feel more than just tools to get you to your goals.

The affirmations should, therefore, come from your heart and feel real. They should show that you truly believe in them and are not just saying the words. They should display the affection you feel for the members.

They Want to Feel Recognized

No one likes to feel that everything would go on the same if they were or weren’t part of the team. Every member wants to feel recognized for the part they play and feel that you intentionally chose them for that role whether it is sales team success, or a sports meet competition.

Make them feel special, like the group’s success depends on their skills. Having the feeling that they matter, makes them want to put in their best effort.

Show them Admiration

Each of your members has a unique set of talents and skills. One member’s unique set of skills coupled with the other’s different set of skills create the magic.

But for this magic to happen, they each have to give their best. No one can give their best if they are consistently ignored and taken for granted. Shower them with praise and bring them out as people worth emulating.

Give Them the Feeling of Security

Everyone fails at one time. Your members need to feel that one slip-up does not mean the end of a career, or dream.

Assure them that you believe in their ability to gracefully rise from a fall and achieve more than they did before the failure. Tell them that you still believe in their abilities and strength to rise.

Related: Why Criticism Should Be a Priority for Team Motivation

Make Them Feel Accepted

A team includes their leader, and there’s no separation between you and the members. You are all one. You all have a common objective that holds you together. Every member should feel part of that family. A family lifts each other, and that is what your affirmations should give to your members.

Make them feel loved, accepted, and significant. Show your team members respect and don’t present yourself as better and above them.

How to Give Affirmations to Team Members

Giving the affirmations to your team members individually gives the statements more meaning. You can personalize the affirmations by mentioning the member by name, stating their achievements and giving specific details on their unique skills and contribution to the group’s success.

Here are 20 positive affirmations to get you started.

1.      You are a significant contributor to the team’s success.

2.      You are confident in your abilities.

3.      You are a respectable team member, and you accord the same respect to your partners.

4.   You are patient and persistent.

5.   You can accomplish anything.

6.   You empower your team members toward greatness.

7.      You are an unbeatable fighter.

8.      You are successful; success is in your nature.

9.      You are full of energy and great ideas.

10.  You love challenges and tackle them fearlessly.

11.  You see failure as an opportunity.

12.  You are irreplaceable.

13.  You have something unique to offer and share.

14.  You are creative and intelligent.

15.  You are passionate about the goals and committed to the team.

16.  You value each member’s opinion.

17.  Your positive attitude inspires success.

18.  You are the best.

19.  You are a master of efficiency

20.  We are a family bound together by a desire to succeed.

A leader’s words are very powerful at motivating his/her team members. The words can break or build the members’ morale to work. The right words can promote cohesiveness within the team.

Use the above positive affirmations or create your own, tailored to your team’s needs. Ensure your words come from within you and make the members feel loved, recognized, admired, secure, and accepted.

These affirmations, in turn, provide trust and support within the team. Members develop positive attitudes that promote forgiveness and unity.

In addition to verbal praise, companies may consider providing employees with more benefits. For example, companies can set up activities such as lucky wheel and bullet screen lottery to revitalize the company and enhance employee loyalty. 

Choosing what kind of prize is also a subject of study. Generally speaking, exquisite and luxurious Company Pens are widely used because they have practical value and can become symbols of identity. The pen body is engraved with elements such as employee names, positive language, and brand logos, and employees will undoubtedly feel the company’s dedication.

A habit of continually uplifting your team is, without doubt, the path to a perfect team.

Did you find these positive affirmations useful? More on this topic in our Ultimate Guide to Motivating Leaders and Teams.

The post 20 Positive Affirmations for Work to Boost Team Motivation appeared first on Get a Dose of Inspiration | Motivation Matter .