A tremendous source of wisdom for me has been the numerous Jamaican Proverbs bestowed upon me by my relatives. I have found them to be extremely useful in the development of leadership and management skills. For the upcoming weeks I will prepare a series of blogs centered around the gems of leadership…Jamaican Proverbs.
Tek time mash ant yuh fin im belly. TRANSLATION: Take time in killing an ant, you will find his belly. MEANINGS AND EXPLANATIONS: Take the necessary time to investigate and you will get the answers you seek.
As leaders we often have the question, how do I motivate my team? I offer that if time is taken to simply investigate (get to know) your team, the solution of motivation will be evident.
As the leader you can create a work environment that will influence growth in employee motivation fairly quickly by taking the following four easy steps.
Detail the information employees need to perform their jobs commendably. Remember they want to be members of the in-crowd, people who know what is happening. They want the information crucial to do their jobs. They also need information to make good decisions about their work.
Meet with your team and update them about information that may have an impact on their work. Changing due dates, customer feedback, product improvements, training opportunities, and updates on new departmental reporting or interaction structures are all important to employees. Communicate more than you think is necessary.
Visit the work area of your team that is affected by a change and simply talk to them and hear their concerns. Validate what the change means for their job, goals, time allocation, and decisions.
Implement an open door policy for your team to talk, share ideas, and discuss concerns. Each section leader must understand that problems that they can and should solve will be directed back to them, but it is the leader’s job to listen.
Never fail to congratulate
your team on life events such as graduations, new babies, inquire about vacation trips, and ask about how both personal and company events turned out. The vital action is that you care enough to stay tuned into their life events and activities.