It’s Monday morning, the day after turning the clocks forward one hour for day light savings time and I’m trying to find my Monday morning shoes….Did you have trouble adjusting to the time change? My 11 year old daughter was fast asleep and I knew that she might struggle adjusting…I really wanted her to get started on the right foot so I opened my iPad and was clicking on my favorite morning song by Mandisa to rouse her out of bed. (I had used this strategy during an overnight field trip with some of her friends) This time I chose to do something different……
I found a song that I knew she liked instead of using the one that I like. It’s called Crush, by China Anne McClain. It’s an upbeat song and the lyrics remind you of a crush you may have had in middle school or high school. When her eyes started to peek open as the song played on, that’s when it happened. Yes, I started dancing and singing. I couldn’t help myself. She started laughing and then she joined in – not with the dancing, just in the singing part.
What would be the impact if more leaders chose to do things based on employee interests instead of their interests? What if leaders asked more questions instead of always telling people what to do? What if the doctor puts his/herself in the patient’s shoes and seeks to understand from the patient’s perspective, or the family member’s perspective instead of their own?
Harvey MacKay, author of How to Swim with the Sharks Without Being Eaten Alive and Dig Your Well Before Your Thirsty, faced a difficult task as a leader. He needed to reprimand one of his star employees and after struggling with what to do with the situation decided to do something different. He called the employee into his office, stood up behind his desk, greeted the employee by name and asked him to sit at his desk. Harvey took the seat on the other side and looked the employee in the eye and said, “Now, if you were me what you do about this situation?” Turns out, the employee was harder on himself that Harvey would have been. Switching seats, changing views, asking questions, doing things differently can all bring about a different result.
Are you looking to inspire more people in your work world?
Here are The 7 Secrets of Inspiring Leaders by Carmine Gallo from Forbes.com.
1-Ignite your enthusiasm (If you’re pumped up, you give your team an opportunity to get pumped up!)
2-Navigate a course of action (If you don’t know where you are going, you might just end up there.)
3-Sell the benefit (Give people the why, not just the how.)
4-Paint a picture (Help people understand through clear communication.)
5-Invite participation (An inspiring leader says, “Let’s Go”, not “You Go”.)
6-Reinforce optimism (Focus on the good stuff, more than the bad stuff.)
7-Encourage potential (Dale Carnegie said, “Give people a fine reputation to live up to.”)
These are my thoughts on the 7 secrets, to read the full article, click here:
https://www.forbes.com/sites/carminegallo/2011/07/06/the-7-secrets-of-inspiring-leaders/
