You Are Only As Great As The Team You Are Surrounded By

What do you think? Are employees motivated by recognition or bonuses?

In our quiz above we gave two ideas about how to motivate workers and inspire successful teams.

But there are of course other ideas. I recently had the opportunity to talk to Skyler Ditchfield the CEO Geolinks. He shared with me some additional ideas about the top ways successful CEOs lead large teams.

Lead by example

1. Know that first, and foremost, you must lead by example. If you haven’t done what you’re asking them to do, it’s highly unlikely for them to do it unless they are following in your footsteps.

Money doesn’t necessarily inspire everyone

2. Money doesn’t necessarily inspire everyone. People are often more motivated by recognition, and fear of letting down their peers. I find it incredibly beneficial to overall morale to issue constant public recognition and praise for both individual and team wins. I do this via company-wide emails, verbal shout outs in the office, and 1 on 1 meetings.

Be ok with accepting failures

3. Innovation is fostered by embedding the culture of being ok with accepting failures.

Respond to different personality types

4.Adapt Management style to respond to different personality types.Know that you will have to adapt your management style to different personality types — not everyone communicates or receives in the same way.

Clearly define both individual and team goals

5. You must clearly define both individual and team goals — in order to lead your team in the right direction, it’s important for everyone to understand where you’re headed. Team goals also help peers motivate peers. I see this happen within my sales team daily. And, at the end of the day, make sure your team knows that if they’re struggling to reach said goals, that you’re always available to help out and brainstorm possible resolutions. For example, if I have a sales rep who is up against a tough deal, they know they can come to me to brainstorm innovative ways to push it across the finish line.