Leadership by Design

Leads to Success

Two series of monthly articles designed to provoke, to educate and to stimulate with concepts to help you to achieve greater clarity and focus, and to take steps to create your ideal.

Life by Design

Motivational messages to inspire to you to live your life with more success and less stress.

Business Booster Series

Research, ideas and methods to assist you in bolstering your business with more vision and less indecision.

Current Articles:
Life by Design Series

The Secret behind “The Secret”

While it is important to be able to articulate clearly the things we want in our lives, to believe as if it is already happened or already on the way, we never really successfully manifest our dreams from a place of perceived lack or limitation. In his book, ”The Power of Intention”, Dr. Wayne Dyer explains the importance of saying “yes” to life. Perhaps we don’t have the career we desire, however, we can be thankful that the work we are doing now is helping to clarify what we really want. You may not have the house or home you desire, nevertheless, feeling some appreciation of the current situation keeps your outlook and energy on a higher level. As human beings, we are hard-wired to seek higher states of expression, mastery or material affirmation of our personal growth. When you are grateful for what you have created so far, you are more inclined to attract the opportunities and resources you need to advance further.

It is natural to feel some level of tension, a source of creative energy, when confronting the gap between where you are now and where you want to be. We need some frustration or dissatisfaction to motivate us to move forward. We are constantly in the process of identifying and achieving goals, and then starting the process over again. Your unwillingness to be complacent and comfortable for very long drives you to continuously seek greater desires and dreams. Knowing that you are always on a path of self-discovery, self-realization and self-mastery, resist the temptation to let your current situation keep you emotionally or mentally stuck. Keep dreaming, keep taking small steps, and keep on believing in you and your intention to stay your course. From that place of joy and anticipation, you are much more likely to put things behind you, take bold steps and become the person you need to be to have what you desire.

You can view and/or purchase the movie The Secret at www.thesecret.tv

Business Booster Series

Motivating Employees

Given Calgary’s booming economy and the difficulty in hiring new staff, I wonder if one of the questions on the minds of business owners today is “How do I motivate and hold on to my employees?” In “The Enthusiastic Employee: How Companies Profit by Giving Workers What They Want”, author David Sirota studied 28 companies, employing 920,000 people. After his research, he believes the real question is “How do you keep management from destroying motivation?'” The data revealed, “People coming to a new job are quite enthusiastic. Most of them are very happy to be there and look forward to meeting their new coworkers. However, morale, or enthusiasm declines precipitously after five or six months”. One theory is that there is a natural honeymoon period that is bound to end; yet Sirota found that in 10% of companies, the honeymoon continues throughout a worker's entire career.

How do these organizations inspire this sustained enthusiasm and allegiance? By focusing on what their employees want. Sirota’s research determined that the three basic goals of those interviewed were:

Equity - employees want to know they are getting fair, competitive pay and benefits.
Achievement – sense of accomplishment in their work and pride in the organization and leaders.
Camaraderie – meeting and making friends, and working well together as a team.

I would add the following aspects that categorically contribute to higher levels of employee satisfaction:

Fairness - to see that everyone is treated equitably and with integrity. There are no special rules for certain groups or persons, and all individuals are held to the same level of accountability.
Growth - to evolve in their roles and be supported in attaining personal goals and advancement.
Appreciation - management takes a personal interest in each employee and respects the need for life-work balance.

In general, it is hard to be enthusiastic about an organization that is not enthusiastic about you. Employees need to be recognized, acknowledged and verbally thanked on a regular basis, not just at their annual reviews. Owners and partners must be seen as interested, enthusiastic and appreciative of each employee. How do you do this? Walk around, ask questions, show curiosity in their work. Small notices and personal one-on-one chats go a long way in inspiring employee motivation and loyalty.

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