Why Try To Get Out Of Your Box, When You Can Use What's In It?
A great way to sell your book might be to package it with someone else’s.
A great way to sell your webinar might be to ask an industry leader to add your product to their education bundle.
A great way to get people to see the remarkable work you create may be to publish it on different group-blog or community platforms.
You may want to create on your own, but that doesn’t mean you can’t sell your art with others.
Stay Positive & Why Pass Up On A Win-Win
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Answer that question in as few words as possible.
Do you want to surprise people?
Save trees?
People may resonate with your work, but they will resonate much more if they know what your goal is.
Not to mention, people generally want to help you accomplish it. All work is a teamwork sort of thing as long as the team knows your goal.
Stay Positive & Go Share Your Story
Perhaps your partners, your employees, your teammates don’t need gold stars. Maybe they don’t need the bonus incentive to do extra work. It’s possible the reward system is a band-aid to a larger problem, not the solution to it.
There’s a few things I know for a fact when it comes to getting others to go the extra mile, take on more work, create something remarkable in addition to their job description.
1) Praise. I don’t need to show you the statistics of those who would rather receive less pay if it meant more recognition. And there is this. Endorsed by the one and only. I give email shoutouts to my team of writers when one of them does something way in advance or something remarkable and unasked. Everyone sees who the shoutout is for and why.
2) Passion. As manager or whatever similar title you hold, it falls under your job description to encourage your team to work with passion. If they are assigned a task that doesn’t suit them (and you should know without them mentioning it), then work out a different way to frame the objective to ignite the fire in their belly. You achieve this by acting on fact number three.
3) Connection. You must connect with each individual to learn what encourages them to go past all expectations. Every one is different and to treat them or reward them all the same is a tragedy. You wouldn’t treat all your customers the same, why would you your team?
The question isn’t what can you reward them with for working extra. The question is how can you get to know them better to learn what drives them to do more.
Often times, simply by connecting, it is reward in and of itself.
Stay Positive & Toss The Gold Stickers And Bonuses, Your Team Deserves More
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I was ignorant when I began building teams. I didn’t necessarily make a big mistake, I simply wasn’t as efficient in my gathering of team members as I could have been. Early on I thought the best team members were the ones who were extroverted, spoke up in classes, sought extra work out and openly challenged things often. (Yes, basically people like myself.)
Doing so left out two extremely important categories of team members.
1) People who are extroverted and speak up, but only when called upon.
2) People who are introverted in the environment you see them in, but who are extroverted when on their own turf.
I don’t believe there are people who are introverted 24/7. I don’t buy into the idea that those who are extremely intelligent and passionate about something can do so quietly. They may put on a decent illusion, but if you get to the heart of what they love, there’s no stillness, quietness or introveredtness.
There’s talent all around you. What makes you a good leader (and gets you a winning team) is when you’re willing to actively call on people to join you as well as meet them on their own turf.
There’s a regularly held belief that if manager’s employees don’t see their managers doing tasks that they (the employees) are set to do, then the manager misses out on important respect. For example, a store manager needs to stock, run the register and reorganize the decor section (it’s one of the worst kept sections) in order to earn the trust of their employees as well as inspire them.
The same goes for those wanting to build a winning team. You’ve got to meet people on their level, ask to learn from them and show them what you already know. You’ve got to connect.
You might be able to gain a following sitting behind a computer screen, but you’ll never build a winning team.
Stay Positive & Go Build A Winning Team
When I call forth a team of bright-minded, intuitive individuals to come up with and execute a project idea, we usually don’t find the end.
It doesn’t say much about the specific team members. Like I said, they are all intelligent, all creative and all ambitious. The problem is what I call the Lottery Project Effect.
To them (to anyone I call on) it’s as if they’ve been given the chance to buy a lottery ticket. They show up to the first meeting, they arrive, bringing a determined and creative aura with them. They’re ready to win the lottery.
As Seth Godin says, “The thrill of possibility, the chance for recognition, the chemical high of anticipation. That’s what people pay [show up] for.”
Buying a lottery ticket incites the anticipation and thrill. On the project end, though, being called on is the lottery ticket purchase. The thing is, they don’t cash in the ticket when the project is complete. They’re cashing in the ticket when they show up. The opportunity to create is the reward. They’ve won. But then starts the hard work.
If you didn’t know already, most people who win the lottery end up unhappy in the long run and continue to buy lottery tickets. So it goes on the project side, the thrill of possibility dies down, the chance for recognition that they hoped for starts being fulfilled the moment they meet other team members, the chemical high of anticipation gets trumped by the idea of “I’ve just won the lottery, now what the hell do I do?”
As the project leader, do you keep giving them lottery tickets? Or wait for a team that isn’t interested in the lottery.
Stay Positive & Tough Call, Huh? (That’s the Lottery Project Effect for you.)
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I know a thing or two about teams. I’ve made runs – some successful, some not – at creating teams for many different creative projects. I’ve led a strategy team for a startup. I’ve led over a dozen writers for a newspaper. I’m a strong believer in the idea that you can’t be a leader without a team. So it goes, I know a lot about team membership.
My favorite team role is also the member of the team that ambitious leaders forget about most. That member is what I call the Enforcer.
It’s not uncommon to find a team that’s lacking an Enforcer. Most believe the leader is supposed to be the Enforcer. This is untrue. There’s a strong distinction between leading and enforcing. A simple difference is: the leader points in the direction the team needs to go and the Enforcer makes sure they go that direction. Two separate roles.
If you’re leading a team and finding incomplete tasks, unmet deadlines, stalling morale… it’s not that you’re a poor leader, it’s just likely your missing a member of your team.
Stay Positive & Don’t Forget The Enforcer
People want you to succeed. And when you get people to be a part of your accomplishments, you don’t only become stronger, they do too.
Stay Positive & Hedonism Is More Fun With Partners
Garth E. Beyer
