by Tom Connellan
We live in uncertain times — that’s pretty clear. One day the market is up,
the next day it’s down. Some firms are prospering, others hitting the wall. The
newspapers aren’t much help. Today it’s a quick recovery from the recession;
yesterday, it wasn’t really a recession; the day before that, it was a V-shaped
recovery. Tomorrow — who knows?
If ever there were a time when we wanted everyone on our team fully engaged, when we
needed that extra 5 or 10 percent, that time is now. But in the midst of all this
uncertainty and confusion, how can we keep people motivated and performing at peak levels?
It’s not easy — but it can be done. Here are twenty-one proven ways to keep
people motivated through thick and thin. Each will work for you in the appropriate
circumstance.
1. Acknowledge the situation, but be positive about overcoming it. Expectations
have powerful effects. To a certain extent, we can cause something to happen simply by
creating the expectation that it will happen. If you can persuade your sales team that
they are especially powerful and will therefore be less affected by the economic slowdown
than other teams, they will work harder, they’ll work smarter, and their confidence
will bring greater success on sales calls. Confidence is contagious — but so is
pessimism. If you create the expectation that economic uncertainty will reduce sales,
you’ll probably double the impact of that uncertainty.
You can’t solve problems by applying unfounded optimism to an imaginary situation.
You can’t just wish for improvement; you have to behave in ways that lead to
improvement. Positive expectations can and will improve the outcome because they are based
on reality — that is, knowledge of the actual situation and the steps that can be
taken to improve it.
It’s important to acknowledge the situation as it is, not as you’d like it to
be. If sales are down, acknowledge it. If you’re getting squeezed on margins, tell
people your margins are in a squeeze. But be positive about your ability to overcome
adversity. Rather than saying, "Everything’s great, and we’re going to make
headway over the next six months," it’s better to say, "Things aren’t
going so well right now, but we’ve got a strong team and we’ll be able to
overcome these temporary setbacks. It might take us eight to ten months, but we will
get there."
The same principle, of course, applies in manufacturing, banking, retailing, real
estate, or any other industry. People tend to behave according to their own expectations
and the expectations of others. To capitalize on this, acknowledge things as they are, but
create the expectation that you can overcome the issues you face.
Do not, however, confuse positive expectations with positive thinking. "Positive
thinking" is often code for "don’t acknowledge reality," and denial is
a common but misguided response to an economic slump. If business is down, telling people
sales are great just makes you look foolish. They know it’s not true, and rather than
admiring your cockeyed optimism, they’ll wonder if you’ve lost your marbles.
Customers would rather do business with a company that’s confident of success than
one that is not. Some sales will, of course, go to your competitors, and others will
naturally come to you — and these sales will not be affected much by the positive
expectations of your employees. But some customers are up for grabs, and these are the
customers your positive expectations can help you acquire and keep.
About the Author
Tom Connellan is a
motivational keynote speaker regularly used by leading firms such as
GE, Neiman Marcus, Dell, FedEx and Marriott to strengthen customer loyalty and leadership practices. When looking for a keynote
speaker, Tom probably belongs on your short list of possibilities.
