The Big Picture

Lately I have found myself having to slow down or stop because someone isn’t seeing the vision. It’s frustrating but necessary. It seems like everytime this happens I find myself walking away saying the same thing, “They just aren’t seeing the big picture”. I try to stay five moves or more ahead. That means if I’m not doing a good job at communicating along the way I will find myself stopping frequently. If I am in charge it’s my job to make sure that everyone stays focused on the vision, the big picture. One of the biggest mistakes that leaders make is that they forget that the people are part of the big picture. If they aren’t happy and motivated, it’s going to be a tough, long road. So what happens when the normal ways of motivation aren’t working? You can’t recognize everyone. I know I’ve talked about this before, but it’s worth mentioning again here. I know that the big names are going to get the fame and fortune. But you can’t win without the whole team. So what can you do for everyone else? I’m getting ready to enter a very busy season of my life. I have personal goals and health goals I want to accomplish. I want to finish the year strong in every way possible. But, I’m also getting ready to enter a busy season at work. Everyone from top to bottom needs to step up. So how can you get the role players to step up? What motivates them? It seems like an easy answer. But, what I have learned over the years is that you have a tier of employees who are not motivated by money or job title. They have no motivation to be the star player. So what do they want? I believe they want two things. I think they want to be a part of a team, and they want to be recognized for what they actually do. The cleaning lady doesn’t want millions of dollars, she wants recognition for being willing to do something that no one else is willing to do. She doesn’t want her name up in lights, she just doesn’t want to be ignored.  I believe in every company, in every department you have a group of people who feel ignored. They have the jersey, but they aren’t really part of the team. So what can you do to fix it? The toughest part during a situation like this is that the truth is they don’t feel like they are part of a team, and you don’t really know if you want them on your team. You can complain about all of the things they aren’t doing and all of the things you should have done up to this point, but that won’t improve the current situation.  Especially right now if you are getting ready to enter a busy season, it might be too late to train. I think the first thing you have to do is realize you have to communicate more often. What are you communicating? The new realistic goals you have set for them. If the expectation has been for them to make fifty sales calls a day and they are currently averaging fifteen, you can’t just tell them to start making fifty. They already know what they are supposed to do, if they haven’t done it yet, they aren’t going to start doing it today. So tonight before the shift starts, set the goal of twenty-five calls. It’s still horrible, but it’s an improvement. The hard part that you have to understand is that if they hit the goal of twenty-five calls, you have to praise them. You also have to find a way to make it clear that the ultimate goal is still fifty calls. You have to be able to, on a regular basis, communicate expectations, praise them and also tell them why it’s important to the overall goal of the department. The last thing we have to figure out is how to keep them motivated for the busy season. That’s what I’m trying to figure out right now. What can I do to focus on the role players and give them recognition. How do I show them they are valued and part of the team? Because it’s going to be busy, I need something quick and cheap. I feel like I have a few weeks to make a decision, but in the end, my goal is for everyone else in the building to look at how we attacked this busy season and wish they would have taken notes. I want them to be sitting back at home and wondering how we got so many people to step up. A company always has a big picture, as leadership, sometimes we forget that employees have a big picture too, if we want to win, we have to be able to see both pictures.