Don’t Fall Into The Pep-Talk Rut

Contributed by Elaine Landau

Have you ever sat in a meeting in which the speaker uses the same speech he used at last year’s annual meeting? Sure, his presentation was clean and he seemed sincere, but did the employees feel like they had become part of a rerun? The President might have figured that the folks liked it the first time, so they should like it the second time. That assumption was flat out wrong. The message to the employees was simple. The President didn’t think they were an important enough audience to bother writing a new speech. Talk about demotivating your employees.

The President probably didn’t think about it much, but by not striving to improve or change his presentation, he didn’t inspire a lot of loyalty or bonding. He probably inspired some larceny and bailing. He squandered a golden opportunity to motivate his employees. He could have energized his team to promote positive thinking and excellent productivity. He could be oblivious to his blunder, but his employees weren’t. When employees leave their jobs, the president probably thinks that is the price of doing business. When another company gets a contract that his company was hoping to land, he shrugs and thinks that those things happen. Any leader who thinks in clichés, shrugs off failure, and avoids motivating employees at every opportunity is leading his troops right into the jaws of failure.

If upper management lives by the motto “business as usual” that pretty much means the same mistakes will be repeated, some deadlines will be missed and productivity will be acceptable, but not sterling. Now, if your goal is to be bold, that is an excellent game plan. But if you want a vibrant, vital workplace, filled with energized, self-actualized employees, settling for anything is a big fat mistake.

For example, a copywriter is performing her duties adequately. Her copy lacks sparkle and depth. She barely makes her deadlines because her basic computer education is lacking. To most observers, it is obvious that there is room for improvement. A manager striving to maintain the status quo won’t be concerned because she is making her deadlines. That is all that is expected of her. A manager striving to improve productivity would attack that copywriter’s problems like a pit bull and not let go until the copywriter had invested time in becoming proficient at using the computer. Without taking away from time at work, the employee could learn at home, on her own schedule. If her research is unimpressive, she could add to her knowledge by taking a free Internet lesson and free Internet tutorials. If so inspired, she could increase her proficiency with advanced tutorials in Word. With added education and more confidence in her own abilities, she will soon be hitting her deadlines easily, with good, thoroughly researched copy -- A vast improvement from the employee who was barely getting by, but met her manager’s low expectations.

Leadership sets the tone, and sets the bar
I read somewhere that leadership is not a measure of results. Results are a measure of leadership. Those words are profound and should be in the backs of the minds of managers everywhere.

If leaders speak to their employees with impassioned, honest words, those words will get through. Employees want to feel that they are a part of a bigger and better effort. They want to take pride in what they do. That pride will reflect in their work, their self-esteem and their personal and professional lives.

No leader should ever assume that employees would continue to be impressed with past efforts or accomplishments. If the company was named number one in its field two years ago, what’s been happening to that company for the last two years. The leaders should be trying to inspire employees to achieve that recognition again. And once they get the title, they need to strive to never to give it up. Our competitors shouldn’t be the ones keeping us on our toes. We should be the ones.

So the next time a manager asks an employee to do something and he/she says, “We never did it that way before,” or “That’s not my job”, don’t look to blame the employee. Look at the company leaders and know that they inspired that response. It is up to a good manager to turn that kind of thinking around.

About the Author:
Elaine Landau is a freelance writer, publicist, web site editor, and television writer with more than 15 years of experience in marketing, advertising, and publicity.

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