Leading Narratives

  There are three main ways to motivate people in general and employees specifically. Fear —This is not good. Number one, it isn’t right, and number two, it doesn’t work well in the long run and isn't good for the overall health of the organization. Yet, still, there are people who use it. They make blatant or veiled threats in order to get people to work. There is a better way. Incentives—John Maxwell says that “What gets rewarded, gets done.” This is the technique that says, “If you do this, then you will get this.” The problem is that people will be led this way for a while, and it will surely be productive. Yet eventually, most people come to the end of being driven by incentives. This is because most people are innately driven by something even deeper. Growth —Personal growth. Do you ever wonder how the personal growth industry has gotten so huge? It is because it scratches an itch that lies within each person. Every person has within them, a desire to get better.  --

A man found an eagle's egg and put it in the nest of a backyard hen. The eaglet hatched with the brood of chicks and grew up with them. All his life the eagle did what the chickens did, thinking he was a chicken. He scratched the earth for worms and insects. He clucked and cackled. And he would thrash his wings and fly a few feet into the air. Years passed and the eagle grew very old. One day he saw a magnificent bird far above him in the cloudless sky. It glided in graceful majesty among the wind currents, with scarcely a beat of its strong golden wings.  The old eagle looked up in awe, "Who's that?" he asked. "That's the eagle, the king of the birds," said his neighbor. "He belongs to the sky. We belong to the earth; we're chickens." So the eagle lived and died a chicken, for that's what he thought he was. --From Leading Narratives by Dan Spainhour Paperback 6 x 9; 124 pages $24.95 ​Buy Now Instant Download $19.95 Get both the book an

  Beat rejection before it beats you. Rejection helps knock out the weak. You can’t take it personally. People don’t realize that in order to get the yeses, you must hear the nos.   Honesty is the best policy. If truth stands in your way, you’re headed in the wrong direction.  You don’t always get a trophy. Don’t let ups and downs leave you down and out. Handling disappointment is one of life’s challenges, and often an indication of how you deal with adversity at work as well. Achievers focus on the road, rather than the bumps in it, to reach their destination.    Coach Yourself: A Motivational Guide For Coaches And Leaders ​by Dan Spainhour Print Edition $14.95 Instant Download (PDF) $9.95 Get both the download and the book $19.99 Kindle Edition $9.95