Inspiring commitment in others.

How do I motivate my team? It is the question I get asked almost daily. And for good reason as the recently published Gallup State of the Global Workplace 2022 Report suggests. In Australia and New Zealand, employee engagement was reported to be at 17% - ranking our region eighth out of ten (only higher than the regions representing Middle East/Africa and Europe). The same report told us that 47% of us are suffering from daily stress (up 2% from the year before and higher than the global figure of 42%).

The joy (and value) of attrition.

Adelaide summer heat is dry and searing. Anything over 35 degrees Celsius is punishing as a cricketer and even more so when you are a fast bowler. Fielding in the afternoon sun with no clouds in the sky for 90 overs (taking approximately five to six hours) is one of the toughest situations in cricket.

Who is the expert in our realm?

Am I doing it correctly? Can you check if my way is the right way? What can I do better?

These are common questions I get from people when I am helping them prepare presentations, proposals, and strategies for their clients, senior decision makers, or their teams. They are good questions in this context as people are learning techniques and tools, and sometimes for the first time.

Tap into your people's intrinsic motivation.

Motivation can be a tricky subject for leaders of teams. There are many factors that can demotivate our people like fatigue, personal issues, and a dislike for some of the tasks that have to be done (or the people they need to be done with). For a leader, this is tough situation. We have our own motivation to drive while constantly trying to somehow keep our people 'up'. Carrots and sticks of all descriptions may be used to cajole and even coheres individuals to buy-in and do what needs to be done.

A worthy investment in cultural motivation.

When people perceive injustice, how do they react?

I think of times in the school classroom when a teacher sent the wrong person to the principals office (cue laughter), or when the soccer coach made us all run laps because one person was late to practice (cue growns), or how one colleague got away with not submitting their reports while others were publicly scolded (cue many emotions!)

Why so certain?

The obvious is so very tempting... Sales are down because no one has money. We're missing deadlines because supply lines are slow. People are not doing their job because they are lazy. I can't find good staff because no one wants to work.

The decision to take the game on

I had flash backs from the 1980's and 90's recently that conjured up feelings of pain and hurt as old scars were opened up.

The Socceroos (Australian men's soccer team) had another poor result losing to the Japanese national team last week, meaning Australia will have to go through a playoff tie to qualify for the World Cup finals in Qatar. But, from what I saw of the performance I do not expect qualification to be achieved.

A chosen path to respect

Can you think of anything more insulting than being called 'incompetent'?

It is a brutal term. When regarding one's profession it would be nothing short of offensive to most of us. Yet, competence may need a reframe when it comes to our modern workplace teams and leadership.

Unfold performance by stepping back

When I was a sales rep, a friend of mine graduated into a regional management position before I did. He was a charming fellow and generally did quite well. At a conference we were having a drink and chatting away about the brand, how each of us are going and some things we had in the pipeline. At one point we discussed the mountain of emails we have to wade through and even more so for him. I asked how he gets through it all. His response stayed with me. He said, "I have found that if I give problems enough time they take care of themselves".

Unfold performance by stepping back

When I was a sales rep, a friend of mine graduated into a regional management position before I did. He was a charming fellow and generally did quite well. At a conference we were having a drink and chatting away about the brand, how each of us are going and some things we had in the pipeline. At one point we discussed the mountain of emails we have to wade through and even more so for him. I asked how he gets through it all. His response stayed with me. He said, "I have found that if I give problems enough time they take care of themselves".

Grounding the team with pure attention.

It can be waring. Being the person called in to clean up the mess. The one to sort out problems. To make good of the messy.

Getting caught sleeping behind the wheel

What is the best movie of all time? The most common answer is The Shawshank Redemption, which IMDb publishes as it's number one. But, I think there are three or four others in the mix. One of my faves is another American movie full of fun, is fast paced and has big characters. Its also based on a true story (which I always love). The Big Short, describes the events leading to the Global Financial Crisis (GFC, 2007-2008) in the USA through the eyes of the few whom saw it coming.

Brewing resentment and revolving doors

What is the one thing a baby is interested in? Predominantly food. This is the simple idea that drove us to believe people are motivated by individual needs such as food, shelter, money, and sex. The motto of 'give me what I want and I'll be happy' still rings true today. But in the 1960's when researcher Harry Harlow took a baby monkey and gave it the option of two 'fake mothers' the results opened another theory.

The Antagonist of Team Culture

Push... Push... Push...

It may sound like the final stages of child birth. But it is also the incessant unrelenting mentality of sales. In my years of sales and sales management the mentality to push for every sale you can get was relentless. As I graduated through the ranks of business I realised this is not unique to a sales environment. Project Managers need to push to hit seemingly endless deadlines.

Driving Exasperation And Needless Panic

I am in Year 2 or 3 at my local primary school in the Adelaide Hills and our teacher, Mrs Ward brings out these stacks of cards. They are organised in categories from easy challenges to difficult challenges. I don't remember if there were five stacks or ten, but the idea was each card had a challenge on it to test comprehension. We were going to work on this exercise individually for a few hours a day for the school term. Everyone was to start with the easiest challenge, and at their own pace, were to graduate to harder and harder challenges.

From destructive conflict to resolution

Many years ago I attended a company conference where the key note speaker was Jim Steele. He was memorable because lets face it, what a name! But, he was also a great storyteller and took the whole room through some inspiring content around mindset. One story he shared was the idea of below-the-line and above-the-line thinking. The idea goes that when we are 'below the line' we tend to cop out or cover up. We use phrases like...

The art of un-interjecting

How do you know who the most powerful and influential person is in a discussion? I would love to know what people's instinctual answer is to this. What are the key factors? What are the signals? What are the indications?

The feedback craving in a disconnected environment

Almost 100% of professional conversations include some form of feedback. High performers crave validation, low performers need guidance, and leaders consistently require perspectives and insights for good decision making. But, if we dig deeper, there is a finer level of feedback we rely on in our daily lives. The micro expressions and real time feedback we give/get when we enter a room, have a conversation, or attend a meeting occurs innately everyday.

"Hey Paul, do you know anyone good?"

This is the most asked question I've had over the last 15 years. Finding good people is difficult. Keeping them is no easy either. In a McKinsey study, 82% of companies felt they recruited poor talent, and only 7% thought they were able to keep their best! (McKinsey, 2017)

Not knowing undermines our position

"I am a fast learner"

The words you'll never hear me say.

It took me a while to figure it out (🤔), but in general it takes me longer than most to learn stuff. It is one of the main reasons why I wasn't great at school and why I was a slow burn on the sporting field.