How to Motivate Employees? The Best Answer Ever

No business is better than its employees, which is why engaging and motivating employees is so important.

Too bad it's rarely done well.

Maybe that's because all the theorists and strategists and experts make motivating people seem much more complicated than it needs to be. Is it possible there's a simple and straightforward answer to the question, "How can I motivate my employees?"

It turns out there is, and Dick Cross, an eight-time turnaround CEO, founder of The Cross Partnership, founding partner of Alston Capital Partners, and the author of Just Run It!: Running an Exceptional Business is Easier Than You Think, has it.

According to Dick, motivating employees—or anyone—is based on one word.

Patience.

Say you want to instill a sense of urgency. The best way to get people to go fast is to let them know why there's a need to go fast, and then be encouraging and patient with their progress.

How many times has a boss or coach ranted and raved about what needs to happen by when, "Or else!" Probably more often than you like to remember.

And how often did the ranting and raving achieve the intended result? Probably less often than the ranters and ravers like to remember.

That shouldn't come as a surprise, because it's a pattern we learned to follow as children. People, including kids, don't like to be threatened. Threaten me and I'll resist. Spank me, ground me, reprimand me, put a letter in my file, demote me, and you'll
fail to change my attitude. In fact, you'll increase my resolve not to comply.

Physically you might overpower me, but you'll never get me to do any more than the minimum required to get by.

And that's a huge problem, because minimum compliance efforts never produce great organizational accomplishments.

But if employees like how you treat them, know you believe in them, understand what needs to get accomplished and understand why it's so important... they'll generally accomplish great things.

The key lies in getting them to want to help you, which is only possible when you 1) exhibit an understanding of what is possible, 2) care about them, and 3) are willing to accept the absolute best they can deliver.

Under those conditions, most people will give you their all.

Do the opposite and they won't. There are few things more de-motivating than feeling you are trying your best but still letting someone down. You've been there. No matter what you did, it wasn't good enough. Eventually you decide hard work isn't worth it.
That's why there is little more motivating than the prospect of amazing a person who genuinely cares about us.

Who do we generally care about the most? The people we feel believe in us the most, which makes them the people we least want to disappoint: Moms, favorite teachers, best friends... and remarkable bosses.

Those are the people to whom we give our all; they believe in us... and we don't want to let them down.

And that's why motivation ultimately comes down to patience. Showing patience is an extraordinary way to let people know you care about them. By showing patience and expressing genuine confidence in them, your employees naturally will be motivated to find
ways to do things that will amaze everyone—including themselves.

And how do you make motivation last?

The key is to understand that sometimes your employees must go slow in order to go fast.

A burst of speed that drains physical and emotional energy is not worth the effort because it's not sustainable. Speed that builds gradually, that forgives mistakes along the way, and that allows people to figure out for themselves how to maximize their
potential—that kind of speed, and patience, creates a feeling of motivation that lasts forever.

Motivation? It's all about patience.

如何激励员工？答案很简单！

    员工激励是每一个老板都关注的问题，也是每个老板都头疼的问题！究竟怎样才能让这帮小子干劲十足呢？看下面的文章，你会找到答案。

    有效激励的方法归根到底却是一个令人意想不到的词。。。大概这就是为什么很多领导者没能做好（有效激励）的原因。

    一个企业最重要的就是它的员工，所以推动和激励员工是如此的重要。

    很可惜的是，几乎没有人把这（激励员工）做好！

    基本上就是那些理论家、战略家和砖家把激励人这件事给弄得无比复杂，远超其实际需要。那有没有可能用简短直接的回答来解决这个问题：“我如何激励我的员工呢？”

    事实证明，有！这就是迪克·克洛斯 ，一个八次扭亏为盈的CEO，克洛斯合伙事业创始人，阿尔斯通资本合营公司的联合创始人，《只管去做！：运营一个优秀的企业比你想象的更简单》 ，的回答。

    按迪克所说，激励员工，或者激励任何人，根本在于一个词：

    耐心 。

    一般来说都想要灌输一种紧迫感。但是想让人们更快，最好的办法是， 首先让他们理解为什么需要加快，然后就是对他们的进度表示出鼓励和耐心。

    有多少次，老板或教练为了相要的结果大喊大叫，甚至语出威胁“否则。。。”，多的你都不想记起来。

    又有多少次大叫和威胁达到了想要的结果呢？大概少的也让他们不乐意记起来了。

    这个答案实在不该出人意外，因为我们还是孩子的时候就已经学会遵循这个模式了。所有人，包括孩子，都不喜欢受到威胁。遇到威胁我就要反抗。你揍我，禁我足，斥责我，把我的文件改动一个字，甚至贬我职，也没法改变我的态度。事实上，你让我更决心不遵从。

    表面上看你压服我了，可是你绝没办法让我比最低限度多付出哪怕一丝的努力。

    这就是个大大的问题了，因为最低限度的配合努力是绝对无法取得伟大的企业成就的。

    但如果员工喜欢你对待他们的方式，知道你信任他们，理解要达成什么目标并且明白其重要性。。。基本上他们会成就伟大的事业。

    让员工愿意帮助你的关键点，是且只能是，1）对愿景的可能性进行展望，2）关怀员工，和 3）对员工所能达到的最大努力乐意接受。

    在这些条件下，几乎所有人都会对你尽其所有。

    反过来做的话，他们就不会如此。 没有比你竭尽所能却只能让别人失望这种感觉更不让人振奋了。你已经尽力了。可是不管你做了什么，总还不够好。最后你就会觉得努力工作不值得。所以，给关心我们的人带来惊喜，才是最有激励效果的。

    谁是我们通常最关心的呢？就是那样的人，我们感觉他们最信任我们，以至于我们绝不希望是他们失望：妈妈，良师，益友。。。还有卓越的老板们。

    他们就是我们愿意倾己所有的人，他们深信我们，我们也绝不想让他们失望。

    这就是为什么动力最终来自于耐心。保持耐心是让人们知道你关心他们的非凡方式。通过展现耐心和表达对他们的真正信心，你的员工们很自然的就会动力十足的找出方法把事情做到让人惊喜——包括让他们自己惊喜。

    那么该如何使激励效果延续呢？

    关键就是理解有时候你的员工们必须缓一缓以便更有干劲。

    让体力和精神都枯竭的爆发加速是不值得为其付出的精力的，因为那不可持续。可持续的，宽恕一路走来所犯的错误，且允许人们弄清楚如何最大限度发挥其潜能的加速，这样的加速，加上耐心，才会创造出永久的动力。

    动力？只与耐心有关。