Motivate your people

This post came out from The Straits Times (3 March 2012)
Title - Motivate your people

Some pointers that I've got are:
1. Give in order to receive - The old cliche "there's no such thing as free lunch" is a fact of life. If you want to receive something, learn to pay for it.
2. Understand expectations - Have a clear understanding of what others expect of you and what you actually expect of yourself.
3. Build a positive atmosphere - When you create a "win, win, win" situation, you will start to win. When you start to think positively, your life will start to be positive.
4. Listening helps you influence others - Listening is one of the most important necessities of human communication. If you don't listen to people, you are missing out on one of the best ways to influence people. People will always listen to you when you listen to them.
5. Admit your mistakes - No one is perfect. We all make mistakes, but do we all live up to them? If you make a mistake, apologise for it. If you are wrong, admit your error.
6. Give praise - Everybody enjoys being praised. People look for approval from others. You should only praise people when they deserve it. Make the praise as warm and sincere as you can.
7. Share the credit - When others have helped you accomplish something, share the credit with them, even if their contributions were not as great as yours.
8. Care about people - People are concerned about themselves, and it is important for them to feel tht others also care about them. People feel important when others care about them.
9. Don't criticise people in front of others - Public criticism will cause people to feel degraded and embrassed, and they will resent you for doing that to them. If you criticise someone, criticise them privately and constructively.
10. Set expectations - Always give people expectations to live up to, not negative reputations to live down. This is an excellent way to motivate people to work for you.

Yours,
Something Small Thinking Big