Take Charge Now!
- Comments: 10
How do things get done at the business you work at? Do you instigate what gets done or do you wait to take orders from others? If you are involved in a start-up, are you the one who takes charge and makes things get done?
If not, you’ve got a problem. DO NOT be afraid to stand out and try to push yourself and others to become innovative and more efficient. Your boss and eventually your peers will thank you.
Who doesn’t want better results for themselves and their coworkers? I know that I like to be around people who challenge and push me to do my job or task better. It is refreshing to be around people who inspire me.
If you are in a start-up, it is especially important to step up to the task of becoming a leader. I believe a leader is someone who sees a job through, all the way to the end. Seth Godin says that leaders are sometimes less concerned with how things get done, as long as they get done.
Often enough, we get caught up in the tasks of figuring out the miniscule details of each individual project and want it to be ‘perfect’ so bad we never finish it. That is a HUGE problem.
So who does this in your company? Is it you? It should be!
The best part about someone stepping up to the plate and taking responsibility for things getting done is that they inspire others to take on the same role. Founders of companies should all be leaders. They should all be making sure the company is moving forward at all times.
Getting Others to Want to Work toward the Common Goal
One of the most important roles that any leader can have is getting others to want to work for the common goal of the company. How do we do this?
First realize that everyone is working at the job that they are in for one reason or another. Find out why. This sounds simple but can be complicated to find out the ‘real’ answer. For instance, at my former job at Chase, there were people who worked there to gain experience in the finance and investing world, there were people who wanted to move up or laterally within the company, and there were people there who only wanted to be bankers and earn the largest commission checks possible.
Use this information to motivate your coworkers and employees to work better. When I say better, I mean more efficiently and smarter.
Some people are motivated by money, others by competition, and still others by fear. It is your responsibility to understand what makes your employees and coworkers tick and harness that information to make them more money and the company more profitable.
Realizing what makes each person tick is only the start, people aren’t willing to change overnight. It takes time and continued effort to get a person to change for the better but over time they will and you can have the satisfaction of making their lives, your life, and your company better of. Not to mention making more money for everyone!
For all of you who have studied psychology, you probably know the concept of positive and negative reinforcement. You must use these concepts to promote positive outcomes from those you want to influence.
Here is a List of Helpful Tips for Better Leadership
That is all I have for now but I just want to take this second to say thank you for all of you who have been commenting on my blog and giving me helpful feedback. Right now I am visiting my parents after my mom has just left surgery; so I apologize about not being as proactive in visiting other blogs and answering e-mails. I will be back on Saturday the 11th and will be returning all of the e-mails at this time. Thanks again.
Standing out is half the challenge. For the right reasons is the other half
I disagree with saying that you should always negatively reinforce bad behavior. Some people thrive off of that negative attention, plus negative reinforcement rarely accomplishes much. It can backfire and look bad on the person who is always pointing it out. It makes you look like a negative, pessimistic person. Or it can make you look like you’re out to get someone.
Building someone’s strengths is far and away a better idea. So you’re right on when you say positively reinforce good behavior. This will always achieve better results - and oftentimes quicker results.
With up to 65% of the workforce placed in roles that don’t fit their personality, experience, or skill set, we really need to be careful about the methods we use to motivate people.
Nathania thanks for the comment! I agree that often times negatively reinforcing bad behavior can both backfire and do little good. This goes back to the point of tailoring to the individual not the group. Some people must be told when they screw up and others not so much.
Great post, Josh! One of a manager’s largest goals should be to help his employees succeed, even if success means that employee ends up working somewhere else. This kind of commitment to individual success motivates employees to work harder at what they do and ultimately means success for the company.
Great post Josh!
I agree with everything in your post. Especially the part about finding out what makes each person tick. While I was reading this it reminds me of my coaching days when I used to coach football. On every team I always had players that fit into each category you mentioned. When you take that information to business it still works great! I look forward to reading more good posts!
Thanks for the link Jarkko!
I think that ‘for the right reasons’ falls into the same category of being passionate. People gravitate to pasison!
Thanks a lot for the comment Joe! These principles can really apply to any situation where you are dealing with people,
I completely agree Craig! Thanks for the comment!
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