Pile On Motivation

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Category: Leadership

  • Trusting teams

    Teams are building blocks of any organization.When there is trust among individuals in a team , people care for each other , collaborate with each other which ultimately leads to high performance.

    On the contrary when teams lack trust , results may be achieved at the expense of relationships and a healthy work culture.This may work out in the short term but in the long term may lead to disastrous consequences.

    Simon Sinek in his book titled “The Infinite Game” , highlights the difference between “Trusting” teams and “transaction” oriented teams.

    The table below enlists some of the most importance differences to showcase the need to having “trusting teams” for playing an infinite game.

    Trusting Teams “Transaction” based Teams
    Trust based relationships make each of the member feel safe to express vulnerabilities. Relationships purely transaction oriented with no importance attached to trust.
    Collaborative environment since trust is a biological constant. Members “love” their jobs. Competitive environment where members are willing to fake, lie and be deceitful for hike, rewards etc. Members at best “like” their jobs.
    Nurtured by leaders with an infinite game mindset Mostly nurtured by leaders who are short term goal oriented e.g. having finite mindset
    Environment we associate with most of the iconic and high performance organizations e.g. Apple , COSTCO etc. Environment we associate with short term goal and result oriented organizations

  • “Will” or “Resources” which to prioritize?

    “Will” and “Resources” are the most important components in a game of business.

    Investing in “will” and prioritizing it over “resources” needs to be based on a “just cause” and not monetary benefits alone.This may not have immediate short term benefits but when done in the right manner can influence human behavior , lead to happy employees who “love” their jobs and in turn satisfy customers and shareholders.

    Since this path is difficult to traverse , finite mindset leaders often tend to prioritize “resources” by trying to motivate workers with short term monetary benefits in order to realize short term gains.This without realizing the long term harmful impact to the organization as a whole.

    These points have been very aptly highlighted by Simon Sinek in his book titled “The Infinite Game”.

    Shown below are some of the notable differences between the two.

    Will

    		 Resources
    Deals with human elements such as motivation, inspiration, commitment etc. of employees. Is under the control of leadership and can be nurtured Deals with financial metrics. Macro and micro factors that influence resources cannot be controlled or predicted.
    Infinite and mostly long-term oriented. When influenced this can automatically take care of resources. Finite and mostly short term oriented
    Make this the first priority will always make employees “love” their jobs Making this the first priority will at most make employees “like” their jobs
    Cannot be motivated by “monetary benefits” alone Mostly influenced by focusing on “monetary rewards” & “rewards”.
    Always the first priority of infinite mindset leaders Always the first priority of finite mindset leaders for whom number dominate anything else

  • “Will” vs “Resources” striking the right balance

    In any game be it life or business “resources” & “will” are the two key components.

    “Resources” is tangible and is the sum total of all financial metrics that measure the health of an organization.

    “Will” is intangible and is sum total of all the human elements that measure the health of an organization.

    Needless to say a short sighted leader focuses on resources over will at the detriment of the overall organizational health.

    Resources cannot be ignored thought since this is what enables an organization to keep playing.

    The need in the modern day organization is to strike a balance between the two so that a focus on “will” empowers the people to generate the “resources” to keep the organization live and kicking.

  • Any game has these two components

    Any game be it finite or infinite has the following two necessary conponents:

    1) Resources & 2) Will

    By resources we mean the sum of all the financial metrics that contribute to the health of an organization.This is tangible & can mean PAT , stock price etc.

    By will we mean sum total of all the human elements that measure the health of an organization.This is intangible and can mean feelings , motivation , commitment etc.

    Whereas finite minded leaders focus on resources at the cost of people , infinite minded leaders invest in people for the betterment of resources.

    Simon Sinek mentions the same in his book titled “The Infinite Game”

  • Larry Fink & Sense of Purpose

    In 2018 , Larry Fink the CEO of BlackRock ,caused a bit of stir with his letter to CEO’s highlighting “Sense Of Purpose”.

    This shows the importance of a just cause and sense of purpose in any modern day business to make an organization relevant in the infinite game of business.

    Please find below the link for the letter titled “Sense Of Purpose”.I personally found it very illuminating.

    https://corpgov.law.harvard.edu/2018/01/17/a-sense-of-purpose/

    Simon Sinek mentions this in his book titled “The Infinite Game”

  • Responsibility of every business

    The three pillars that outline the responsibility of every business are:

    1) Advance a just cause – Just cause should be advanced to make the cause of existence of the business bigger than itself.This can be achieved by giving a sense of belonging.

    2) Protect the People – Unless the people feel safe they would not be motivated to give off their best.

    3) Generate profit – To advance the business in order to enable it to survive the test of time.

    These three pillars have been the foundation based on which iconic companies like Apple , CostCo have built their business in order to be relevant in the infinite game of business.

    Simon Sinek mention about this in his book “The Infinite Game”.

  • How Milton Freidman’s “shareholder primacy” led to a finite mindset

    In the 1970’s the Noble winning economist named Milton Freidman put forward his views around “shareholder supremacy” and changed the meaning of capitalism inside out.

    According to him a business and its owners should operate with the sole aim of making profit to maximise the value of its shareholders.The views expressed by the economist has taken centre stage in the world of business from the 1980’s.

    To promote shareholder value , business leaders worldwide developed a short sighted finite mindset radically different from the infinite mindset of business owners prior to 1980’s.In this age businesses operated to maximise value of employees resulting in a win-win for the organization.

    These views have been put forward by Simon Sinek in his book titled “The Infinite Game” to make the audience aware of the need of possessing an infinite mindset in the infinite game of business.

  • Storytelling tips from “Long Story Short”

    Some of the points I found very helpful from Margot Leitman’s Long Story Short.

    1) There is no need to explicit explain the moral of your story to the audience

    2) What is most important is that the story should move the audience

    3) Trying to control audience reaction and feelings is impossible

    4)It is difficult to get back audience once we lose their favor

    5)What is importance is purity of your intentions for the audience to appreciate the same

    6) Inner monologue makes for a compelling story

    7) Do not share the tale about someone for the purpose of gossip , rather share it for making the occasion memorable

    8) Always be ten steps ahead of the audience

  • Storytelling tips for the day

    The following tips from Margot Leitman , in storytelling , are the tips of the day.This is from the book titled “Long Story Short”.

    1. Importance of an universal theme – Unless Your Tale contains a Universal Theme , it is best left with your therapist or your best friend.
    2. Trick us into listening by making us think it’s all about us.The story should make the audience part of it by enabling them to relate to it.This would make them engage with the speaker.
    3. The Person who can keep us on the edge of our seats while talking about a turkey sandwich it a truly gifted storyteller.

  • Avoid fudging the truth in storytelling

    The following should be avoided while telling a story.This is because the audience is intelligent enough to understand whether a speaker is lying or not.

    Margot Leitman points out the following as strict NO-NO while telling a story in her book titled “Long Story Short”.

    1. Modifying the plot
    2. Making up characters
    3. Altering the story’s emotional truth