The Sykes Group's OnPoint

National Nurses Week is May 6-12th.  It is a time to reflect and appreciate the hard-working nurses who are taking care of our friends and loved ones everyday.

They are working long hours and tending to the special needs of the patients everyday.  The following article will increase your awareness of nurses and give you motivation tips to help them keep going during difficult times:

Have You Appreciated Someone Today? Subtle Motivation that Gets High Impact Results

I invested some time with Mother recently and drove her to the hospital to visit with her sick sister-in-law, my aunt. While I was standing in the doorway, a nurse came by and introduced herself as Ruth and said “hello” to us and said “hello” to my aunt. This put a smile on my aunt’s face. The nurse then introduced me to the other nurses working at the nurses’ station. She let me know that these nurses are hard working and good at their jobs.

I couldn’t agree with her more. Theirs is a very difficult job with no margin for error. In many situations they know and understand the patients better than the doctors.

Realizing this, and noticing that some of the nurses looked a little tired, I asked Ruth to bring out all the nurses she had introduced me to at the nurses’ station. I reintroduced myself and explained that my aunt was the patient in room 518. Then I said the following:

“I would like to thank you for taking care of my aunt. I personally appreciate the way you make her comfortable during this difficult time, and I know that my aunt is in good hands. My family, and especially my uncle, appreciates the hard work and care you put into making her better. Thank you again and keep doing what you are doing to make a difference with not only my family, but other families.”

Well, you should have seen the looks on the nurses’ faces. First, they had a look of surprise. Then they were all smiling from ear to ear. Several faces turned red. But all of them had a look of appreciation as they said, “Thank you.”

Why did they have a surprised look on their faces? Was this the first time someone other than another nurse had acknowledged them? When was the last time someone showed appreciation to them?

It only took fifteen seconds to put a smile on their faces and have them feel good about themselves. Take the time every day to appreciate your employees, your family, and other people that are doing a good job. It might be the only appreciation they receive and will make a difference in their day.

Read my article, Appreciate to Motivate, to find out how to make your appreciation count every time. You will also feel good doing it.

Happy National Nurses Week!

“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)

Had a great time this weekend speaking at the District 66 Toastmasters conference. Friday night with a Social Media Bootcamp and Saturday morning about leadership. Great group of people focused on improving their leadership and communication skills.

Many people ask me why do I also speak about social media.  Well, social media is another powerful communication tool that leaders need to master to be more successful in their careers, their organizations, and in their lives.  I find that many leaders are “behind the curve” when it comes to communicating with social media.  They are losing an opportunity to reach their followers.

The following are two resources that can help you become a better communicator and leader:

Seven Leadership Secrets to Being the Outstanding Leader Everyone Wants to Follow

“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.

The April 2012 OnPoint success newsletter is available now!  You will learn how to take advantage of career opportunities, stay motivated during challenging times, and how to present yourself so that your audience wants to act on your message.

Read your copy of the OnPoint newsletter at OnPoint success newsletter!

Enjoy!