10 Ways To Inspire Your Team

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More and more people feel stuck at work and are looking for validation. Not only
do they want to be heard, but more importantly they want to know that their
contributions are being noticed and not taken for granted. Not for the sake of
attention, but more so because they want to know that their skill sets are still
relevant and useful and that they are making a difference to advance the
organizations they serve. With professional development budget cut-backs in
recent years, employees have had to start investing in themselves as concerns
grow about where their capabilities best fit in their organizations and what their
futures hold.

At the same time, leaders are trying to make their employees feel more secure in
order to keep the ship afloat, aware that if too much disruption leaks out into the
workplace, there is risk of losing top-talent which is difficult and costly to replace.
In this ever changing workplace terrain, leaders need to think differently about how
to keep their teams on track. They must become more intuitive; diverting from the
traditional ways of leading that have become too predictable and uninspiring.

Many leaders are out of touch and disconnected from their employees, focusing
solely on their own personal agendas. This is most evident in leaders that still try
to use a one-size-fits-all approach to earn trust, build loyalty and stimulate team
and individual performance.

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Leaders must understand that in todays new workplace, there does not exist a
single recipe to encourage employees to perform better. Rather, its about how to
maximize the ingredients in order to create hundreds of recipes that are customized
and authentic; that provide long-term continuity and impact. To get you started,
here are ten ways to inspire teams to optimally perform.

1. Solving, Not Just Selling

Stop selling your employees about why they need to perform better. Explain why
their contributions help solve problems and contribute to the companys
advancement. Employees are more inclined to step up their game when they know
their work can add-value to the healthier whole.

For example, I would always show my team the outcome of their collected efforts.
We would go to the manufacturing plant and watch a new product on the production
line or to the stores to see new label designs on the shelves. Inspire performance
by connecting the dots of your employees efforts.

Its not only about what you are trying to sell, but also what the team is able to
solve along the way.

2. Purpose, Not Just Profit

Employees are inspired by knowing that their hard work makes a difference beyond
profitability. Employees want leaders who see beyond the obvious and look to
create wider reaching impact that extends into the community and influences social
causes.

Look what IKEA did in 1995, after they discovered that some of the factories that
manufactured and sold carpets to IKEA were exploiting child labor. Founder Ingvar
Kamprad and his IKEA executives immediately took action, addressing the problem
from within and taking all steps necessary to ensure that an IKEA product never
again would be created by manufacturers that exploited children. IKEA then
solidified its commitment to eradicate the problem at its root. The company
partnered with UNICEF to create a program to help prevent child labor by changing
the conditions that lead to child labor in the first place, namely: poverty, hunger,
and illiteracy. Today, this same program serves more than five hundred villages in
Indias Carpet Belt, an area with a population in excess of 1.3 million.

3. Know the Ingredients, Not Just the Recipe

The secret recipe to inspiring employees is to know the ingredients of the people
you are inspiring. People want to know that their leaders understand their
tendencies, aptitudes and behaviors well-enough to best work with and motivate
them. The best leaders and coaches always do.

When you spend time with your employees, make it matter. Dont just expect your
time and title to inspire them. Employees want a leader that pays attention and
genuinely cares about them.

Great leaders take the time to know the ingredients before they can create the best
recipe for success. Employees are most inspired when a leader takes the time to
know them and show that they have their best interests at heart.

Leaders that know how to prepare thousands of recipes are those who continually
make the ingredients better and keep them from spoiling.

4. Learning, Not Just Lecturing

Employees are tired of being told what to do. They are eager to learn and remain
relevant. But they find it difficult to be inspired by leaders who only inflict fear. In
todays fast-paced world, people dont have time for lectures; they want continuous
coaching and leaders that are paying attention. Eager to grow, they want objective
feedback.

Simplify the process. Dont exhaust your employees through complexity and buzzwords. People seek direction that is too the point. Remember, most people have
mastered the art of execution. Let your employee do their jobs well by providing
the right tools and support to make them better at carrying out their roles &
responsibilities. Be a great teacher, but quickly shift into facilitator mode. People
are inspired when given the opportunity to learn how to do new things. Stop
lecturing and start teaching.

5. Innovation, Not Just Ideation

Employees want to create impact. Allow them to be part of the innovation-based

projects in your company by letting them get their hands dirty. Ideation is
important, but being part of implementing the ideas that come to life can be a more
exciting and meaningful growth opportunity for your employees that will inspire
them to perform.

Additionally, provide your employees the resources to be innovative in their work.

Stay close enough to your employees activities to know the 2 or 3 tools and/or
resources that each would require to take their performance to the next level.

When given the right tools and resources, the best employees will instinctively
challenge themselves to be more innovative in their work and will perform better.
That is why incentives inspire performance but remember that money alone is not
the sustainable answer. Focus on giving your employees the opportunities to
elevate their individual value while serving the needs of the company.

Allow innovation to inspire performance.

6. Significance, Not Just Success

Helping your employees to be successful is important, but not inspiring enough in

itself. People want much more out of their leaders and if you can activate the
natural talents of your employees in ways that make them feel more responsible
about their jobs, you will be inspiring something that is more significant and has
longer lasting impact.

The next time you conduct an employee performance review, evaluate each
performance in two areas: success and significance. Lets say that sales is a
performance category and your employee has performed at 90% of plan. Thats
good. After you discuss what is required to reach 100% of plan, measure the
significance of the sales generated. For example, perhaps reaching 90% of plan
generated enough revenue to hire 5 more people or contributed to a particular
community outreach plan as a result of a local market push. You never know the
significance of someones performance until you measure it; and when you do, its
an effective way to inspire even greater performance.

7. Ownership, Not Just Accountability

Enforcing accountability is a key component to sustaining performance momentum.

However, when you can give your employees ownership in the process of defining
how accountability is enforced you inspire trust and a desire to go above and
beyond the call of duty.

Giving your employees ownership means that you have shared and entrust them
with your authority. You are now allowing your employees to call the shots based
on what they believe is in the best interest of the team and the organization. For
example, create a special project and allow an employee to take ownership of it.
Outline your expectations for the end-result, but allow him or her to take charge of
the project. Agree to meet once-a-week and observe the change in attitude and
desire to perform.
Use the results and what you learned along the way about the
employee as a means to customize your approach to best inspire that employees
performance long-term. Again, this is a great way to learn more about the

ingredients as noted in point #3.

8. Respect, Not Just Recognition

Beyond appreciation and praise, show your respect and admiration for the work of
your employees. While people want to know they are respected, you must establish
the ground rules for how respect is earned.

There are too many recognition addicts in the workplace. In a world of fierce
competition, we have come to believe we are our own best allies. We believe we
must rely only on ourselves. We believe we can sell ourselves better than anyone
else. But this attitude puts our long-term careers in danger.

Unfortunately, too many people want recognition because they forgot the
significantly greater value of earning respect. Re-train your employees about the
importance of respect and lead them in how to earn it. When they see the greater
impact respect delivers, they will be inspired by your example.

9. Personal Growth, Not Just Responsibility

Historically, leaders have used increased responsibility to inspire performance.

While this approach may still have merit, it is when a leader can help foster the
professional growth and development of their employees that performance most
flourishes. Leaders must take more time to mentor and / or guide their employees
development and growth.

Encourage networking opportunities and performance development forums. If the

budget gets cut, put your money where your mouth is. For example, purchase
copies of a book that you believe will help your employees advance and grow in
their work.

Phil Jackson, former basketball coach of the Los Angeles Lakers and Chicago Bulls,
has won 11 NBA championships the most in history. Jackson became known for

giving each one of his players a specific book that would help the player be a better
teammate, decision-maker, leader, etc. on the basketball court.

10. Trust, Not Just Transparency

Ultimately, it is a relationship based on trust that inspires employees to perform.

When you are mindful of managing and concurrently implementing points #1 #9
this will certainly jump-start your ability to earn trust with your employees and
inspire their performance. When you trust someone, you believe in them. People
are inspired when they know that their leaders believe in their capabilities to
deliver.

As a young executive, I had a boss that I trusted, not only because he was
transparent with me but more importantly because he believed in me. He
created an environment that helped me grow and prosper. For example, he
assigned the most significant corporate growth strategies to my team and me. This
level of trust inspired us to perform not only for the sake of seizing the unique
opportunity that was given to us but equally to prove to those above my boss that
it was the right decision for the organization. We wanted our boss to earn respect
and recognition for the bold decision he made to place such a significant amount of
trust on the youngest leader and team in the organization and not to let him
down.

Inspiring employees to optimally perform requires a leader who can see beyond the
obvious in people. Inspiration comes not from something that you turn on and off,
but rather from constant behavior triggered through multiple ways that makes
your employees feel that they matter and that you genuinely care.