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

An Excerpt from the book War Room: The Legacy of Bill Belichick and the Art of Building the Perfect Team  gives some great insight into how Bill Belichick set up the New England Patriot organization.  This excerpt written by Tedy Bruschi shows how the leaders within the team held each other accountable: "We had the formula down," Tedy Bruschi says. "My locker was on the left, Willie McGinest's locker was on the right, and there was a door in the middle of us. And as early as we got there and as late as we stayed, we saw everyone who walked in and we saw everyone who walked out. And everyone who walked in late got a comment, everyone who walked out early got a comment about what they did that day. We held them accountable as soon as they walked in the door. Me and Willie, we policed that locker room as soon as you walked in." "If we smelled you, you know, we wanted to know what was in your hand.  What were you eating?  Did you bring in the McDonald's bag...

A fisherman observed a snake swimming towards his boat.  When the snake reached the boat the fisherman could see that he had a frog in his mouth. Feeling sorry for the frog he reached down and carefully removed the frog from the snake’s mouth and set it free.  But then, feeling sorry for the snake he looked around to see what he could give him. He found a bottle of bourbon, poured a capful, and gave it to the snake. The snake then swam away. The fisherman was feeling content from his good deeds when about ten minutes later he heard a knocking at the side of the boat. When he looked over the side he saw the snake had returned this time with two frogs in his mouth.  The moral? It’s a universal truth. Give people (or animals) what they want and they’ll come back again and again. Even better, they’ll bring more people with them.  On Sale Now  Leading Narratives (Print) Take $5 off when you purchase the book through this link. More Information

Alabama football coach Nick Saban is a master motivator who has won seven national championships. Here are some of his thoughts: We’re not going to talk about what we’re going to accomplish, we’re going to talk about how we’re going to do it. We don’t talk about winning championships, we talk about being champions. I’m tired of hearing all this talk from people who don’t understand the process of hard work. It’s like little kids in the back seat asking ‘Are we there yet?’ Get where you’re going one mile-marker at a time. It’s not the end result. Don’t think about winning the SEC championship. Don’t think about the national championship. Think about what you needed to do in this drill, on this play, in this moment. That’s the process: Let’s think about what we can do today, the task at hand. If you don’t allow yourself to be so result-oriented with the kids, you can focus more on the things in the process that are important to them being successful. —Adapted from The Coaching and Leader...

1.  Shared Ownership 2. Shared Suffering 3. Individual Responsibility 4. Collective Pride  Thought for the week... “What kind of man would live a life without daring? Is life so sweet that we should criticize men that seek adventure? Is there a better way to die?” Charles Lindbergh Championship Team Building: What Every Coach Needs to Know to Build a Motivated, Committed & Cohesive Team