The Link Between Trust and Motivation

How many times a week do you hear leaders say, “We’ve got to motivate our people?” Those words and the actions they generate seldom lead to a sustained improvement in motivation. The above phrase is one of the most common phrases leaders or managers use every day. So what’s wrong with it?

Lack of Understanding

The phrase shows a lack of understanding about what motivation is and how it is achieved. Leaders make a mistake when they use perks to increase motivation by making people happier, like handing out free candy. They put a manipulative spin on the subject of motivation that backfires for several reasons:

1. Historical Research

The notion that improving things in the workplace will somehow make people more motivated is flawed. Over 50 years ago, Frederick Herzberg taught us that increasing the so-called “hygiene factors”  (read that more candy) is a good way to reduce dissatisfaction…

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Does Trust Really Matter?

Lead Today

I heard the Secretary of State for the United States give an interview the other day. He said that ?we? don?t always get to choose who the United States negotiates with. He said some of the people the US government talks to are pretty awful people. He also said it doesn?t matter if they are trusted or not, we still have to talk to them.

That makes me glad I?m not in government. I get to choose not to talk to or do business with people I don?t trust. I hope that is true for you as well.

It?s also true of most people you know. If you want to be trusted you?ll need to earn it. There are some people who freely give their trust to anyone until it?s proven a person can?t be trusted. These days however the people who make you earn their trust far outnumber those…

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The Link Between Trust and Motivation

How many times a week do you hear leaders say, “We’ve got to motivate our people?” Those words and the actions they generate seldom lead to a sustained improvement in motivation. The above phrase is one of the most common phrases leaders or managers use every day. So what’s wrong with it?

Lack of Understanding

The phrase shows a lack of understanding about what motivation is and how it is achieved. Leaders make a mistake when they use perks to increase motivation by making people happier, like handing out free candy. They put a manipulative spin on the subject of motivation that backfires for several reasons:

1. Historical Research

The notion that improving things in the workplace will somehow make people more motivated is flawed. Over 50 years ago, Frederick Herzberg taught us that increasing the so-called “hygiene factors”  (read that more candy) is a good way to reduce dissatisfaction…

View original post 1,062 more words

Body Language 20 Language of the Eyes

My article last week was about body language with the eyes. I kept the focus (no pun intended) on three aspects of ways we communicate with our eyes. They were: 1) eye contact, 2) pupil dilation, and 3) blinking rate. There are a host of other ways we communicate with gestures around the eyes, and this article will deal with several of them, even though no single blog article can cover them all.

Eyebrows

The eyebrows can add many meanings that you likely will recognize. When you see a person raise both eyebrows at the same time, it generally is a signal of surprise and it is normally a positive gesture, as in the attached photo. We see this look on the faces of kids on Christmas Day when they look out the window and see a pony in the back yard.

Raising both eyebrows can also be a gesture…

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Does Trust Really Matter?

Lead Today

I heard the Secretary of State for the United States give an interview the other day. He said that ?we? don?t always get to choose who the United States negotiates with. He said some of the people the US government talks to are pretty awful people. He also said it doesn?t matter if they are trusted or not, we still have to talk to them.

That makes me glad I?m not in government. I get to choose not to talk to or do business with people I don?t trust. I hope that is true for you as well.

It?s also true of most people you know. If you want to be trusted you?ll need to earn it. There are some people who freely give their trust to anyone until it?s proven a person can?t be trusted. These days however the people who make you earn their trust far outnumber those…

View original post 195 more words

Do You Know What People Buy?

Lead Today

I was being interviewed a while back for a magazine article and the writer asked me a question that I had to think hard about before answering.

She asked in all my years of working with professional salespeople what surprised me the most.

I couldn?t boil it down to one thing. There are two. One is that in all my time in sales and sales training I?m surprised by how many salespeople are unprepared to respond to customer objections. Even objections they hear over and over again like the price objection. Each time it comes up it?s like the first time they have ever heard it. A sales professional should have a thoughtful, well prepared response that speaks to value. Instead many salespeople stammer and stutter and basically begin the negotiations process.

They will not receive full price in return for the full value they offer.

The other biggest surprise…

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Enlightenment poem

Zen Flash

One stroke dissolves knowledge,
Struggle no longer needed.
I will follow the ancient path,
Not lapsing into quietude.
Noble conduct beyond sound and form –
No trace anywhere.
Those who have mastered the way
May call this an unsurpassable activity.

– Xiangyan Zhixian

quoted in the book “The Essential Dogen: Writings of the Great Zen Master”

With thanks to Gems of Wisdom – Zen Tradition

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Enlightenment poem

Zen Flash

One stroke dissolves knowledge,
Struggle no longer needed.
I will follow the ancient path,
Not lapsing into quietude.
Noble conduct beyond sound and form –
No trace anywhere.
Those who have mastered the way
May call this an unsurpassable activity.

– Xiangyan Zhixian

quoted in the book “The Essential Dogen: Writings of the Great Zen Master”

With thanks to Gems of Wisdom – Zen Tradition

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Two kinds of suffering

Zen Flash

It can be said that there are two kinds of suffering. Perhaps ninety-five percent of the suffering we endure every day is not at all necessary. Because of our lack of insight, we cause suffering to ourselves and others, including our beloved ones. But the remaining five percent is born out of contact with the real suffering around us and inside of us. To be aware of this kind of suffering brings about compassion, the energy necessary to transform ourselves and help relieve the suffering of the world.

– Thich Nhat Hanh
Painting: © Picasso

Thich Nhat Hanh gems

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Two kinds of suffering

Zen Flash

It can be said that there are two kinds of suffering. Perhaps ninety-five percent of the suffering we endure every day is not at all necessary. Because of our lack of insight, we cause suffering to ourselves and others, including our beloved ones. But the remaining five percent is born out of contact with the real suffering around us and inside of us. To be aware of this kind of suffering brings about compassion, the energy necessary to transform ourselves and help relieve the suffering of the world.

– Thich Nhat Hanh
Painting: © Picasso

Thich Nhat Hanh gems

View original post