Friday, February 8, 2008

[Fr*e-Content] Digest Number 2595

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Carrots, Sticks and Management: Speaking of Motivation

Posted by: "BarryMaher@aol.com" BarryMaher@aol.com   barrymaher

Thu Feb 7, 2008 12:40 pm (PST)

You are welcome to use the article in your newsletter and/or



post on your website as long as you include the author's contact
info box at the end. Please let us know you're using it by
emailing _swilson@barrymaher.com_ (mailto:swilson@barrymaher.com) .

This article was adapted from "Filling the Glass" by Barry
Maher, cited by Today's Librarian magazine as "[One of]
The Seven Essential Business Books"

65 characters per line


Carrots, Sticks and Management: Speaking of Motivation

By Barry Maher



Every boss, every manager and every organization pays
lip service to leading by empowerment and positive
reinforcement.

"They swear they believe in the carrot not the stick,"
one ex-manager told me of his former employer. "But a lot of
people seem to be getting brutalized by that carrot."
("Brutalized" is actually my word. The phrase he used was
considerably more graphic. And more painful to imagine.)

He showed me several post cards from his former co-
workers. One read, "The flogging will continue until morale
improves." Another quoted Steven Wright, "For every action
there is an equal and opposite criticism."

I was reminded of a Fortune 500 vice president who
brought me to a corporate management conference a few years
back to deliver a presentation on the benefits of
empowerment. It was very well received; the vice president
himself was so inspired that he immediately leaped up and
told all his minions that they'd better be empowered from
that moment on, "Or believe me heads are going to roll." He
added, in all seriousness, "Just make sure you clear
everything with me first."

"He just empowered them to do nothing but claim to be
empowered," one of the other speakers whispered to me.

"Not quite," I said. "He ORDERED them to claim to be
empowered."

If you're managing people, try treating those you
manage as partners not peons. As Booker T. Washington
observed, "Few things help an individual more than to place
responsibility on him, and to let him know you trust him."

"Management is simple," one award-winning manager
claims. "I create incentives, small rewards, recognitions. I
believe in my people, and I show them how much I believe in
them. I get them to want to live up to my high opinion, and
then I give them the freedom to do just that."

We all need to be appreciated. There's a joke about a
guy who's stranded on a tiny desert island. One day he's
walking on the beach and he stumbles across a woman, washed
up just above the surf line. She's in bad shape and as he
reaches her, she stops breathing. Quickly he administers
mouth-to-mouth resuscitation.

After a few frightening seconds, she starts breathing
again and opens her eyes.

"You saved my life," she insists gratefully.

She brushes the hair back from her face. That's when
he realizes that he's stranded on a desert island with the
biggest box office star and the most gorgeous and most famous
beauty of the day. To avoid litigation, we'll call her
Tasmalia Thistlemore.

Time passes. The island is lush and warm, with plenty
of fruit. They build a comfortable hut. It's like Eden.
Tasmalia falls deeply in love with him, and making love
becomes their major form of entertainment. Then one day, she
notices he looks depressed. She asks what could possibly
be wrong in such an idyllic existence.

"Is there anything I can do?" she wonders.

"Well, actually," he replies, "there is something."

"Anything, darling."

"Would you mind putting on my shirt?"

That puzzles her, but she says, "Of course not," and
puts on the shirt.

"Now could you put on my pants?"

"Sure, if you think it will make you feel better."

"Good. Now put on my coat and draw a mustache on your
face." She goes along with that too. Then he says, "Now,
would you please start walking down the beach and head around
the island?"

She starts out, and he sets off in the opposite
direction. Fifteen minutes later they meet on the far side
of the island.

He rushes up to her, grabs her by the shoulders and
says, "Man, you will never believe who I'm living with!"

We all need appreciation and recognition. Appreciate
your people. Help them discover both their worth and their
potential.

When Emery Air Freight started encouraging supervisors
to use positive feedback, telling workers when they were
doing a good job rather than stressing the negative, customer
service improved and sales increased. After three years, the
company estimated the new system had made them $3 million.

That's a lot of carrots.


# # #

Author, Barry Maher, is a keynote speaker, a motivational
speaker and a leading expert on communication, leadership,
management & sales. This article is adapted from his book,
Filling the Glass, honored by Today's Librarian magazine as
"[Oneof The Seven Essential Popular Business Books." Read
Barry's other articles, sign up for his newsletter and/or contact
him at _www.barrymaher.com_ (http://www.barrymaher.com/)

**************Biggest Grammy Award surprises of all time on AOL Music.
(http://music.aol.com/grammys/pictures/never-won-a-grammy?NCID=aolcmp003000000025
48)

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