PEOPLE MANAGEMENT 1

Motivation Magic

The secret to motivation magic simply is to respect employees as individuals and treat them as adults. Too many companies feel they have to keep secrets from their employees. They treat them like children who can't handle the truth. They feel they have to "shelter" or "protect" the employees from the harsh realities of the business. WRONG!

If you want your employees to be motivated, to out-produce their peers, to deliver more than they ever have in the past, be open and honest with them. Treat them like the adults they are and not like your children.

Here are some specific articles that deal with motivating employees. All of them stress different aspects of treating employees with the respect they are due and treating them as adults. Try this approach and you will be amazed at the improvements you will see. Productivity will increase. Absenteeism will decrease. You'll see more innovation. And your job will be just a little bit easier.

Mo1: Want More Innovation? If you want more innovation from your people, let them know that their employment is secure, even if their job changes. People worried about losing their jobs tend to find ways to stretch out the work, not innovative ways to do it better.

Mo2: Don't Be A Demotivator Your job as a leader is to get and keep your people motivated and working toward the common goal. Demeaning them, to their face or to others, erodes their motivation. So does dismissively telling them that their ideas "are stupid". Watch your own actions to be sure you aren't defeating your own efforts by demotivating your people.

Mo3: Your greatest resource is your people. You can have the best, high tech, equipment available. but, without the people you have no business. Treat your people with the same, or greater, care as you do your equipment.

Mo4 : Keep the flame alive. When people join your organization they are all fired up and ready to do great things. Over time we all too often wear down that enthusiasm. Instead, do what you can to fan the flames of their enthusiasm and you will be amazed at their output.

Mo5: Listen to your employees. It doesn't make any sense to spend all that time and effort to find and hire the best people if you are just going to ignore their input.

7 Ways to Grow the Action Habit

People at the top of every profession share one quality -- they get things done. This ability supercedes intelligence, talent, and connections in determining the size of your salary and the speed of your advancement.

Despite the simplicity of this concept there is a perpetual shortage of people who excel at getting results. The action habit -- the habit of putting ideas into action now -- is essential to getting things done. Here are 7 ways you can grow the action habit:


1. Don't wait until conditions are perfect - If you're waiting to start until conditions are perfect, you probably never will. There will always be something that isn't quite right. Either the timing is off, the market is down, or there's too much competition. In the real world there is no perfect time to start. You have to take action and deal with problems as they arise. The best time to start was last year. The second best time is right now.

2. Be a doer - Practice doing things rather than thinking about them. Do you want to start exercising? Do you have a great idea to pitch your boss? Do it today. The longer an idea sits in your head without being acted on, the weaker it becomes. After a few days the details gets hazy. After a week it's forgotten completely. By becoming a doer you'll get more done and stimulate new ideas in the process.

3. Remember that ideas alone don't bring success - Ideas are important, but they're only valuable after they've been implemented. One average idea that's been put into action is more valuable than a dozen brilliant ideas that you're saving for "some other day" or the "right opportunity". If you have an idea the you really believe in, do something about it. Unless you take action it will never go anywhere.

4. Use action to cure fear - Have you ever noticed that the most difficult part of public speaking is waiting for your turn to speak? Even professional speakers and actors experience pre-performance anxiety. Once they get started the fear disappears. Action is the best cure for fear. The most difficult time to take action is the very first time. After the ball is rolling, you'll build confidence and things will keep getting easier. Kill fear by taking action and build on that confidence.

5. Start your creative engine mechanically - One of the biggest misconceptions about creative work is that it can only be done when inspiration strikes. If you wait for inspiration to slap you in the face, your work sessions will be few and far between. Instead of waiting, start your creative motor mechanically. If you need to write something, force yourself to sit down and write. Put pen to paper. Brainstorm. Doodle. By moving your hands you'll stimulate the flow of ideas and inspire yourself.

6. Live in the present - Focus on what you can do in the present moment. Don't worry about what you should have done last week or what you might be able to do tomorrow. The only time you can affect is the present. If you speculate too much about the past or the future you won't get anything done. Tomorrow or next week frequently turns into never.

7. Get down to business immediately - It's common practice for people to socialize and make small talk at the beginning of meetings. The same is true for individual workers. How often do you check email or RSS feeds before doing any real work? These distractions will cost you serious time if you don't bypass them and get down to business immediately. By becoming someone who gets to the point you'll be more productive and people will look to you as a leader.

It takes courage to take action without instructions from the person in charge. Perhaps that's why initiative is a rare quality that's coveted by managers and executives everywhere. Seize the initiative. When you have a good idea, start implementing it without being told. Once people see you're serious about getting things done they'll want to join in. The people at the top don't have anyone telling them what to do. If you want to join them, you should get used to acting independently.

How To Increase Personal Productivity

Your body is like a machine that uses food, water and rest to generate energy that you then use to accomplish important tasks in your life and work.

One of the most important requirements for being happy and productive is for you to guard and nurture your energy levels at all times.

The rule is that your productivity begins to decline after eight or nine hours of work. For this reason, working long hours into the night, although it is sometimes necessary, means that you are usually producing less and less in more and more time. The more tired you get, the worse is your work and the more mistakes you make. At a certain point, like a battery that is run down, you can reach "the wall" and simply be unable to continue.

The fact is that you have specific times during the day when you are at your best. You need to identify these times and discipline yourself to use them on your most important and challenging tasks.

Most people are at their best in the mornings, after a good night's sleep. Some people are better in the afternoons. A few people are most creative and productive in the evenings or late at night.

A major reason for procrastination is fatigue, or attempting to start on a task when you are tired out. You have no energy or enthusiasm. Like a cold engine in the morning, you can't seem to get yourself started.

Whenever you feel overtired and overwhelmed with too much to do and too little time, stop yourself and just say, "All I can do is all I can do."

Sometimes the very best use of your time is to go home early and go to bed and sleep for ten hours straight. This can completely recharge you and enable you to get two or three times as much done the following day, and of a far higher quality, than if you had continued working long into the night.

According to many researchers, the average Nigerian is not getting enough sleep relative to the amount of work he or she is doing. Millions of Nigerians are working in a state of mental fog as the result of working too much and sleeping too little.

One of the smartest things you can do is to turn off the television and get to bed by ten o'clock each night during the week. Sometimes, one extra hour of sleep per night can change your entire life.

Here is a rule for you. Take one full day off every week. During this day, either Saturday or Sunday, you absolutely refuse to read, clear correspondence, catch up on things from the office or do anything else that taxes your brain. Instead, you go to a movie, exercise, spend time with your family, go for a walk or any activity that allows your brain to completely recharge itself. It is true that "a change is as good as a rest."

Take regular vacations each year, both long weekends and one and two-week breaks to rest and rejuvenate. You are always the most productive after a weekend or a vacation.

Going to bed early five nights a week, sleeping in on the weekends and taking one full day off each week will assure that you have far more energy. This added energy will enable you to overcome procrastination and get started on your major tasks faster and with greater resolve than you ever could if you were tired out.

In addition, to keep your energy levels at their highest, be careful about what you eat. Start the day with a high protein, low fat and low carbohydrate breakfast. Eat salads with fish or chicken at lunch. Avoid sugar, salt, white flour products or deserts. Avoid soft drinks and candy bars or pastries. Feed yourself as you would feed a world class athlete before a competition, because in many respects, that's what you are before starting work each day.

By eating lean and healthy, exercising regularly and getting lots of rest, you'll get more and better work done, easier and with greater satisfaction than ever before.

LESSONS OF LIFE 2

 YOUR CHARACTER IS YOUR BEAUTY

                                                  

Most people, especially ladies, think that physical beauty is what being beautiful is all about. But believe it, your inner beauty is the only REAL beauty you possess. It depicts your values, morals, beliefs, interest, personality and most of all your character. The way you relate with people and how you are accepted do not have to do with your physical beauty (attributes), but who you are. Are you humble, respectful, kind, generous, loving and caring? Then, this is what will make people relate with you accordingly. Most people would not associate with beautiful or handsome persons, who are naughty, selfish, nasty and unfriendly. They prefer to be friends with not too beautiful or handsome persons who possess attractive qualities, because the people will not see the face but the beautiful heart. Try to feel beautiful if you think you are not. But know that everybody is beautiful in their own little way. So don’t ever have a complex where people expect you to be inferior, always act superior. Be nice and friendly to people, you can’t have a friend if you are not one. Your attitude will either make or mar you. Don’t associate with friends that are of questionable characters, because the kind of people you are associated with directly or indirectly will influence your character. Your beauty lie within you. Improve on your beauty so that people will relate with you and appreciate your being. Someone with a good character will definitely experience a fulfilled and glorious life. You beauty is hidden in you MANIFEST IT. 

WHOEVER YOU ARE, just stay BEAUTIFUL.

Taking The First Step To Achieving Your Dream

Do you have a dream deep in your heart that you want to pursue? If you do, have you taken the first step necessary to achieve it? Taking the first step is perhaps the most difficult thing to do in achieving a dream. There are a lot of mental obstacles that make it difficult to take that first step.

Here are some dont’s to help you solve the mental obstacles:

• Don’t wait until the situation is perfect.
  You should not wait until the situation is perfect because the situation will never be perfect. No matter how or when you see it, there will always be something that make you think again.
• Don’t wait until other people agree with you.
  Just like you shouldn’t wait for the situation to be perfect, you shouldn’t wait until everybody agrees with your idea. There will always be opposition, and that is perfectly normal. If you wait until there is a consensus, you will never start.
• Don’t wait until your skill is good.
  We might think that we need to have good skill before we start doing something. But the truth is, you will learn much more by doing than by waiting. Doing allows you to hone your skill much faster than just learning the theory.

As you can see, the three points above have “don’t wait” in them. So here is the bottom line: the best time to start is now.

Here are some more things you should do to successfully take the first step:

• 1. Believe in your dream.
  Believing in your dream is essential to get the motivation you need to achieve it. You simply can’t fool your own heart. Deep down inside you know whether or not you can believe in your dream. Is the dream worth pursuing? Is it something that you want to pour your heart into?
• 2. Visualize your dream.
  Can you imagine – in detail – how the world will look like when your dream comes true? Visualizing your dream will energize you because you can then see how the world changes for the better and how people live a happier life because of your dream. The energy and excitement is there for you to feel.
• 3. Expect a hard way ahead.
  While it’s not impossible, achieving your dream is definitely not easy. Don’t expect an easy way; expect a hard one instead. Having the right expectations from the beginning will make the journey much easier for you. That way, you won’t be surprised and lose heart when you encounter obstacles along the way.
• 4. Take one bite at a time.
  Your dream may be big (it should be!) and that might make it seem overwhelming. But, like the saying says, “When eating an elephant take one bite at a time.” So take a small portion of it that you can handle. Think about something that you can do within one week, and then think about what you can do today. It could be as simple as calling a more experienced friend to ask some questions.

There is no doubt that you can eat the elephant. But the key is to take the bites early and often.

LESSONS OF LIFE 1

BE YOURSELF

People often rehearse to be who they are not. But being oneself does not take away anything and does not cost anything. What you need to do is to seek improvement in areas where you are weak so that you become a better person. 

Don’t let other people set standards for you. Be your REAL self. Do the things you enjoy doing, do things you derive pleasure from; things that give you joy even if the people around you do not approve of it. They aren’t meant to be your NAFDAC (standard) only let God be, provided those things are not against God’s rules and regulations.

We are in a world where we make both friends and foes, which is why you can not satisfy everybody. You just have to satisfy your conscience and ensure that you do not deviate from the right path.

So, don’t try to be who you are not. Every person is unique and different, that is how God created us. Try to be happy and strive to see the good things about others.

Be hardworking, determined and prayerful, you will be a successful and happy fellow. A person that is fulfilled and contented is bound to be happy.

Remember, that not everybody has what you have. You are in all ways different from every other person. You are created for a purpose and that’s what makes you UNIQUE. 

DISCOVER YOUR POTENTIAL; UNCOVER YOUR SUCCESS

Our educational system is so degenerative and destructive in that it gives one a false sense of fulfilment, success and security. One is made to believe that the only guarantee of success in life is through rigorous and die-hard pursuit of academic excellence. This is a blatant falsehood!

Without relegating the importance of formal education, life itself is a riddle and one’s academic/educational prowess is just a preparatory tool to unravel this riddle, so educational/academic excellence is not the end but the means to an end. However, in excelling at untangling the riddle of our life is ‘Self Discovery,’if you can discover  your innate potentials then you can uncover the mystery of life. Through self discovery, one can harness hidden and known potentials to one’s advantage in life.

Also, true success is not in the pursuance of menial material wealth but positively affecting one’s generation and generations to come. It’s about making the world a better place than we found it.