Brent Filson's Action LeadershipTM Report is a monthly e-zine helping leaders achieve more results, faster results (continually).
In this issue: THE MOST IMPORTANT WORD IN LEADERSHIP, THE "M" WORD.
Subscribers who have not received their free report, "Brent Filson's 49 Tips On Using Action To Get Results" and "Quick Speech" download, click www.actionleadership.com
"Authority is a poor excuse for leadership. Poor leaders order people to do a job. Action leaders have those people choose to be the cause leaders of that job -- for more results, faster results (continually)." –Brent Filson
Vol. 1 Number 5 - November, 2003.
Publisher: The Filson Leadership Group, Inc.
brent@actionleadership.com
(413)458-4403
www.actionleadership.com
(c) Copyright 2003 The Filson Leadership Group, Inc.
Kindly forward this e-zine to anyone you know who is interested in being a better leader. If you are receiving this issue as a forward and would like to get your own free subscription, please visit our website at www.actionleadership.com
WE WILL NOT DISTRIBUTE YOUR ADDRESS TO ANYONE.
PERMISSION TO REPRINT: You may reprint any items from "The Action Leadership Report" in your own print or electronic newsletter. Please include "by Brent Filson" with the following paragraph:
Reprinted from "Brent Filson's Action Leadership Report," a free e-zine helping leaders be more effective. Subscribe at www.actionleadership.com and receive Brent Filson's free report: "49 Tips On Using Action To Get Results" and the "Quick Speech" download.
This issue: THE MOST IMPORTANT WORD IN LEADERSHIP, THE "M" WORD.
SECTION 1: Brent Filson's Weekly Tips To Lead By.
Week 1: The M Word.
Week 2: Physical Action And Results.
Week 3: Their Choice.
Week 4: Be There.
SECTION 2: The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly.
SECTION 3: Guest Report
SECTION 3: Points of Light.
SECTION 5: News.
================================
SECTION 1: Brent Filson's Tips To Lead By
(Apply these tips week by week throughout the month.)
================================
Week 1: The M Word.
Leadership that isn't fundamentally motivational is leadership that is stumbling in the dark. After all, don't you think you'll get more results by having people want to go from A to B instead of ordering them? Instilling that "want to" in others, in other words motivating them, marks the difference between good results and great results.
But many leaders misunderstand the true meaning of motivation. And if you misunderstand its meaning, then you can't do it. This month, we'll look at the essential elements of motivation and how to apply it consistently.
First, let's be clear about what motivation is. The word derives from the Latin root "to move." Motivation involves movement. What is the nature of this movement? The Latin root indicates it's not just movement but also "that which sets movement." In other words, motivation is both about movement and that which triggers movements.
Don't get me wrong. I'm not splitting etymological hairs. This subtle double meaning in the very root of the word motivation represents a manifest leadership lesson for you.
This lesson can be understood within the context of the four rules of motivation. Break these rules, and you'll probably fail to motivate people. -- Or you may get movement but possibly in the wrong direction.
Rule 1. Motivation is physical action. Note that the first two letters of the word are the first two letters of words such as "motor", "movement", "momentum", "motion". Those words denote physical action. Motivation isn't what people think or feel but what they physically do. Furthermore, it is not simply engaging in physical action but also preparing for physical action. In other words, there is action and also the one who triggers the action.
Rule 2. Motivation is their choice. Understand that when you want the people you lead to be motivated, the act of being motivated is not your choice, it's their choice. To be motivated is always the choice of the people we lead. Motivation can't be done to people. People must "do" motivation to themselves. Leaders communicate, and the people they lead motivate themselves.
Rule 3. Emotion drives motivation. The words emotion and motivation come from the same Latin root "to move". When you want to move people to take action, engage their emotions.
Rule 4. Generally speaking, the best environment in which to motivate people is in face-to-face speech.
This week, with these concepts in mind, begin to get a clear understanding of motivation by studying the past. This exercise will sharpen your ideas on motivation. Who were the three most effective leaders in history? Why were they effective? Who were the three least effective? Why were they ineffective? Who are the most effective leaders in your industry? Why are they effective? Who are the least effective leaders in your industry? Why are they ineffective? Who are the most effective leaders in your organization? Why are they ineffective? Now go back over each answer and tie it to motivation or lack there of. What motivational lesson is there in each answer?
Week 2: Physical Action And Results.
Let's work on the rules one at a time. Each day of this week have one person you work with take specific, physical action. Remember, motivation isn't about what people think or feel but about what they physically do. Link that action to results.
This may seem like a simple, even simplistic, approach to leadership. However, once you begin to see your leadership interactions in terms of physical action, you'll see your leadership, and the way you get results, in fresh ways.
For instance, in my seminars, participants develop Action Plans designed to achieve measurable and continual results back on the job. I have them challenge the cause leaders they enlist to take physical action by asking them, "What three or four leadership actions, PHYSICAL ACTIONS, will you take to achieve the results we need?" The difference between people simply saying they will execute their part of the Plan and their committing to specific physical actions leads to a significant difference in results.
Week 3: Their Choice.
People who simply take some action are useless to the organization. The useful ones are those who take action for results. For the end of all action in an organization is results. Therefore, the best action is freely chosen action directed toward specific results.
This week, when you face a particularly tough challenge, avoid meeting that challenge by ordering people; instead, have people make the choices to meet the challenges.
A particularly effective way to have them make the right choices is to ask them questions.
Here is a tip that you can start using immediately to become a more effective leader. Put question marks, not periods, at the end of your sentences. That's one of the best ways of developing an environment in which people are making the choices for results.
Ronald Gross, author of SOCRATES WAY, (www.SocratesWay.com) said that some of the most powerful questions a leader can ask are: "What is our challenge here? Why is it worth tackling? How do we feel about it? Do we have the facts we need? Are we asking the right questions? What results are we really seeking? What's the worse thing that can happen? Why are we having this problem? Can you explain that further? What if we do nothing? Have we explored creative approaches? What do you propose? And what can I do to help?"
Week 4: Be There.
A middle-manager told me, "Where is our new CEO? We call him‘Elvis'. We seldom see him in person. There're only purported sightings of him. Maybe I'll see a blurry photo of him in one of those supermarket check-out tabloids."
In another company, a secretary said, "Our division chief stays in his office most of the time. But on the rare occasions that he's out and about, the only evidence of his existence is the odor of his pipe smoke."
Isolation may be good for monks but it's an affliction with leaders. When you want to motivate people, relationship is the name of the game; and you can't have a relationship, at least a productive one, as an absentee leader.
This week, make an effort to get out and about. This is more than MBWA, (Management By Walking Around). The key is what you do when walking around. Don't be about simply sharing information but also creating the environment for motivation. People hunger to be motivated. Even more: people are ALWAYS motivated. And if they won't be motivated for your cause, they will be motivated for their cause – a cause that may be at cross purposes with yours.
Make no mistake: Motivation isn't about bands playing, people cheering, hugging, and singing kombaya. Those are only the surface features of motivation. True motivation happens in the profound quiet of human relationships. So, in your interactions, strengthen those relationships by keeping the rules of motivation in mind. When interacting with people, challenge them to take physical action, understand that motivation is their free choice, their HEARTFELT free choice.
One of the best ways to do this is through the Leadership Talk, which we will tackle next month.
====================================
SECTION TWO: The Good. The Bad. The Ugly.
====================================
THE GOOD:
Doug Collins, member of the '72 U.S. Olympic team that ultimately lost the gold medal on a disputed call to the Soviet Union, describes the dramatic moments at the end of the game.
"We're losing by one. The Soviets have the ball. The clock's running out. I hide behind the center, bait a guy into throwing a pass, knock it loose and grab it. A Russian goes under me as I'm going up for the lay-up. I'm KO'd for a second. The coaches run to me. John Bach, one of the assistants, says, 'We gotta get somebody to shoot the fouls." But coach Hank Iba says, 'If Doug can walk, he'll shoot.' That electrified me. The coach believed in me. I can't even remember feeling any pressure. Three dribbles, spin the ball, toss it in, same as in my backyard. I hit 'em both and got the lead. I didn't know what I was made of until then."
We truly motivate people by showing them we believe in them when the pressure is on.
THE BAD:
A CEO wrote a memo to all employees in a major company that had been losing market share: "The trouble with this company is that there are too many people standing around water coolers talking instead of doing their jobs." Many employees were enraged by the comment. They called it disparagingly, "The Water Cooler" memo. It became a rallying cry – not to do better work but to belittle the CEO, who shortly after that was replaced.
Blaming people in order to motivate them can create a circular firing squad.
THE UGLY:
Noel Coward was directing a rehearsal in which an actor kept interrupting him and insisting that he had to understand the motivation of the character he was playing. Finally, Coward lost his patience and said, "Your motivation is your pay packet on Friday. Now get on with it!"
As a leader, avoid chasing the shadows of motivation; grab its substance.
========================
SECTION THREE: Guest Report: "Six Aspects of Motivation" by John Allen.
========================
This month's guest has spent more than 40 seasons meeting the challenges of motivation. John Allen just retired as a high school head football coach in Western Massachusetts. His teams won more than 200 games, a record in the area. I asked John to talk about the lessons he has learned over the decades in motivating players. As you'll see, there are some great leadership tips here.
"The first aspect of motivation is education. The aim of all education is self-understanding. And I would say that's the aim of motivation too. When a coach is motivating his players, both the coach and the players come to understand new things about one another for the benefit of both of them. Somebody said that the secret of good education lies in respect the teacher has for the pupil. Likewise, the foundation of motivation is built on the like and respect both the coach and the players have for one another. Without liking and respecting you, your players can't be consistently motivated to keep trying to improve practice after practice and game after game. When I talk about being liked, I'm not talking about winning a popularity contest. A coach has to ask his players to make commitments that they might not like at all. They may not even like the coach for challenging them so. But still, there should be that basic like for one another no matter how rocky their relationships sometimes get. So motivation can only happen in an environment of respect, education, and accomplishment.
"The next aspect of motivation is fun: I've found that one of the best ways to get players motivated is to make sure they're having fun and they're believing that playing on the team is important and useful to them. Having fun is not a ‘party time' kind of feeling but a much deeper feeling that comes with the joy of accomplishing something special. There is a lot of drudgery in football, just as there is a lot of drudgery in any job. But that doesn't mean that the overall experience they are having can't be fun. Once being on the team stops being fun for the player, once a coach makes it a consistently negative experience, you'll have a de-motivated player who will start asking himself, "What's the use of doing this?" When players are asking that, they hurt themselves and the team.
"The next aspect has to deal with stretch -- having people do more than they ever thought they could do. That's what coaching's all about, bringing qualities out in players they never thought they had. Sure, winning is important, but ultimately, it's what they take away from their experience on your team. And what they take away lasts a lifetime. I've always believed that you can motivate a player to do more than he thought he could do -- yet you could not make him do things that he was not ready to do. The difference is vital. And knowing the difference takes having an important relationship with that player. There are coaches that simply yell at players and criticize them and give them technical pointers on the game but who don't have a true relationship with those players. Those are poor coaches. I've found that if a player likes you, he'll do anything for you. Therefore, you have a special obligation to have him stretch, to have him go beyond what he thought his capabilities are. The way you tell the difference between having him do more than he thought he could do and having him avoid doing what he is not ready to do is in the relationship you have with him. Relationship is everything. The more you develop close relationships with your players, the more you're able to discern that critical difference, and the more you can consistently have them reach beyond their narrow definitions of their capabilities.
"The fourth aspect of motivation is communication: You always have to tell your players how they are doing and where they fit on the team. Players, from the bench-warmers to the stars, want to know how they fit in with the team. I make sure that every player knows they are part of the team, how they are part of the team, and how they can do better as a team player to make the team better. So, I walk around a lot, talk to players, look in their eyes, connect with them. Also, I have an open-door policy. I tell players that they can come and talk with me any time. If they feel there is a better way we should be doing things, they should come and tell me. If they think they are better than another player, they should come in and talk with me about it. The idea is to be engaged with your players in constant individual and team improvement; so, anybody who can help me with that is welcome to have their say.
"The fifth aspect is enthusiasm. Emerson said that every great accomplishment that occurred in this world was the triumph of some enthusiasm. If I'm not enthusiastic, my players won't be. I get my enthusiasm for one simple thing: I love the game, I love what I'm doing. If you don't love what you're doing, you can't motivate anybody. There's a saying that I've hung up on the locker room wall. "Enthusiasm is caught – not taught." You can't teach enthusiasm. You have to show it. You have to be it when you're around the players. I can't stand coaches who yell and scream at players and call that enthusiasm. Most players that come to you are already enthusiastic. People are naturally enthusiastic. It's the system or the coach who kills the player's enthusiasm, not the player himself. So I don't see enthusiasm as something that I create in others. It's naturally there. It's something I have to nurture.
"The sixth aspect is humility. If you want to motivate players, you yourself have to be humble. Humility is putting the concerns of other people before your own concerns. Put your players concerns before yours and they'll respond to you and your coaching and the challenges you give them in ways that never cease to surprise."
--John Allen. John can be reached at the FLG website, www.actionleadership.com
=========================
SECTION FOUR: Points of Light.
=========================
"The lowest forms of leadership involve rewards and punishments." -- Brent Filson
"What's the word for pretending that people can change their basic nature? ‘Motivation'." Dilbert
"Getting along is not necessarily getting results."-- Brent Filson
"NCOs ran the fight, no matter how much an officer got on the radio." A Marine First Sergeant in an after-action report on the sweep to Bagdad.
"In the factory we make cosmetics. In the store, we sell hope." Charles Revson.
"To motivate people to take action for an idea, wrap that idea in a human being." Brent Filson
"Seeing is believing but feeling is God's own truth." Irish saying.
"A trembling in the bones is more convincing testimony than all the dry, documented deductions of the brain." Bertram Russell
"The next time I'll just let her rip." Al Gore explaining how he would conduct another campaign if he ran for President again.
"I offer neither pay nor quarters nor provisions. Instead, I offer hunger, thirst, forced marches, battle and death. Let him who loves his country with his heart, not with his lips, follow me." Italian patriot, Guiseppe Garibaldi.
==================
(SECTION FIVE: News.
==================
Brent Filson's ActionPlan leadership sessions at the Princeton Club: November 21, December 17.
Brent's latest book, The Leadership Talk: Motivating People To Get More Results Faster, has just been printed. It is due for publication in the spring of ‘04. Prepublication copies are available now for bulk purchase.
"Quick Speech" is up and running! If you have a speech to give, go to the Quick Speech button at www.actionleadership.com and download the template. Fill in the blanks, and you'll have a powerful speech. Quick Speech is the highly popular companion supplement to Brent's book, EXECUTIVE SPEECHES, 51 CEOS TELL YOU HOW TO DO YOURS. Quick Speech has sold thousands of copies, but now it is available to you for free. Remember, the speech is not an end in and of itself but the gateway to The Leadership Talk. Learn to give speeches Brent Filson's way and you'll be better grounded to give Leadership Talks later on.
Brent is booked in a number of speaking this fall and winter, bringing the methodologies of Action Leadership to ever widening audiences. In addition, he is being interviewed on radio and TV shows. Interested in having him on your show or at your meeting, go to the Action Leadership website and click on either the "meeting planner" button or the "press room" button.
The Filson Leadership Group, Inc. is putting together a CD collection of interviews with leaders, called the "Leaders Speak" Series. It will begin this month and can be found on the Action Leadership website. Click on "Leaders Speak CD Series." Brent says, "I want to interview leaders from a broad spectrum of human endeavor to be represented. Don't be surprised to find landscape contractors, gang leaders, horse trainers, sports coaches, as well as business and political leaders. Leadership is practiced by practically everyone, and we will bring it to you on the CDs in all the richness of human relationships." For more information, call the F.L.G. headquarters, 413-458-4403 or email Brent at brent@actionleadership.com
**********Earn Referral commissions**********
Commissions can be earned selling Brent's books and product as well as helping him get booked for speaking engagements. For more information, email: commissions@actionleadership.com
In this issue: THE MOST IMPORTANT WORD IN LEADERSHIP, THE "M" WORD.
Subscribers who have not received their free report, "Brent Filson's 49 Tips On Using Action To Get Results" and "Quick Speech" download, click www.actionleadership.com
"Authority is a poor excuse for leadership. Poor leaders order people to do a job. Action leaders have those people choose to be the cause leaders of that job -- for more results, faster results (continually)." –Brent Filson
Vol. 1 Number 5 - November, 2003.
Publisher: The Filson Leadership Group, Inc.
brent@actionleadership.com
(413)458-4403
www.actionleadership.com
(c) Copyright 2003 The Filson Leadership Group, Inc.
Kindly forward this e-zine to anyone you know who is interested in being a better leader. If you are receiving this issue as a forward and would like to get your own free subscription, please visit our website at www.actionleadership.com
WE WILL NOT DISTRIBUTE YOUR ADDRESS TO ANYONE.
PERMISSION TO REPRINT: You may reprint any items from "The Action Leadership Report" in your own print or electronic newsletter. Please include "by Brent Filson" with the following paragraph:
Reprinted from "Brent Filson's Action Leadership Report," a free e-zine helping leaders be more effective. Subscribe at www.actionleadership.com and receive Brent Filson's free report: "49 Tips On Using Action To Get Results" and the "Quick Speech" download.
This issue: THE MOST IMPORTANT WORD IN LEADERSHIP, THE "M" WORD.
SECTION 1: Brent Filson's Weekly Tips To Lead By.
Week 1: The M Word.
Week 2: Physical Action And Results.
Week 3: Their Choice.
Week 4: Be There.
SECTION 2: The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly.
SECTION 3: Guest Report
SECTION 3: Points of Light.
SECTION 5: News.
================================
SECTION 1: Brent Filson's Tips To Lead By
(Apply these tips week by week throughout the month.)
================================
Week 1: The M Word.
Leadership that isn't fundamentally motivational is leadership that is stumbling in the dark. After all, don't you think you'll get more results by having people want to go from A to B instead of ordering them? Instilling that "want to" in others, in other words motivating them, marks the difference between good results and great results.
But many leaders misunderstand the true meaning of motivation. And if you misunderstand its meaning, then you can't do it. This month, we'll look at the essential elements of motivation and how to apply it consistently.
First, let's be clear about what motivation is. The word derives from the Latin root "to move." Motivation involves movement. What is the nature of this movement? The Latin root indicates it's not just movement but also "that which sets movement." In other words, motivation is both about movement and that which triggers movements.
Don't get me wrong. I'm not splitting etymological hairs. This subtle double meaning in the very root of the word motivation represents a manifest leadership lesson for you.
This lesson can be understood within the context of the four rules of motivation. Break these rules, and you'll probably fail to motivate people. -- Or you may get movement but possibly in the wrong direction.
Rule 1. Motivation is physical action. Note that the first two letters of the word are the first two letters of words such as "motor", "movement", "momentum", "motion". Those words denote physical action. Motivation isn't what people think or feel but what they physically do. Furthermore, it is not simply engaging in physical action but also preparing for physical action. In other words, there is action and also the one who triggers the action.
Rule 2. Motivation is their choice. Understand that when you want the people you lead to be motivated, the act of being motivated is not your choice, it's their choice. To be motivated is always the choice of the people we lead. Motivation can't be done to people. People must "do" motivation to themselves. Leaders communicate, and the people they lead motivate themselves.
Rule 3. Emotion drives motivation. The words emotion and motivation come from the same Latin root "to move". When you want to move people to take action, engage their emotions.
Rule 4. Generally speaking, the best environment in which to motivate people is in face-to-face speech.
This week, with these concepts in mind, begin to get a clear understanding of motivation by studying the past. This exercise will sharpen your ideas on motivation. Who were the three most effective leaders in history? Why were they effective? Who were the three least effective? Why were they ineffective? Who are the most effective leaders in your industry? Why are they effective? Who are the least effective leaders in your industry? Why are they ineffective? Who are the most effective leaders in your organization? Why are they ineffective? Now go back over each answer and tie it to motivation or lack there of. What motivational lesson is there in each answer?
Week 2: Physical Action And Results.
Let's work on the rules one at a time. Each day of this week have one person you work with take specific, physical action. Remember, motivation isn't about what people think or feel but about what they physically do. Link that action to results.
This may seem like a simple, even simplistic, approach to leadership. However, once you begin to see your leadership interactions in terms of physical action, you'll see your leadership, and the way you get results, in fresh ways.
For instance, in my seminars, participants develop Action Plans designed to achieve measurable and continual results back on the job. I have them challenge the cause leaders they enlist to take physical action by asking them, "What three or four leadership actions, PHYSICAL ACTIONS, will you take to achieve the results we need?" The difference between people simply saying they will execute their part of the Plan and their committing to specific physical actions leads to a significant difference in results.
Week 3: Their Choice.
People who simply take some action are useless to the organization. The useful ones are those who take action for results. For the end of all action in an organization is results. Therefore, the best action is freely chosen action directed toward specific results.
This week, when you face a particularly tough challenge, avoid meeting that challenge by ordering people; instead, have people make the choices to meet the challenges.
A particularly effective way to have them make the right choices is to ask them questions.
Here is a tip that you can start using immediately to become a more effective leader. Put question marks, not periods, at the end of your sentences. That's one of the best ways of developing an environment in which people are making the choices for results.
Ronald Gross, author of SOCRATES WAY, (www.SocratesWay.com) said that some of the most powerful questions a leader can ask are: "What is our challenge here? Why is it worth tackling? How do we feel about it? Do we have the facts we need? Are we asking the right questions? What results are we really seeking? What's the worse thing that can happen? Why are we having this problem? Can you explain that further? What if we do nothing? Have we explored creative approaches? What do you propose? And what can I do to help?"
Week 4: Be There.
A middle-manager told me, "Where is our new CEO? We call him‘Elvis'. We seldom see him in person. There're only purported sightings of him. Maybe I'll see a blurry photo of him in one of those supermarket check-out tabloids."
In another company, a secretary said, "Our division chief stays in his office most of the time. But on the rare occasions that he's out and about, the only evidence of his existence is the odor of his pipe smoke."
Isolation may be good for monks but it's an affliction with leaders. When you want to motivate people, relationship is the name of the game; and you can't have a relationship, at least a productive one, as an absentee leader.
This week, make an effort to get out and about. This is more than MBWA, (Management By Walking Around). The key is what you do when walking around. Don't be about simply sharing information but also creating the environment for motivation. People hunger to be motivated. Even more: people are ALWAYS motivated. And if they won't be motivated for your cause, they will be motivated for their cause – a cause that may be at cross purposes with yours.
Make no mistake: Motivation isn't about bands playing, people cheering, hugging, and singing kombaya. Those are only the surface features of motivation. True motivation happens in the profound quiet of human relationships. So, in your interactions, strengthen those relationships by keeping the rules of motivation in mind. When interacting with people, challenge them to take physical action, understand that motivation is their free choice, their HEARTFELT free choice.
One of the best ways to do this is through the Leadership Talk, which we will tackle next month.
====================================
SECTION TWO: The Good. The Bad. The Ugly.
====================================
THE GOOD:
Doug Collins, member of the '72 U.S. Olympic team that ultimately lost the gold medal on a disputed call to the Soviet Union, describes the dramatic moments at the end of the game.
"We're losing by one. The Soviets have the ball. The clock's running out. I hide behind the center, bait a guy into throwing a pass, knock it loose and grab it. A Russian goes under me as I'm going up for the lay-up. I'm KO'd for a second. The coaches run to me. John Bach, one of the assistants, says, 'We gotta get somebody to shoot the fouls." But coach Hank Iba says, 'If Doug can walk, he'll shoot.' That electrified me. The coach believed in me. I can't even remember feeling any pressure. Three dribbles, spin the ball, toss it in, same as in my backyard. I hit 'em both and got the lead. I didn't know what I was made of until then."
We truly motivate people by showing them we believe in them when the pressure is on.
THE BAD:
A CEO wrote a memo to all employees in a major company that had been losing market share: "The trouble with this company is that there are too many people standing around water coolers talking instead of doing their jobs." Many employees were enraged by the comment. They called it disparagingly, "The Water Cooler" memo. It became a rallying cry – not to do better work but to belittle the CEO, who shortly after that was replaced.
Blaming people in order to motivate them can create a circular firing squad.
THE UGLY:
Noel Coward was directing a rehearsal in which an actor kept interrupting him and insisting that he had to understand the motivation of the character he was playing. Finally, Coward lost his patience and said, "Your motivation is your pay packet on Friday. Now get on with it!"
As a leader, avoid chasing the shadows of motivation; grab its substance.
========================
SECTION THREE: Guest Report: "Six Aspects of Motivation" by John Allen.
========================
This month's guest has spent more than 40 seasons meeting the challenges of motivation. John Allen just retired as a high school head football coach in Western Massachusetts. His teams won more than 200 games, a record in the area. I asked John to talk about the lessons he has learned over the decades in motivating players. As you'll see, there are some great leadership tips here.
"The first aspect of motivation is education. The aim of all education is self-understanding. And I would say that's the aim of motivation too. When a coach is motivating his players, both the coach and the players come to understand new things about one another for the benefit of both of them. Somebody said that the secret of good education lies in respect the teacher has for the pupil. Likewise, the foundation of motivation is built on the like and respect both the coach and the players have for one another. Without liking and respecting you, your players can't be consistently motivated to keep trying to improve practice after practice and game after game. When I talk about being liked, I'm not talking about winning a popularity contest. A coach has to ask his players to make commitments that they might not like at all. They may not even like the coach for challenging them so. But still, there should be that basic like for one another no matter how rocky their relationships sometimes get. So motivation can only happen in an environment of respect, education, and accomplishment.
"The next aspect of motivation is fun: I've found that one of the best ways to get players motivated is to make sure they're having fun and they're believing that playing on the team is important and useful to them. Having fun is not a ‘party time' kind of feeling but a much deeper feeling that comes with the joy of accomplishing something special. There is a lot of drudgery in football, just as there is a lot of drudgery in any job. But that doesn't mean that the overall experience they are having can't be fun. Once being on the team stops being fun for the player, once a coach makes it a consistently negative experience, you'll have a de-motivated player who will start asking himself, "What's the use of doing this?" When players are asking that, they hurt themselves and the team.
"The next aspect has to deal with stretch -- having people do more than they ever thought they could do. That's what coaching's all about, bringing qualities out in players they never thought they had. Sure, winning is important, but ultimately, it's what they take away from their experience on your team. And what they take away lasts a lifetime. I've always believed that you can motivate a player to do more than he thought he could do -- yet you could not make him do things that he was not ready to do. The difference is vital. And knowing the difference takes having an important relationship with that player. There are coaches that simply yell at players and criticize them and give them technical pointers on the game but who don't have a true relationship with those players. Those are poor coaches. I've found that if a player likes you, he'll do anything for you. Therefore, you have a special obligation to have him stretch, to have him go beyond what he thought his capabilities are. The way you tell the difference between having him do more than he thought he could do and having him avoid doing what he is not ready to do is in the relationship you have with him. Relationship is everything. The more you develop close relationships with your players, the more you're able to discern that critical difference, and the more you can consistently have them reach beyond their narrow definitions of their capabilities.
"The fourth aspect of motivation is communication: You always have to tell your players how they are doing and where they fit on the team. Players, from the bench-warmers to the stars, want to know how they fit in with the team. I make sure that every player knows they are part of the team, how they are part of the team, and how they can do better as a team player to make the team better. So, I walk around a lot, talk to players, look in their eyes, connect with them. Also, I have an open-door policy. I tell players that they can come and talk with me any time. If they feel there is a better way we should be doing things, they should come and tell me. If they think they are better than another player, they should come in and talk with me about it. The idea is to be engaged with your players in constant individual and team improvement; so, anybody who can help me with that is welcome to have their say.
"The fifth aspect is enthusiasm. Emerson said that every great accomplishment that occurred in this world was the triumph of some enthusiasm. If I'm not enthusiastic, my players won't be. I get my enthusiasm for one simple thing: I love the game, I love what I'm doing. If you don't love what you're doing, you can't motivate anybody. There's a saying that I've hung up on the locker room wall. "Enthusiasm is caught – not taught." You can't teach enthusiasm. You have to show it. You have to be it when you're around the players. I can't stand coaches who yell and scream at players and call that enthusiasm. Most players that come to you are already enthusiastic. People are naturally enthusiastic. It's the system or the coach who kills the player's enthusiasm, not the player himself. So I don't see enthusiasm as something that I create in others. It's naturally there. It's something I have to nurture.
"The sixth aspect is humility. If you want to motivate players, you yourself have to be humble. Humility is putting the concerns of other people before your own concerns. Put your players concerns before yours and they'll respond to you and your coaching and the challenges you give them in ways that never cease to surprise."
--John Allen. John can be reached at the FLG website, www.actionleadership.com
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SECTION FOUR: Points of Light.
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"The lowest forms of leadership involve rewards and punishments." -- Brent Filson
"What's the word for pretending that people can change their basic nature? ‘Motivation'." Dilbert
"Getting along is not necessarily getting results."-- Brent Filson
"NCOs ran the fight, no matter how much an officer got on the radio." A Marine First Sergeant in an after-action report on the sweep to Bagdad.
"In the factory we make cosmetics. In the store, we sell hope." Charles Revson.
"To motivate people to take action for an idea, wrap that idea in a human being." Brent Filson
"Seeing is believing but feeling is God's own truth." Irish saying.
"A trembling in the bones is more convincing testimony than all the dry, documented deductions of the brain." Bertram Russell
"The next time I'll just let her rip." Al Gore explaining how he would conduct another campaign if he ran for President again.
"I offer neither pay nor quarters nor provisions. Instead, I offer hunger, thirst, forced marches, battle and death. Let him who loves his country with his heart, not with his lips, follow me." Italian patriot, Guiseppe Garibaldi.
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(SECTION FIVE: News.
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Brent Filson's ActionPlan leadership sessions at the Princeton Club: November 21, December 17.
Brent's latest book, The Leadership Talk: Motivating People To Get More Results Faster, has just been printed. It is due for publication in the spring of ‘04. Prepublication copies are available now for bulk purchase.
"Quick Speech" is up and running! If you have a speech to give, go to the Quick Speech button at www.actionleadership.com and download the template. Fill in the blanks, and you'll have a powerful speech. Quick Speech is the highly popular companion supplement to Brent's book, EXECUTIVE SPEECHES, 51 CEOS TELL YOU HOW TO DO YOURS. Quick Speech has sold thousands of copies, but now it is available to you for free. Remember, the speech is not an end in and of itself but the gateway to The Leadership Talk. Learn to give speeches Brent Filson's way and you'll be better grounded to give Leadership Talks later on.
Brent is booked in a number of speaking this fall and winter, bringing the methodologies of Action Leadership to ever widening audiences. In addition, he is being interviewed on radio and TV shows. Interested in having him on your show or at your meeting, go to the Action Leadership website and click on either the "meeting planner" button or the "press room" button.
The Filson Leadership Group, Inc. is putting together a CD collection of interviews with leaders, called the "Leaders Speak" Series. It will begin this month and can be found on the Action Leadership website. Click on "Leaders Speak CD Series." Brent says, "I want to interview leaders from a broad spectrum of human endeavor to be represented. Don't be surprised to find landscape contractors, gang leaders, horse trainers, sports coaches, as well as business and political leaders. Leadership is practiced by practically everyone, and we will bring it to you on the CDs in all the richness of human relationships." For more information, call the F.L.G. headquarters, 413-458-4403 or email Brent at brent@actionleadership.com
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