“It is better to lead from behind and to put others in front, especially when you celebrate victory when nice things occur. You take the front line when there is danger. Then people will appreciate your leadership.” - Nelson Mandela

The following leadership article shares the secrets to becoming an effective leader:

Leadership Article: Eight Leadership Techniques for Outstanding Teams

By Ed Sykes

Apply the following eight leadership techniques to create highly motivated, self-directed, and extremely productive employees and teams:

1. Provide Clear Expectations - Winning organizations know where they are going and what is required to get there. Employees constantly need to know what they need to accomplish. Communicating expectations in a clear, concise manner is important. It’s also important to communicate your expectations on an individual, department, and organizational level. Continue communicating your expectations on an ongoing basis. Whether one-on-one, through memos, or in a team meeting, keep communicating your expectations.
2. Give Your Employees the Tools for Success - New computers are acquired, but no training is provided for the computers; or worse, the training doesn’t meet the need of the employees to be successful. The policies are not implemented or followed, so employees are hindered by barriers. Time and time again I hear from employees in my workshops that management doesn’t give them the necessary tools for success. Here’s the secret: Ask your employees what they need, and then give it to them.
3. Recognize Good Work - Take the time to recognize good work. Recognize employees for finding solutions, failing less, learning more, taking initiative, working with others, creating outstanding customer service solutions, sharing ideas; and the list goes on. You get the idea. Take time to give a sincere compliment for work well done and you, your organization, and your employees will reap the rewards.
4. Get Interested in Your Employees - Take the time to find out what interests your employees. Find out what their passions are in life. Is it their families? Is it a sport or hobby? Is it a vintage car or boat? Is it that they want to accomplish the next level in their education? Is it a career goal? Whatever it is, the great leaders take the time to find out how to help their employees accomplish their goals. Leaders know that by helping their employees succeed in life, the employees will have more passion about helping their leaders accomplish their goals. (Read the rest at Effective Leader)

“Flatter me, and I may not believe you. Criticize me, and I may not like you. Ignore me, and I may not forgive you. Encourage me, and I may not forget you.” -  William Arthur

Why don’t more managers, owners, and employees give appreciation? Some people state they don’t know how to give appreciation. Others don’t know what to give appreciation for in the work environment. Yet others say they are too busy to give appreciation.

I think this is the biggest sin of managers, being too busy to motivate their employees and give appreciation for a good job well done. Remember what the old transmission commercials used to say, “You can pay me now or you can pay me later.” Well, that is what giving appreciation is about. You can invest in your employees now and “pay” them with sincere appreciation and achieve even better performance. Or you will “pay” later by seeing your team’s performance sink, corrective actions and coachings increase, and overall morale decrease.

The following are five motivation tips to giving sincere appreciation that will motivate your team to soar to a higher level and achieve more:

1. Be Specific - In order to get the same behavior or action again, you need to let the employee know exactly what action(s) you are appreciating. For example, the typical appreciation attempt sounds like this:

Manager:  ”Mike, you did a great job earlier today. Keep up the good work!”

Mike:  ”Thanks.” (Mike is thinking what is he complimenting me on?)

 The correct way:

Manager:   “Mike, you did a great job on the report earlier today. I can see you invested a lot of time on the report by the detail you put in it. I really appreciate the effort. Thank you.”

Mike:  ”I appreciate you noticed the time I put into the report. Thanks.”  (Mike is thinking the manager really did read it and appreciates his effort. I will be glad to do it again.)

As you can see, the employee has a clear understanding of what action the manager is showing appreciation for and he is motivated to take on the project again.

To read the rest the the appreciate to motivate article, go to Appreciate to Motivate.

“We gain strength, and courage, and confidence by each experience in which we really stop to look fear in the face… we must do that which we think we cannot.” – Eleanor Roosevelt

Follow these tips to exhibit confidence with your body language:

1. Stand up straight -  Your posture can tell people a lot about you before you ever speak a word!  Confident people stand straight and tall, whereas people who lack confidence shrink down.
2. Be relaxed and open - Even though you’re standing up straight, keep your muscles relaxed.  Tense muscles exhibit tension, fear, or insecurity to others. Open body language shows self confidence and trust.
3. Walk quickly - Busy, successful people usually walk quickly. ?ey have places to go, things to do, and people to see. When you walk quickly, you join the ranks of these accomplished people, and others will automatically look at you as if you must be successful, too.
4. Hold your head up –  Show your confidence by holding your head up high. Insecure people look down far too often.
5. Smile and the world smiles with you! – Smiles are contagious. ?ey make everyone feel good, including you! Studies show that putting a smile on your face can actually activate pleasant emotions, including confidence.
6. Smile at yourself in the mirror every morning as you begin your day. It will put a spring in your step and give you confidence to meet the challenges of the day.

Now apply these confidence techniques and achieve more success in your life!

“Success is the ability to go from one failure to another with no loss of enthusiasm.” - Winston Churchill

Success is the ability to overcome challenges and achieve outrageous success time after time.  The following article shares the secrets to staying motivated during challenging times:

Ten Action Steps to Motivate Yourself to Success in Life

By Ed Sykes

The following are ten motivation action steps you can take to motivate yourself in work, business, and life:

1. Positive Affirmations for Success - Our subconscious mind is a wonderful tool for success or failure. It will do what we tell it to do. It all depends on what thoughts we feed it. So why not feed your inner mind with only positive thoughts. Go to Stay Motivated to find the secrets to breaking through to success.

“Focus on the good today and make it great tomorrow. Focus on the challenges you had today and work to make them opportunities tomorrow!” - Ed Sykes

 Sometime the difference between long term success and failure is concentrating on what you did well today and making it great tomorrow and embracing your challenges and making them opportunities tomorrow.