Motivation Empire Blog

If you are a woman entrepreneur starting up a business for the very first time, chances are, you don’t know what the heck you’re doing.

That’s the way it was for me. You, too?

I worked hard to get my website up, spent endless days trying to identify my niche market, labored to create a great product and service, and struggled to build my client list. And when it came time for clients and customers to take action… they didn’t.

Have you ever looked around at successful businesswomen and wondered what they have that you don’t have? How they got that way? Well I certainly did, when success didn’t happen for me quickly.

What I’m about to tell you turned my wretched business start-up into a thriving success. And it’s also turned many of my floundering clients into lasting business successes.

I’ll tell you my secret—right here—and show you how you can do the exact same thing. There’s nothing mystical or magical about it. It’s not a quick fix or get-rich-quick scheme. Instead, it’s what every master of business success does. It’s the three-part key to long-term, lasting, and sustainable business success.

The Three Ps of Lasting Business Success

1. Persistence

Persistence means that you keep at it day-after-day, month-after-month, and year-after-year. You keep keeping at it, even through the occasional fumble, intermittent failure and repeat mistake. Persistence means you stay with it. You are unrelenting in your pursuit of business success.

Follow the example of other successful businesswomen. Look to Oprah Winfrey, Indra Nooyi, Chair and CEO of PepsiCo, and Marissa Mayer, Vice President at Google, for your inspiration. They aren’t successful just because they’ve applied themselves for one year or even ten. Nor are they successful by luck. By the time they became successful, they’d already been at it for a very long time. Their success looks easy because they’d already have success momentum going for them.

Start now to act as if you are currently successful and will be for the rest of your life. Then be persistent.

2. Patience

Be patient. Just about every woman I’ve helped start up a business has been impatient for results. Many of them wanted to start up a business right away, turn a profit in less than a year, and franchise in two.

Often this lack of patience is characteristic of women who’ve had an unsuccessful mindset for many, many years. Now they are desperate to turn their thinking around and be successful immediately. Changing a mindset that has become conditioned to being unsuccessful, though, takes time. Be patient. Think like a baby learning to walk. You will fall down many times before you’re able to string a succession of steps together. Focus on the goal. Be patient with the results.

3. Practice

Masters are people who understand what it takes to be successful. If you examine the lives of professional dancers, Olympic gymnasts, concert pianists, or anyone who has gained mastery in a specific area, you’ll discover that they have one thing in common: They’ve had a lot of setbacks.

What made the difference was not how they dealt with those setbacks but how they practiced success. Mastery in any area comes from daily practice. So, focus on what will lead you to business success. Then practice.

Persistence, patience, and practice are the three Ps of lasting business success. Every successful businesswoman knows this. It’s what made Oprah, Indra, and Marissa successful. It’s what will make you successful, too. What’s your plan to start building success momentum and set your course toward thriving business success?



By: Susan L Reid

About the Author:

(c) 2008 Gavin Ingham

Motivated salespeople and entrepreneurs make more sales than their less motivated counterparts. Having a miserable countenance, a poor attitude and a bad physiology never made a good salesperson and it never will.

Your motivation, your mindset and your actions are critical in helping you to achieve your goals and close the sales and build the business that you want. When I am invited to companies one of the most common questions asked by sales managers, sales directors and business owners alike is, “How do I get and keep my sales teams motivated?”

Indeed, one of the most common questions asked of me by salespeople themselves is, “How do I get and keep myself motivated?”

Most people do not understand how and why they get motivated and therefore their motivation levels tend to ebb and flow like the daily tides. Few people have total control of their own motivation levels. Salespeople know that they need to be motivated to sell, they want to be motivated to sell, but often they just cannot maintain that all important motivation to sell.

Motivation tip 1:

Motivation begins and ends with you. You determine your own motivation. Motivation is internal, it’s something that you control; even though you may not realise that this is the case. Many people believe that motivation is something that happens to them. For this reason they and their sales results get buffeted severely throughout life.

Sales superstars do not believe or act this way. Sales superstars know that their personal motivation is down to them. No matter what anyone else does or says they get to choose their own motivation levels. No matter whether they get the deal or they lose the deal, they get to choose their own motivation levels. No matter whether life’s going the way they want or it’s not, they get to choose their own motivation levels. And it’s that choice that sets them apart and defines them as the rock stars of sales.

If you want to join the ranks of the sales rock star elite now then you need to take responsibility for your motivation on a day to day, hour to hour, minute to minute and moment to moment basis…

Step 1 is to decide to do just that. To decide to hold yourself to a higher standard, to decide that nothing short of operating at the optimum level is acceptable for you anymore, to decide that you are a sales rock star.

Step 2 is to employ effective strategies for boosting your motivation and staying on top of your game. One powerful way to get that jolt is by sharing proven techniques so this post is a double whammy - you gain by reading & you gain by sharing.

Start by making a list of ways that you can motivated both yourself and your team and take time to employ them on a daily basis.

Happy selling.



By: Gavin Ingham

About the Author:

“

In all creative endeavors, inspiration is always the essential starting point of the process. An inspired work will always express the feelings of the artist, and will most likely be an example of the best that your talent can offer. Any art form that is less than inspired can lead to a forced creation. Something you do because you need to produce something. The worst point of it all is when all creative inspiration vanishes, a kind of “writer’s block” for graphic design. For the growing numbers of graphic artists out there this is a growing phenomenon. With the pace of business as fast as it is these days, most artists are tasked to “mass produce” designs for digital and print media at a moment’s notice. Hardly time to get inspired. SO the question is, what are a few graphic design resources that you can tap for creative inspiration? Don’t fret, we have collected a few things you can do when you’re in a creative rut. Do any of the activities below and you increase your chances of getting creative inspiration.

Look at other art forms One of the first causes of a lack in inspiration is that you get overexposed to one type of art. For graphic design, this means you are always working on the same type of design over and over. For example, you may be working with banner advertisements all day for the web. You can also be a layout designer for a magazine or printing service and you have to produce page advertisements and brochure designs. If you work with the same media on a daily basis, your brain gets into its own repeating process to create your design. As time goes by you will be repeating the same ideas over and over again until eventually you’ll just plain run out of inspiration.

To get inspired and have those creative juices flowing once again, you have to “treat your brain” to a different task altogether. This is so that it can work with new and fresh concepts. One of the best techniques to jog the mind is to look at art forms other than the one you usually work on. So if you’re into print design, why not look at architecture books? If you work with web graphics all day why not look at a photography book or go to a museum and look at sculptures? Other art forms may give you that creative spark to get you out of being stuck. For this purpose, the museum is a treasure trove of graphic design resources for you. They have sculptures, paintings and other art forms. If a trip to a museum is a task unto itself, a bookstore will suffice. Just browse through their art book section.

Nature as the best art teacher Next up is nature. Have you ever heard of divine inspiration? It comes in many forms, but usually it comes from nature. The landscape, trees, mountains, lakes, rivers and of course the sky can be a source of inspiration. Have you ever looked at the sky on sunrise or on sunset? There are bursts of colors and light that you really can’t imagine yourself. If you look at trees you’ll find that they have a curious chaotic symmetry that can be really inspiring. If you have always been awed at the beauty of nature then you should take design inspiration from it. So go to the park, go out of town, or simply just look into the sky and be amazed.

Human Life Art Lastly, you can also take some creative inspiration from “human life art.” We are just coining a term here, but human art can be graffiti, children’s drawings, industrial complexes, construction sites, people’s faces, people at train stations. You’ll be surprised but a lot of inspiration comes from everyday, mundane things. You spill your milk and the floor and it suddenly has an interesting pattern there. You pass a construction site, and the crane and building materials can give you wonderful textures and intersecting lines. They key to tap this graphic design resource is just to be observant and look at the beauty in everyday things.

There! Those are just three of the basic and most accessible graphic design resources for creative inspiration. Use any or all three of the above practices and you’ll increase your chances of getting that eureka moment. Have fun!

“



By: Kate

About the Author:

We have come to know a lot about employee motivation. We know that the ultimate responsibility for motivating employees lies within the individual employee. We know that both the meaningfulness of the work and the work environment itself can have a sizable impact on employee motivation. We know that intrinsic rewards and motivators tend to have a much longer lifespan for employees than extrinsic rewards and motivators. And, we know that what motivates one employee will not necessarily motivate another.

But sometimes a little knowledge can be dangerous. What do I mean? I mean that knowing what motivates employees is only half the battle. The real test is our ability to create a culture that fosters high morale and motivation. Too often we fall into the trap of incorporating the latest and greatest motivational programs in hopes of creating improved performance. These short-term remedies can often serve as band-aids to problems that require much greater attention. As a result, improvements in morale and motivation tend to occur sporadically within an organization instead of in a collective, synergistic way.

The solution is an integrated approach. What is needed is an organizational-wide, integrated approach to creating a culture of high morale and motivation. What is needed is a top-down management philosophy and corresponding strategies that integrates management practices with efforts to enhance employee motivation. What is needed is greater consistency throughout the organization in communicating to employees about performance standards, expectations, feedback and professional growth opportunities, to name a few.

Why is integration so important? Without an integrated approach to creating a motivated workforce, inconsistencies will surface throughout the organization and quickly sabotage any positive momentum that occurs. For example, a high performing supervisor will quickly lose her motivation if she keeps getting her decisions overturned by her respective manager. A great benefits program will do little to motivate employees if the tension in the office is so thick that you could cut it with a knife. An awards luncheon will send mixed messages if employees are expected to pay for their own lunches. A supervisor who preaches value-added customer service and then yells at his employees will quickly lose respect as well as the value-added customer service that he so desires. In each of these examples, there are contradictory messages that ultimately will serve as de-motivators and most likely lead to employee apathy.

In an integrated organization, management practices are in much greater alignment with efforts to improve morale and motivation. Managers and employees alike have clarity on their roles and responsibilities and communication from the top-down is both frequent and fluent. Motivational programs support efforts towards greater morale and productivity but are not seen as an end in itself. And most importantly, all employees, from the CEO down to the frontline worker, understand their role in making the organization successful.

HOW INTEGRATED IS YOUR ORGANIZATION?

Below are 20 assessment questions for you and your organization to address as honestly as possible. Each question either directly or indirectly impacts employee morale and motivation. The more questions that you can respond with a definitive YES, the more integration there is in your organization.

1. Do you have an organizational-wide philosophy and corresponding strategies that addresses employee motivation?

2. Have you ever conducted a comprehensive assessment of current organizational practices, programs and management techniques that impact employee motivation to determine their effectiveness?

3. Do you specifically attempt to hire employees who have a proven record of self-motivation?

4. Do your performance reviews measure the individual characteristics needed to sustain a work environment of high morale and motivation?

5. Is ongoing feedback available on all levels and in all directions throughout the organization?

6. Is there consistency in how managers manage within the organization?

7. Are employee and departmental performance expectations clearly defined and mutually shared to enhance accountability?

8. Do employees have access to the resources they need (both within and outside the organization), to adequately meet the demands of their jobs?

9. Are disciplinary issues handled swiftly and consistently?

10. Do employees have input into their work processes?

11. Does the CEO practice the behaviors that he/she expects to see amongst the workforce?

12. Are employees throughout the organization expected to complete a professional development plan each year? If so, are these shared within the departments?

13. Can employees explain the vision and mission of the organization and relate it to what they do on a daily basis?

14. Is mutual respect displayed between employees? How about between departments?

15. Are technical and soft skills training made available to employees on an ongoing basis?

16. Are personal and professional development opportunities made available to employees within the organization? If opportunities are limited, can an employee pursue an opportunity outside the organization and know that he/she has the support to do so?

17. Are communication processes effective within the organization, especially from the top-down?

18. Are employees rewarded and acknowledged for performing above-and-beyond what is expected of them?

19. Are the benefits within the organization representative of what is important to the employees?

20. Would employees say that your organization was a fun place to work?

Consider the following scale in rating your organization:

16 to 20 YES responses: Very Good

11 to 15 YES responses: Good

6 to 10 YES responses: Poor

1 to 5 YES responses: Yikes!

Each of the questions above represents areas that need to be integrated together in order for your organization to have a consistent message around employee morale and motivation.



By: Greg Giesen

About the Author: