My father-in-law, John Power was an important voice in my life. He knew how to motivate teams to buy in and feel connected to where we needed to move as a whole. He was an innovator ahead of his time. He would write blog posts, print them out and distribute them at team meetings before blogging and Social Media were a thing.
He passed away in 2008, and recently I found this ‘blog post’ that he created and printed for a leaders meeting. It’s nearly point-form, so I’m sure he had much more to say about each of these, but I wanted to share what I had.
10 ways to maintain momentum with your team:
1. You Are Here:
Continually paint pictures of where you are going and show them where they are in them.
2. How’s It Going?
Regularly ask about their dreams, not just their obstacles
3. Encourage Encouragement
Purposefully look for something to encourage in your team members. Not flattery, but encouragement.
4. Fresh Fruit
Do what it takes to respond positively and immediately to good results/actions no matter how small.
5. Dream Along With Me
Regularly hold ‘dream meetings” where people can dream out loud without any restriction or price.
6. Credit Where Credit Is Due
Publically acknowledge by name the input or achievements of your team members.
7. You Have Mail
Use and encourage the use of email among your key leaders to promote up and down communication.
8. You Say It’s Your Birthday
Log and acknowledge the birthdays of your team members.
9. Handwriting Analysis
Occasionally send personal hand-written notes for no reason whatsoever.
10. Fix Forward
Teach your teams by example, not to solve problems of “what could have been,” but rather fix in advance “what will be.”