All over the world we find that more than business problems we have people problems. When we take care of our people problems, most of our business problems are automatically resolved.
Whenever a person says, “I cannot do”, he is really saying two things.
- Either I don’t know how to do it – which is a technical training / education issue
OR
- I don’t want to do it – in this case he is really saying two things again
- Either: I don’t care to do it- that’s an attitude issue
OR
- I feel strongly enough not to do it- which may be a values issue.
Some ingredients of success are:
- ATTITUDE – We have asked many decision makers this one question.
“If there was one thing that would make your organization more productive what would that be?”
Pretty much everyone came out with one word “ATTITUDE”. They said if our people have a better attitude we would have better teamwork, quality and our bottom line would go up.
How come under the same set of circumstances some people break records while others break themselves?
The most important word in the English language is Attitude. There was a study conducted by Harvard University which found that 85% of the time a person gets a job or promotion because of their attitude. 15% is because of the facts and figures they know. Almost a 100% of education dollars all over the world go to teach facts and figures and this accounts for only15% of success.
- SUCCESS – Everyone wants to climb the ladder to success only to find that the
ladder is leaning against the wrong building.
There are customer service and selling skills programme that teach, “How to say,
please, thank you and smile”. The big question that comes is how long we can
keep a fake smile. Besides people can see through people, can’t they? If the
smile is not sincere it is irritating. That means we need to have substance over
form, not form over substance.
- MOTIVATION – Unlike most professionals, who keep telling others,
What to do,
We take an approach
Why don’t you,
Because we believe most people already know what to do.
If you ask the person on the street they will give you all the right answers. Ask them, are they doing it? Probably not. What’s missing is the MOTIVATION; the big question is, can we motivate people? Absolutely not.
What we can do is, we can inspire people to motivate themselves. Inspiration is thinking whereas motivation is action. I cannot act for you; you have to act for yourselves. When thinking changes it starts reflecting in behavior. This is more lasting, and that’s what people are looking for.
Two major questions come up:
- Why do people get de-motivated?
- Who or what motivates the motivator?
- COMMUNICATION – Communicate with clarity and confidence.
- IT has certainly increased the speed of communication, but unless people know how to and what to communicate, they will only miscommunicate a lot faster. Guess what is the cost of miscommunication faster? It is horrendous.
- We find that most people are unable to communicate, not because of a lack of knowledge but lack of confidence.
- SELF ESTEEM – Self-esteem is the way we feel about ourselves. When we feel good, the world looks nice, productivity goes up and relationships are a lot better. The reverse is just as true. Self-esteem is inversely related to egos.
Have you seen people with egos like,
I know it all,
What do they do?
They talk down to others, don’t they? They put down others. They look down
upon others and every decision they make is more to satisfy ego than make
sense.
The question is, why does a human being put down another human being? It is
sadistic but true, there are some people in this world who feel good when the
other person feels bad. They feel superior when others feel inferior.
There is another kind of ego which is the ‘FRAGILE EGO’- where anything you say,
the other person takes it personally and gets hurt.
What do both these egos do to teamwork? – THEY DESTROY IT.
- INTERPERSONAL ISSUES – Why do people deal with us? Not because we are the smartest people but because they feel comfortable dealing with us.
What gives them the feeling of comfort? It is the X factor. How do we build the X
factor? People don’t care how much you know, they want to know how much you
care.
Why do you go to a doctor or a mechanic 10 miles away by passing 10 other
practitioners on the way? Are they the most qualified? Probably not! But
something says that we are dealing with the right person. What is that
something? It is the trust factor.
- GOAL SETTING – Accelerate growth by gaining focus. Unless people have individual goals, how can they tie up with corporate goals? Goal setting includes a holistic approach which means people take family problems to work and bring work problems to family. Their personal and professional goals must be in sync to be able to grow.
- LEADERSHIP – We find there is no such thing known as neutral leaders. Either they are good leaders or bad leaders. Good leaders actively guide, bad leaders actively misguide. Good leaders look to create more leaders, bad leaders look to create followers. Why? Because they feel insecure.
- VISION – What is Vision? It is the ability to see the invisible. If you can see the invisible you can achieve the impossible.
It is not problem solving but preempting and preventing.
- VALUES – Our credibility determines our profitability.
Profitability is not only money but goodwill too. Profitability is not the reason
why we practice values. If we practice values because of profitability, then we
should go to Hollywood or Bollywood. We practice values not because of
profitability but because we believe in them.
- CHARACTER – There is a world of difference between Reputation and Character. Reputation is what other people think of us, Character is what we know who we are. They could be two totally different things. Character determines what we would not do even if we know we will not be caught. Some people are honest because they don’t want to be caught at telling lies. They are doing the right thing for the wrong reason whereas some people are honest because they believe this is the right thing to do. They are doing the right thing for the right reason.
All of the above is only theory unless we have a system to put it in practice. A small good action is better than a great intention.
Remember, “WINNERS DON’T DO DIFFERENT THINGS, THEY DO THINGS DIFFERENTLY” ®
Author: Shiv Khera
Author, Educator, Business Consultant & a successful entrepreneur, the writer is a much sought after speaker, who often inspires and encourages individuals to realize their true potential. He has taken his dynamic personal messages to opposite sides of the globe – See more at: shivkhera.com