Page 220 - Managing the Mobile Workforce

the eight principles model � 199

on practicing that same chip shot for six hours a day when I could be
practicing my beverage-drinking skills.
So even when your employees start out committed, their willpower
may wane. They might give up in the face of other goals competing
for their time, the adversity they face, or just because they lose interest.
That may be okay for them personally, but a manager missing targets
for very long will be deadly to the organization. If you are the manager
who fails to make targets, your career plans will be short-circuited.
Willpower, also known as volition, is strength of will. How hard
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will your employees fight to get the job done, to make their targets,
or to beat the competition? How much of their soul will they put into
thinking creatively, taking personal or professional risks, or stepping
outside their comfort zones? There are a number of strategies you as a
manager can execute to sustain motivation to get things done.
First, do everything listed in Principles 1 to 7. To the best of your
ability, create an environment where your employees are understood,
feel cared for, are doing work they enjoy and find meaningful, and
are committed to your organization. Provide the kind of support that
helps employees believe in themselves and goals that are challenging
but doable. This will reduce the need for volition—pure willpower—
because there are so many reasons to accomplish it.
Second, get your organization and your employees into the habit
of being successful. Start wherever you have to—perhaps baby steps at
the beginning—and get people into the habit of expecting to achieve
goals and to believe that failure is not an option. Keep your own
promises. Habits, over time, become just “the way we do it around
here.” Develop a culture of accomplishment, not failure, and your em-
ployees will fight to achieve the goals that have been set. Mediocrity
cannot be an option.
Third, give strategic feedback. There’s nothing like being given
a goal and then finding yourself flailing away—lost and alone—
trying to reach it. Without feedback—reinforcing praise, constructive
criticism intended for improvement—motivation nosedives. Each
person is different and needs and wants different kinds and amounts