One of the key on the road to success is motivation. If a leader has motivated people, everything can be done. If not, the situation can become very bad.
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You maybe heard this opinion: "What motivation? I pay them, that should be enough!" But this not how things are working in the real world because every leader deals with people, not robots or machines. A machine can live very long and happily with enough fuel but even the best employee will leave the company if not treated right. And this is a normal situation among humans.
If you ever read or hear that someone left the job because "the atmosphere was bad," "I just can't do that anymore," or if a good worker leaves the company without having a stellar offer from the other side, you may start to suspect right away that the motivation is the problem. Or, to put it absolutely clear, there is no motivation in that company at all.
So, where to start? The first step, no doubt about it, is communication. Your communication skills will make you or break you as a leader. Those skills also define how successful is your company. CEOs should be able to communicate their ideas in a clear and concise way, and they must be able to present even the most complicated business situation in plain English so that every person in the company can understand it.
Remember that most of errors in everyday work come from misunderstanding, from a message that wasn't clear. Maybe somebody didn't hear well, maybe the idea was foggy, maybe it's too complicated - but don't assume just like that that your employees don't want to work as you said. Take your time and go through your ideas for as long as needed for everybody to understand, embrace, and execute them.
The second step is to establish methods of rewards. The salary is the first step here. Everybody works for money, unless you are running a charity, but you can - and should - go further. Reward your people based on their achievements and give them a bit more, but make clear rules what has to be done to earn the reward and be careful not to set your goals too high - nobody will achieve them - or too low where everybody will achieve them.
And the third, and in many situation, the most important thing to do is to treat your employees like human being. It may sound rude but in essence that's exactly it: treat them as welcomed friends. There should be a distance because it should be known who's the boss but be warm, find some time for employees with problems and try to help them. Or - just listen. Sometime you will help just by listening, let's say you will be a kind of psychiatrist, just you won't deliver them a bill.
There is another fact some employers don't appreciate much and you certainly know that situation: an exceptional worker got a better office. Some would say, "What the heck? Like an office means something..."
Well, it does. A lot. It's not about an office itself, it's about recognition. A new office, a new computer, a better seating position, a day or few hours free just like that - every reward has much bigger impact on your employees than you might think. It doesn't have to be expensive for the company, it just has to be some kind of reward.
If you manage to do all of that, you will be amazed how many people will go with you, their leader, through fire and ice, willing to pull the company out from the worse situation imaginable and lead you to the top. Those are the proudest moments a leader can experience. ■