How to Motivate People in the Workplace

In this month’s newsletter, Leadership Services, Inc. would like to take a deeper look into the career and contributions of Principal Consultant Bill Terry. A brief history of Bill’s career includes a start in the field of Mechanical Engineering where he excelled and gained a reputable set of skills and experience. During his time in this field, he worked on Management Teams for companies such as Johnson & Johnson, Kimberly-Clark, and Avery Label, in positions such as Engineering Manager, Site Manager, Director of Total Quality Management and Vice President. His focus was on developing a “Team Concept” within these organizations, a concept that became wildly popular as it proved to exponentially increase productivity levels.

In 1991, Bill made the decision to set out on an entrepreneurial adventure of his own. Bill describes the events that led him to the field of Leadership Consulting as having culminated into a personal epiphany in which he realized his true destiny. He noted the following three books as having provided him with direction on this journey: The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, by Stephen Covey, Ordering Your Private World, by Gordon MacDonald, and The Road Less Traveled, by Scott M. Peck, M.D. The most significant insight he gained through these writings was the encouragement to look at who he really is. They sparked him to remember a time when he felt the most proud of himself. In doing this, he remembered himself at 12 years old selling Burpee Seeds door to door in South Carolina. He had done so well at this that he had made himself a decent amount of money. He used this money to purchase a stroller for his baby sister. It was at this time that he felt the most proud of who he was. It was in remembering this time in his life that he decided he needed to focus on doing for other people.

Consultant Bill Terry After several years in the consulting business, Bill decided to begin networking with others in his field. He was primarily looking for those in his field that shared his passion, enthusiasm, principles, and philosophies. It was during this time that Bill met Mark Gross, who was then President of Impact Training and is now President of Leadership Services, Ltd. (LSL). Bill and Mark have been working together ever since. For ten years their association was loose and informal as they collaborated with a few select clients while separately engaging their own individual endeavors.

In 2003, Mark and Bill decided to make a full commitment of their time and energies in partnering to support and serve the clients of LSL. Bill describes this partnership as that of two brothers. He describes their alliance as one of synergy in which their diverse backgrounds and skills complement each other and enable them to most effectively meet the needs of their clients. They each bring different coaching perspectives, skills, and tools providing a comprehensive value for their clients. Their shared goal is to help clients recognize and act on their personal, team, and organizational potential to yield positive results. LSL begins much of their work with the concept of “role clarity,” that of knowing who you are and your intended impact on those around you. They define their role in leadership development as serving others to identify gaps in performance and fostering commitment and responsible practices to close those gaps.

Having spent some time with Bill and listening to his story and how his life and work have evolved, it was clear that he is content, sincere, well meaning, and prideful, yet humble. He relayed that he had learned something invaluable from a recent visit with his 20-year-old niece who told him that her philosophy was to always learn from the mistakes of others. His passion about what he had learned was magnificent and demonstrated that he has a genuine respect for the ideas of others and a desire to constantly learn, grow, and share himself with others for their betterment.

The following quote from Carol Bain, an employee of JLG Industries in Scotland, effectively illustrates the impact that Bill’s coaching has on those he teaches:

“I am sure I speak for all staff who attended in thanking you again for an excellent training programme which was indeed a workshop, involving us all, one hundred percent from the beginning to end, the contents of which we are continuing to use on a daily basis. I believe that everyone, like myself, completed the course feeling much more part of the team. I am sure each of us found many areas we could relate to with, at the very least, one we are now working to improve on in both our private and working lives…”

Leadership Services continues to grow and progress as Mark and Bill's partnership continues to transform each of them as individuals. In order to fully appreciate the unique gifts that they have to assist you in meeting your unique leadership challenges, you must engage them as your partners and get to know them not only as coaches, but also as individuals. According to Bill, he can’t wait to wake up next year and see how Leadership Services, and his life, have grown and evolved!

On this edition I am pleased to present “How Full Is Your Bucket” by Tom Rath and Donald O. Clifton, Ph.D. For years I have spoken about the dilemma in business and personal relationships related to our cultures tendency toward negativism. You all know what I mean. Negative self-talk about our personal doubt, fear, and other self-recriminations can creep in to derail our motivation to act. Negative fantasies about other’s motivations and intentions against us seem too often to outweigh our positive imagined scenarios. When was the last time you saw a soap opera that had a positive spin and storyline. Or count how few workplace rumors portray the benevolent or selfless acts of others. Of course the most detrimental and observable negative expression is criticism, sarcasm, or attacking kinds of interactions.

The consequences of these types of interactions are far reaching and include breakdowns in relationships, employee morale issues, unwanted turnover, and a negative impact on employee recognition/retention efforts. “How Full Is Your Bucket” does an excellent job of relating the impact and opportunity of emotions and interactions personally and in the workplace. Our concept of energy vampires is restated in a straightforward way and provides the analogy of keeping your positive energy bucket full so you can start to fill others with the same positive energy and affirmation. Research is revealed that we experience about 20,000 moments each waking day. These moments provide opportunities or either strong positive or negative memories that are set into the imagery of your day. I so appreciate the reminder this book presents about how many opportunities during each day we all have to improve the world around us. Additionally, you will find practical steps you can take to effectively recognize others, leverage your emotional intelligence, and create a positive focus in your day to day interactions.

One of this book’s suggestions is to maintain a 5 to 1 ratio of positive to negative interactions. In our problem solving and fast paced world we can unintentionally take relationships for granted. This ratio of interaction sets a new habit in place that produces health in your experience with others. Investing in the acknowledgement of others supports one of my life principles; “Give more than you take and your world will work”. This principle holds true even when you don’t think you need to give. The world does not care if you are on vacation, retired, or not feeling well. My request of you is to honor your opportunity and responsibility to make the world you touch a better place.

See the book on Amazon >

"Both Mark Gross and Bill Terry have done a super job in handling my soft people skills. The impact is so dramatic that both my dealers and direct reports have mentioned that they have seen a change. My dealer attitude and internal customer service surveys are among the highest in the country. A big change from last year!" - Keith Cook, Southern California General Manager (Volvo North America) More client testimonials >

Few people will argue that we need more enlightened leaders in our world. If you are a student of the art of leadership, you probably find yourself inspired by stories of great leadership. You are moved by the example of individuals who embody such qualities as vision, courage, compassion, creative thinking, bold decision-making, and selfless service to humanity. You, too, want to be the best leader you can possibly be.

It makes you feel good to be a positive force in helping influence, shape, or direct the creative energy of others. You want to be of service. You like being part of a group, team, or organization that has good chemistry, one where every member or player feels a sense of kinship with each other, and is united around a common goal. You know from experience what it takes to create such unity, and you are willing to take responsibility for making it happen.

You understand the power of multiplication, and what can be accomplished when a group of conscious, focused people come together in the pursuit of a shared vision. You want to use that power to not only produce great results, but to make your organization, your community—and ultimately, our world—a better place.

If this is the kind of leader you are, or want to be, then whether you think of it in these terms or not, you are definitely on a journey to enlightenment. The greatest leaders in history, from Marcus Aurelius, to Ashoka, to Martin Luther King, Jr., have been the enlightened ones. This has always been the case. The ancient Chinese philosopher, Lao Tzu, spoke about the secret of enlightened leadership over two thousand years ago, in the Tao Te Ching his classic guide to the art of harmonious living: ‘If you want to learn how to govern… Show people the way back to their own true nature.’

If, as a leader, you want to be able to bring out the highest and best in others, you must have achieved a certain level of mastery within yourself, a true meeting of wisdom and love. You don’t have to be a saint, you don’t have to be completely without ego. But your mind must be clear, your heart open, and you must know how to be present without any personal agenda, which is one of the signs of enlightenment.

Anyone can be present with an agenda—a self-centered motive—but it takes a very conscious and inwardly free, or awakened person, to be present without one. Only then can you be truly open and available to the untapped creative potential that exists in each moment. Only from that place of clear, loving presence can you build, create, and nurture an enlightened team or organization.

Nagarjuna, a philosopher-sage who lived in India about five hundred years after the Buddha, understood how critical enlightenment was in the art of leadership. He went so far as to say this: ‘If a ruler cannot implement a politics of enlightenment, then he or she must abandon the throne to pursue enlightenment first.’

Now, to me, this does not mean that if you are struggling, say, with fostering an enlightened and harmonious work environment, you need to necessarily resign your position or office and go off on a long spiritual retreat in a mountaintop monastery somewhere. But it does mean that you must take time out from your busy schedule to do some inner work.

Make enlightenment, your own inner peace and clarity, more of a priority in your life. Draw upon the resources that will feed your soul, nourish your heart, and illuminate your mind. Read the books, take the trainings, and get the coaching that will support you in this process and that will allow you to return to your leadership responsibilities with renewed clarity, vision, and passion.

Spend time alone in meditation and contemplation. Listen to the voice of truth that comes from deep within you. Develop a trusting relationship with your own intuition and inner guidance. The more you do this, the more you will be able to empower others to do it. You will model conscious, enlightened behavior for them. You will inspire them to dive more deeply within themselves. This is how you become a great leader. - J.D.