100 Ways to Motivate Others : How Great Leaders Can Produce Insane Results Without Driving People Crazy

—Ralph Waldo Emerson
One of the most common complaints of today’s ex-
ecutives is this: The people that they supervise hate to
make changes though they are constantly being required
to in this highly competitive business environment. The
executives then tear out their hair trying to get the needed
changes accomplished.
The way we respond is that it may feel difficult to en-
courage people to change. But try this possibility: People
may not like to change, but they 
do
love to experiment!
As business consultant and journalist Dale Dauten has
observed, “Experimentation never fails. When you try
something and it turns out to be a lousy idea, you never
really go back to where you started. You learned some-
thing. If nothing else, it makes you appreciate what you
were doing before. So I think it’s true that experiments
never fail.”
So in the businesses that we coach, there are never
any changes. However, our clients’ businesses are con-
stantly
experimenting
to find what works better for the
employees, the business, and the customer. The execu-
tives simply tell their teams, “This is an experiment to see
if it works better for you and our customers. If it does,
Learn to Experiment

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great, we are going to continue doing it. If it doesn’t, then
we will modify it or get rid of it.”
And as long as you monitor it and get feedback, you’ll
find that the old-fashioned resistance to change melts away
because your employees really do enjoy a good experiment.
34. Communicate Consciously
Drowning in data, yet starved of information.
—Ruth Stanat, Global Business Consultant
We live in the information age. Your people use their
minds creatively and productively throughout the day. They
aren’t just digging tunnels; they all communicate for a living.
Now, more than ever before, communication is their
lifeblood. It is the lifeblood of every organization. Yet many
organizations leave most of their communication to chance,
to “common sense,” or to old traditions that no longer
function to keep everyone informed and included.
Communication is the source of trust and respect
within each organization, so let’s put all our cards on the
table as often as possible.
When we increase our awareness of communication, com-
munication is enhanced. When we take full responsibility
for how we communicate, the organization is enhanced.
Leadership authority Warren Bennis says, “Good lead-
ers make their people see they are at the very heart of things,
not at the periphery. Everyone feels that he or she makes a
difference to the success of the organization. When that hap-
pens people feel centered and that gives their work meaning.”

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35. Score the Performance
Performance is your reality. Forget everything else.
—Harold Geneen, CEO, ITT
Can you imagine playing a game in which you don’t
know how it’s scored? Or competing in front of judges
when you don’t know their criteria? And the judges are
not going to tell you for a long time how you did? That
would be an athlete’s nightmare.
We sat in a meeting run by Megan who was having a
hard time motivating her team to hit the company’s ex-
pected goals.
“Exactly how are we doing right now?” her team mem-
ber Clarence asked Megan from the end of the round table
around which we were all sitting for the team meeting.
“Oh, I don’t know, Clarence,” said Megan. “I haven’t
looked at the printout yet. I have a sense that we are doing
pretty well this month, but I haven’t gotten to the num-
bers yet.”
You could see the look on Clarence’s face. It was a
cross between disappointment and pain.
Later, we met with Megan alone and explained to her
why she needed to change her approach immediately if
she had any hope of motivating Clarence and his team-
mates. She had to know the score.
“I just don’t enjoy numbers,” Megan said. “I never
have. I’m not a numbers kind of person.”
“Whether you enjoy numbers or not, if you’re in a
leadership position, it is imperative to be