ARTICLE 10
MOTIVATING PEOPLE IN ADVERSITY
CEO-IT journal (Asia)
There are six key techniques which can be used by CEO's to motivate employees during difficult times
MOTIVATING PEOPLE IN ADVERSITY
There are six key techniques which can be used by CEO's to motivate employees during difficult times
It is very easy to motivate people when everything is going well, when the orders are flowing in and the news is invariably good. The real challenge for any CEO is how to motivate people during difficult times. Throughout history no company in the world has enjoyed continued success. Even the best companies experience setbacks, failures and sustained periods of downturn. Thus during the late eighties and early nineties a company with such a high reputation as IBM suffered a major lapse in its fortunes. More recently the British retailer Marks and Spencer, an icon on commercial respectability was suddenly plunged into crisis as its revenues were halved within a period of months.
It is adversity which separates a genuine leader from a textbook one and this is particularly pertinent in the aftermath of September 11th in the USA and the economics threats this has brought about.
A poor CEO will allow his people to become demoralised at times of crisis. Their motivation will turn to demotivation as they fear for their jobs and feel increasingly insecure. Such demotivation will precipitate the decline and put the company further at risk.
Conversely a talented CEO will know how to motivate his people during adversity and bring the best out of them such that the storm can be weathered and the probability of survival and future prosperity is maximised.
Research for my new seminar MOTIVATING PEOPLE IN ADVERSITY (to be launched in 2002) shows that there are six key techniques which must be applied when times are difficult. Each will be dealt with in turn, but summarily they are:
Generate and sustain HOPE
- Focus on SHORT TERM goals
- Encourage CREATIVITY and RISK-TAKING
- Keep EVERYONE INVOLVED
- Give TIME to people
- LISTEN and LEARN
1. Generate and sustain HOPE
The great psychiatrist, Viktor Frankl, a survivor of the concentration camps during the second world war demonstrated that those prisoners who survived the terrible rigours of the regime were those who had HOPE. Those who lost hope of survival were more likely to die.
To quote Nelson Mandela, writing about his 27 years of imprisonment in his book 'The Long Walk to Freedom': "I am fundamentally an optimist. There were many dark moments when my faith in humanity was sorely tested, but I would not and could not give myself up to despair. That way lay defeat and death."
No matter how bad your situation there is always HOPE that things will get better. The role of the CEO is to be positive about this hope, to inspire his people and convince them that they will escape from the adversity they are currently suffering.
2. Focus on SIMPLE SHORT TERM goals
When times are good it is fashionable to talk about a long-term vision. When times are bad it is much more appropriate to encourage your people to focus on short-term goals, even daily goals.
The explorer Ranulph Fiennes writes in his book 'Beyond the Limits' " To avoid being crushed by the very thought of all the difficulties and hazards of the task ahead, divide your target up into a number of much smaller goals and then think of them only at one at at time".
By focusing on short-term goals in times of crisis a CEO enables his people to be refreshed by a steady stream of simple achievements. This will encourage and motivate them. They will be carried by the flow of short-term success and eventually emerge from the adversity.
3. Encourage CREATIVITY and RISK-TAKING
In the book 'Against the Odds' the CEO James Dyson states "There are 5 billion people out there thinking in train tracks, and thinking what they have been taught to think. Go in an be illogical." He has proved this time and time again for example with the invention of the bag-less vacuum cleaner which his company manufactures and markets worldwide.
During adversity you cannot have a teams of people and a company which continues to think and behave in the same old routines. To extricate yourself from the crisis it is essential that you start doing things differently. The tried and tested answers will not provide the solution to the adversity.
The solutions to the problems facing your company cannot just emanate from the CEO but from anyone in the organisation. This means that you must encourage creativity and risk-taking.
On 10th October 2001 I was privileged to hear Jack Welch being interviewed. Jack Welch has perhaps been the most successful CEO in the world over recent times. One thing struck home "Out of adversity there is always opportunity". The role of a CEO is to encourage employees to create those opportunities.
4. Keep EVERYONE INVOLVED
Two ex-CEO's of airlines have demonstrated that when a company is on the edge of bankruptcy it is critical to involve every single employee in plans to resuscitate the company. Thus Jan Carlzon ex CEO of SAS Airlines used a 'little red book' entitled "Let's Get in There and Fight" to stimulate the motivation of his people and involve them in getting the airline back to profitability.
Gordon Bethune did the same thing in turning Continental Airlines around when he was CEO there. He came up with a 'Go Forward Plan' which involved every single employee.
5. Give TIME to people
Adversity breeds uncertainty and insecurity. Negative emotions begin to swirl around inside employees' minds. This can distract them and inhibit performance. An essential role for the CEO therefore is to give TIME to his employees so they can go through a cathartic process and give vent to all their feelings about the current situation.
Chung Po-Yang (Po Chung), founder of DHL in Hong Kong calls this 'mental and emotional re-engineering'. It is essential he says to take a full inventory of positive and negative emotions and then get rid of the negative emotions.
6. LISTEN and LEARN
Closely related to the above is the essential discipline of listening and learning from your front-line people. Peter Senge, author of the 'Fifth Discipine' states "In most companies that fail, there is abundant evidence in advance that the firm is in trouble. This evidence goes unheeded, however, even when individual managers are aware of it. The organization as a whole cannot recognize impending threats, understand the implications of those threats, or come up with alternatives."
The role of the CEO is therefore to keep his ear close to the ground, especially at times of adversity. The mere fact that he listens and learns from his people will enhance their motivation. Front-line people feel valued when CEO's seek their advise.
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THE STIMULUS CLINIC
Each month Dr Freemantle answers a question put to him by readers. The following question has been raised by quite a few people.
Q: How do you deal with employees who are always complaining: the moaners and the whingers?
Dr David Freemantle replies:
A: Be totally open and honest with them. What I do is call them in and tell them how I feel about them. I then invite them to focus on all the positive things in the company and the team they work with. However I would also listen very carefully to the points they are making. Most times there is no smoke without fire. So it is important to take heed of what they are saying and attempt to agree with them the action that can be take to address the problems they so eloquently state.
Should you have a question for Dr Freemantle's STIMMULUS CLINIC
please e-mail him at: team@superboss.co.uk He will do his best to reply personally. One question will be chosen every
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR: DR DAVID FREEMANTLE
Dr David Freemantle is one of the
world's leading experts on customer service and motivation. He has
written fourteen best-selling business books including the widely
acclaimed "What customers like about you" and more recently "The
Stimulus Factor". These books are based on his extensive research
worldwide. His book THE EIGHT SUNS OF ASIAN SERVICE was published
in Singapore in November 2002.
He spends much of his
time touring the world running both public and in-house seminars.
He is based in Windsor UK where he lives with his Venezuelan wife Mechi and two children Ruth-Elena and Linnet. He welcomes contact by e-mail from readers (e-mail address as above).
ARTICLE COPYRIGHT © Dr David Freemantle
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