Home | e-Magazine | e-Products | e-Books | Handmade Originals | Licensed Art

Motivating a team is using positive reinforcement to influence your team into taking action and embracing change for a mutually beneficial goal. Motivating a team is not supervising employees; it’s mentoring. Mentors use their experiences to positively influence other’s lives. Motivating a team will take a lot of patience, thick skin and time as this process is not always easy. Keep yourself motivated and your team should follow your lead.

Practice
Practice what you preach and then some. If you’re asking your consultants to make thirty minutes of calls a night, then you should be giving an hour. If you’re rewarding the consultant who does ten shows in a month then you should be submitting at least that many shows per month. Consultants want, and need, a reason to follow you. They want to know that they are following greatness and not a sinking ship. You can show evidence of your success by passing out copies of your commission checks; money motivates and by showing them your stacked calendar. If, however, you’re a new leader then you’ll need to fake it until you make it; it’s all in your attitude. Act like a great leader and people will portray you as a great leader.

Patience
As a leader you will need to have a great deal of patience and self-control. Some of your consultants will be easy while others will give you a ton of excuses and sad stories. Always resist the urge to prove your consultants wrong; even when you know that they are feeding you a line of bull. Proving them wrong will only push them away and eventually they will quit. You’re not paying your consultants an hourly wage, so you can’t act like their boss. You are their support system; that’s it.

You don’t have to agree with their excuses, but you do have to listen with a sympathetic ear; let them talk. When they’re done talking, help them come up with a solution. Always be positive around your consultants, regardless of your mood, and what ever you do, don’t join in on their pity parties; offer advice instead.

Praise And Recognition
Most people are best motivated by praise and recognition. They just want to feel appreciated on a regular basis. Create a list of goals and rewards and then post it for everyone to see. Start your monthly meeting by rewarding those who have reached any of the goals during the previous month. The rewards don’t have to be elaborate just worth it.

You could fill a treasure chest or basket with office supplies and catalogs for smaller accomplishments like submitting five shows a month or sponsoring someone. For bigger accomplishments like sponsoring three people in a month or submitting $1,000 in sales you could give larger rewards like product or several picks from the treasure chest or one-on-one coaching time with you. The smallest amount of praise and recognition can go a long way; it also does wonders for our self-esteem.

Challenges
Friendly competition motivates people to put forth their best efforts; especially if there is praise and recognition at the end. Towards the end of each meeting give your team a fun challenge to complete before the next meeting. Maybe they have to do ten shows before the next meeting or host two office parties before the end of the month; anything to get them working. Let them know that each person who completes the challenge will go into a raffle for prize: a gift card, a free product, one-on-one coaching, or supplies. Consider having multiple winners so that the less motivated don’t give up too quickly.

Fellowship
Consider your meetings a fellowship filled with fun, food, laughter, and "ah ha" moments. Encourage consultants to come early, bring a small snack to share and socialize with other members. People love to eat and socialize. This gives your consultants a chance to build relationships, compare notes and bounce ideas off of each other.