The first key area of your business that we’re going to work on is how to lead a dynamic company. I wish we had the time and resources to go over all the facets of leadership today, but that’ll take much longer. So I want to get started with just one small tip in the area of motivation.
It’s super important to master this skillset in order to lead a growing company, big or small. The first thing you must do is understand and be able to clearly articulate what motivates you as a leader. This is crucial, and the one thing I’ve learned after working with countless business owners and entrepreneurs is that oftentimes their biggest motivator is financial reward.
That’s obviously not the case for everyone, but money is usually the top reason why people start a business in the first place. There are other motivators too, of course. For example, some people start a business because they believe in the cause or the product so much that they just have to devote themselves to it.
So are you motivated by financial reward, a great cause, or something else? What is it that intrinsically drives you? Once you have a clear grasp of this, you should write down a list of different things that motivate you as a leader.
This list will give you some perspective when you stop thinking about what motivates you personally and start focusing on what motivates your people. A big mistake that business owners tend to make is that they try to motivate their employees the exact same way they themselves are motivated. This typically means creating financial rewards and bonuses. Even though people do like money, sometimes that’s not what really motivates them the most.
If you want a productive workforce, one simple thing to do is ask your people how they would like to be rewarded for their contribution to the company. You may not always get a straight answer, but this is a great place start. Then, you can adapt and try to motivate them the way they want to be motivated. It’s more of a selfless way to motivate as opposed to a selfish way, and you’re sure to get better results. This is just one small tidbit on how to lead a dynamic company.
