Get Motivated!

September 1, 2010 by Taylor Studios in Other

Yesterday, Myrna and I went to Peoria for the conference. Wow! What a day! We saw Brian Tracy, General Colin Powell, Former First Lady Laura Bush (via satellite), Rudolph Giuliani, Terry Bradshaw, Zig Ziglar, Dr. Robert Schuler, James Smith, and many others speak. It was a full day that ran from 8am to 5:30pm with very few breaks. I’m glad I took a few notes because it was certainly information overload (but that’s a good thing!).

All the speakers, while talking about different topics such as business, finance, and leadership, had common themes: self responsibility, being a parent rather than expecting teachers to be, the Golden Rule, God, not worrying about the past, and being optimistic rather than pessimistic. The phrase “what goes around comes around” was mentioned a few times, too.

What gives someone the right to act like they are better than anyone else and belittle someone just because they work as a janitor or trash collector or an assistant? How is their position any less important than the high-powered CEO? How could we function without them? If General Powell can take 15 minutes out of his day to sneak away from his security detail to talk to the parking attendants and if he can write thank you notes to his assistants and others in the Secretary of State’s office, why can’t all bosses and supposed leaders? If you don’t think encouraging your subordinates and thanking them for jobs well done takes too much time and wouldn’t have any effect, I challenge you to start doing it and see if there’s a shift in office morale.

We are very fortunate to have great bosses here at TSI; note of gratitude, lunch dates, and verbal praise are common. I believe that the morale and self esteem is directly tied to productivity. To build a great team, a leader must take the time to recognize and encourage those who help the company achieve its goals. By doing so, it lets the employee know that what they do is valued and appreciated. On the other hand, if an employee doesn’t help the company reach its goals, then the boss needs to step up and be willing to make the tough decision to let the person go before that person’s performance affects the morale of others.

As an employee, it’s important to strive to make a difference every day, be self-aware and open to feedback, and to always maintain integrity. Constantly growing and evolving is important for each of us, not only professionally, but also personally. What kind of life do we have if we become stagnant and simply go through the motions? What’s the point? Terry Bradshaw told us to smile. He said he smiles all the time because then people won’t realize he really doesn’t have anything to say. I don’t think that’s true, but he did get a chuckle from the audience. He also said to be optimistic. Life is too short to be a pessimist (or a realist as some around here like to say).