The Training Clipboard is the bi-monthly ezine by Morris Taylor

Self-Study Tools

Free articles by Morris Taylor

The Causes of Disillusionment
Leading Others Through Change
Vision versus Mission - The Difference Every Leader Needs to Understand
Why Don't Employees Do What They're Supposed To Do?

For reprint permission, click here.

The Causes of Disillusionment

Most employees come to a new job full of enthusiasm, initiative, and eager to learn. If that’s the norm, then why do so many of them leave those same jobs feeling disillusioned and frustrated? The causes of disillusionment can be myriad in number, but if you’re a manager, it’s important to know the most common causes and attempt to take steps to prevent them from taking root in your team.

The 7 most common causes of disillusionment from the employee’s perspective are:

“The task is harder than I thought it was going to be.”

“No one appreciates my efforts.”

“I’m not getting the help I need to get better.”

“The more I learn, the more I realize I have to learn.”

“The task is boring.”

“There are conflicting goals and a lack or priorities.”

“I didn’t want this job in the first place.”

As the team leader, consider what you could do to forestall these feelings. For example, to prevent subordinates from getting the feeling that “no one appreciates my efforts,” you might: a) Be sure that every individual understands how his or her tasks and responsibilities tie into and support the organization's business strategy and overall mission; and b) Take time to look for and acknowledge the good work being done by individual team members. Articulating this information is an important part of making each employee feel that they are an essential part of the team.

It’s the job of the leader to keep each member of the team motivated and working at peak capacity. The leader is clearly in the best position to anticipate and prevent feelings of disillusionment before they can become entrenched in the minds of a few and begin spreading through a team like wildfire!

Back to Motivation and Leadership index

Back to Free Articles Table of Contents

Leading Others Through Change

Change is a constant in life; nothing stands still. Everything is either moving forward, progressing, or moving backwards, regressing. Yet change remains uncomfortable for most of us. As someone once said, “The only person who likes change is a wet baby!”

Inevitably, leaders and managers are often called upon to lead their teams through periods of change. Understanding the dynamics of the change process can ease individual discomfort and help reduce the amount of time we must spend in the chaotic transitional phase.

One of the keys to successfully leading others through change is understanding that there are three basic personally types that emerge during change. They are:

· The Victim - This person’s reaction is summed up in their recurring question, “Why does it always happen to me?”

· The Survivor - This individual hangs on to the edge of the Titanic, even after it sinks. They want the past to never change.

· The Navigator - This person faces change by looking to the future. In every change they see trade-offs that can potentially lead to opportunities; they make it their personal mission to seek out and capitalize on those opportunities.

Most people go through all three of these types in stages. In dealing with people like this, there are a few helpful strategies.

For the Victim ask, “What are your/our options? How can I help you?”

For the Survivor, ask, “What can you/we do in addition to hanging on?”

For the Navigator, oftentimes you can just watch, observe, and wait to see if your support is needed.

Back to Motivation and Leadership index

Back to Free Articles Table of Contents

Vision Versus Mission - The Difference Every Leader Needs

to Understand

Mission and vision statements set the tone not only for an organization’s business plan, but also for its day-to-day operation. They define the path a company will follow and should act as the guiding principle by which it functions. The terms ’mission’ and ‘vision’ can be confusing, however. Although they each serve a unique purpose within an organization’s overall plan, they are often used interchangeably. What’s the difference between a vision statement and a mission statement, and how do they both fit within an organization’s strategic plan? Although the experts disagree, the basic differences are as follows.

Definitions

A VISION is a graphic, descriptive picture of some desired future state. By “graphic” is meant that the vision is articulated in such a way that the hearer is able to clearly visualize it within his or her mind’s eye. The vision represents what the organization (or team or even an individual) wants to become.

In this sense, visions are neither mystical nor intangible. A vision must be large enough to inspire its target audience, yet small enough for people to take actionable steps. It must be specific enough to provide real guidance to people, yet open enough to encourage initiative and to remain relevant under a variety of conditions.

A vision is usually considered good or appropriate if it passes both desirability and feasibility tests. Desirability is defined in terms of how well the future state described in the vision serves the interests of those it is intended to benefit, e.g., customers, stockholders, or employees. Feasibility is demonstrated by a strategy that explains how it is reasonably possible -- although not necessarily guaranteed -- to eventually achieve the desired state. Conversely, a vision is considered bad if it ignores the needs and rights of it’s intended audience and/or is perceived as strategically impossible.

While the possibility of achievement is important, it is also perfectly acceptable for certain types of visions to eternally remain just out of reach. In this case, the vision is the distant goal the organization continually strives for; it becomes the proverbial carrot on a stick that is used to ensure forward progress.

The vision statement is composed of concise, succinct and carefully chosen words that the leaders of the organization use to describe this picture to the people who work for, or are otherwise affected by or benefit from the efforts of the organization or team.

Here are two examples of unambiguous, effective vision statements:

From the Department of Administrative Services in the Commonwealth of Australia - “To be recognized by our customers

and the government as Australia’s best provider of services and a

leader in public sector reform.”

From the British Royal Mail - “To be recognized as the best organization in the world delivering text and packages.”

A MISSION concerns the purpose of an organization. Like a vision, a mission can be for a large organization, for an individual, or for any size group in between. It answers the question, ‘Why are we here? Why are we breathing? Why are we taking up space?’ It is the conscious pattern of behavior the organization commits to in order to achieve its vision. It is the means to get to the vision. A good mission statement should describe who is being served, what the organization provides, and how it will provide it.

Examples of mission statements:

From “Po’ Folks” restaurants (country style cooking) – “We always want to be the friendliest place you’ll ever find to bring your family for great tasting, home-style cooking, served with care and pride in a pleasant country-home setting at reasonable prices.”

Lexus U.S. – “To attract and retain customers with the highest value products and services and the most satisfying ownership experience in America.”

To summarize, the mission statement says, ‘We will DO this IN ORDER to achieve that, while the vision articulates, ‘We ARE this and HAVE ATTAINED that.”

Once the functionality of ‘vision’ and ‘mission’ are understood, it becomes much easier to grasp the concept of strategic planning. STRATEGIC PLANNING is simply a systematic process that maps out how the organization should go about getting from where it is today to the future it envisions. The vision becomes the target, while the mission serves as the bare bones outline around which specific goals and objectives are created in order to move the organization in well-ordered, incremental steps to its desired outcome.

Why are vision and mission statements important? People will more readily follow a leader when his or her vision for the future is compelling. Having a clear, concise vision and mission can help mobilize and direct people. Therefore, one of the most important jobs of every leader is to constantly remind people of the vision and mission and what they mean.

If you want to make a difference as a leader, keep in mind that people have a need to know why they are asked to do things and where they are headed. Once you have communicated your vision and mission, the key to making them “live” within an organization is to: a) incorporate them into the everyday operation in easy to use ways, and b) seize opportunities to repeatedly articulate, explain and reinforce them among the team members. Doing this will help both the leader and the team to understand where the group is headed, and to value why you do the things you do.

Back to Motivation and Leadership index

Back to Free Articles Table of Contents

Why Don't Employees Do What They're Supposed To Do?

Most employees do what they’re supposed to do, most of the time. But what about when they don’t? Based on a 15-year study of more than 20,000 managers, business consultant Ferdinand F. Fournies wrote a book to help managers improve employee performance.

Among the reasons that employees don’t do their jobs:

They don’t know why they should do it.
They don’t know how to do it.
They don’t know what they are supposed to do.
They think your way will not work.
They think their way is better.
They think they are doing it.

In a chapter titled, “They Are Punished for Doing What They Are Supposed to Do,” Fournies gives these examples of an employee being punished for proper performance.

An employee who requests help is greeted with this type of response: “Do I have to do everything for you?”
A person who does difficult work well is assigned all the difficult work.
The employee who makes suggestions at meetings gets to do extra projects to carry out the suggestions.

The author offers two solutions to this problem: Remove the punishment, or provide a reward to balance out the punishment.

Some ways to remove the punishment:

When employees send you reports, don’t return them with only negative comments; include favorable comments.
When employees contact you voluntarily for some reason, don’t use the occasion to chew them out about something else. Save that until later.

(Source: Communication Briefings, February 1989)

Back to Motivation and Leadership index

Back to Free Articles Table of Contents

Reprint permission is granted when the following credit appears:

bimonthly Internet newsletter, “The Training Clipboard.” For more articles like this one, get your own personal subscription by clicking here,

www.talismantraining.com/subscribe3 or cut and paste this address

into your web browser.

* * *

Home | Workshops | Keynotes | Self-Study Tools | About Morris Taylor

Client Comments | Newsletter | College Success Strategies & Techniques




			Self-Study Tools Free articles by Morris Taylor Motivation and Leadership The Causes of Disillusionment Leading Others Through Change Vision versus Mission - The Difference Every Leader Needs to Understand Why Don't Employees Do What They're Supposed To Do? For reprint permission, click here. Back to Free Articles Table of Contents The Causes of Disillusionment Most employees come to a new job full of enthusiasm, initiative, and eager to learn. If that’s the norm, then why do so many of them leave those same jobs feeling disillusioned and frustrated? The causes of disillusionment can be myriad in number, but if you’re a manager, it’s important to know the most common causes and attempt to take steps to prevent them from taking root in your team. The 7 most common causes of disillusionment from the employee’s perspective are: “The task is harder than I thought it was going to be.” “No one appreciates my efforts.” “I’m not getting the help I need to get better.” “The more I learn, the more I realize I have to learn.” “The task is boring.” “There are conflicting goals and a lack or priorities.” “I didn’t want this job in the first place.” As the team leader, consider what you could do to forestall these feelings. For example, to prevent subordinates from getting the feeling that “no one appreciates my efforts,” you might: a) Be sure that every individual understands how his or her tasks and responsibilities tie into and support the organization's business strategy and overall mission; and b) Take time to look for and acknowledge the good work being done by individual team members. Articulating this information is an important part of making each employee feel that they are an essential part of the team. It’s the job of the leader to keep each member of the team motivated and working at peak capacity. The leader is clearly in the best position to anticipate and prevent feelings of disillusionment before they can become entrenched in the minds of a few and begin spreading through a team like wildfire! Back to Motivation and Leadership index Back to Free Articles Table of Contents Leading Others Through Change Change is a constant in life; nothing stands still. Everything is either moving forward, progressing, or moving backwards, regressing. Yet change remains uncomfortable for most of us. As someone once said, “The only person who likes change is a wet baby!” Inevitably, leaders and managers are often called upon to lead their teams through periods of change. Understanding the dynamics of the change process can ease individual discomfort and help reduce the amount of time we must spend in the chaotic transitional phase. One of the keys to successfully leading others through change is understanding that there are three basic personally types that emerge during change. They are: · The Victim - This person’s reaction is summed up in their recurring question, “Why does it always happen to me?” · The Survivor - This individual hangs on to the edge of the Titanic, even after it sinks. They want the past to never change. · The Navigator - This person faces change by looking to the future. In every change they see trade-offs that can potentially lead to opportunities; they make it their personal mission to seek out and capitalize on those opportunities. Most people go through all three of these types in stages. In dealing with people like this, there are a few helpful strategies. For the Victim ask, “What are your/our options? How can I help you?” For the Survivor, ask, “What can you/we do in addition to hanging on?” For the Navigator, oftentimes you can just watch, observe, and wait to see if your support is needed. Back to Motivation and Leadership index Back to Free Articles Table of Contents Vision Versus Mission - The Difference Every Leader Needs to Understand Mission and vision statements set the tone not only for an organization’s business plan, but also for its day-to-day operation. They define the path a company will follow and should act as the guiding principle by which it functions. The terms ’mission’ and ‘vision’ can be confusing, however. Although they each serve a unique purpose within an organization’s overall plan, they are often used interchangeably. What’s the difference between a vision statement and a mission statement, and how do they both fit within an organization’s strategic plan? Although the experts disagree, the basic differences are as follows. Definitions A VISION is a graphic, descriptive picture of some desired future state. By “graphic” is meant that the vision is articulated in such a way that the hearer is able to clearly visualize it within his or her mind’s eye. The vision represents what the organization (or team or even an individual) wants to become. In this sense, visions are neither mystical nor intangible. A vision must be large enough to inspire its target audience, yet small enough for people to take actionable steps. It must be specific enough to provide real guidance to people, yet open enough to encourage initiative and to remain relevant under a variety of conditions. A vision is usually considered good or appropriate if it passes both desirability and feasibility tests. Desirability is defined in terms of how well the future state described in the vision serves the interests of those it is intended to benefit, e.g., customers, stockholders, or employees. Feasibility is demonstrated by a strategy that explains how it is reasonably possible -- although not necessarily guaranteed -- to eventually achieve the desired state. Conversely, a vision is considered bad if it ignores the needs and rights of it’s intended audience and/or is perceived as strategically impossible. While the possibility of achievement is important, it is also perfectly acceptable for certain types of visions to eternally remain just out of reach. In this case, the vision is the distant goal the organization continually strives for; it becomes the proverbial carrot on a stick that is used to ensure forward progress. The vision statement is composed of concise, succinct and carefully chosen words that the leaders of the organization use to describe this picture to the people who work for, or are otherwise affected by or benefit from the efforts of the organization or team. Here are two examples of unambiguous, effective vision statements: From the Department of Administrative Services in the Commonwealth of Australia - “To be recognized by our customers and the government as Australia’s best provider of services and a leader in public sector reform.” From the British Royal Mail - “To be recognized as the best organization in the world delivering text and packages.” A MISSION concerns the purpose of an organization. Like a vision, a mission can be for a large organization, for an individual, or for any size group in between. It answers the question, ‘Why are we here? Why are we breathing? Why are we taking up space?’ It is the conscious pattern of behavior the organization commits to in order to achieve its vision. It is the means to get to the vision. A good mission statement should describe who is being served, what the organization provides, and how it will provide it. Examples of mission statements: From “Po’ Folks” restaurants (country style cooking) – “We always want to be the friendliest place you’ll ever find to bring your family for great tasting, home-style cooking, served with care and pride in a pleasant country-home setting at reasonable prices.” Lexus U.S. – “To attract and retain customers with the highest value products and services and the most satisfying ownership experience in America.” To summarize, the mission statement says, ‘We will DO this IN ORDER to achieve that, while the vision articulates, ‘We ARE this and HAVE ATTAINED that.” Once the functionality of ‘vision’ and ‘mission’ are understood, it becomes much easier to grasp the concept of strategic planning. STRATEGIC PLANNING is simply a systematic process that maps out how the organization should go about getting from where it is today to the future it envisions. The vision becomes the target, while the mission serves as the bare bones outline around which specific goals and objectives are created in order to move the organization in well-ordered, incremental steps to its desired outcome. Why are vision and mission statements important? People will more readily follow a leader when his or her vision for the future is compelling. Having a clear, concise vision and mission can help mobilize and direct people. Therefore, one of the most important jobs of every leader is to constantly remind people of the vision and mission and what they mean. If you want to make a difference as a leader, keep in mind that people have a need to know why they are asked to do things and where they are headed. Once you have communicated your vision and mission, the key to making them “live” within an organization is to: a) incorporate them into the everyday operation in easy to use ways, and b) seize opportunities to repeatedly articulate, explain and reinforce them among the team members. Doing this will help both the leader and the team to understand where the group is headed, and to value why you do the things you do. Back to Motivation and Leadership index Back to Free Articles Table of Contents Why Don't Employees Do What They're Supposed To Do? Most employees do what they’re supposed to do, most of the time. But what about when they don’t? Based on a 15-year study of more than 20,000 managers, business consultant Ferdinand F. Fournies wrote a book to help managers improve employee performance. Among the reasons that employees don’t do their jobs: They don’t know why they should do it. They don’t know how to do it. They don’t know what they are supposed to do. They think your way will not work. They think their way is better. They think they are doing it. In a chapter titled, “They Are Punished for Doing What They Are Supposed to Do,” Fournies gives these examples of an employee being punished for proper performance. An employee who requests help is greeted with this type of response: “Do I have to do everything for you?” A person who does difficult work well is assigned all the difficult work. The employee who makes suggestions at meetings gets to do extra projects to carry out the suggestions. The author offers two solutions to this problem: Remove the punishment, or provide a reward to balance out the punishment. Some ways to remove the punishment: When employees send you reports, don’t return them with only negative comments; include favorable comments. When employees contact you voluntarily for some reason, don’t use the occasion to chew them out about something else. Save that until later. (Source: Communication Briefings, February 1989) Back to Motivation and Leadership index Back to Free Articles Table of Contents Copyright © 2005 Morris Taylor. All rights reserved. Reprint permission is granted when the following credit appears: © 2005 Morris Taylor. Reprinted with permission from Mr. Taylor’s bimonthly Internet newsletter, “The Training Clipboard.” For more articles like this one, get your own personal subscription by clicking here, www.talismantraining.com/subscribe3 or cut and paste this address into your web browser. * * * Home \| Workshops \| Keynotes \| Self-Study Tools \| About Morris Taylor Client Comments \| Newsletter \| College Success Strategies & Techniques Related Links \| Site Map \| Contact Us \| Submit Your Site

The Causes of Disillusionment

Back to Free Articles Table of Contents

Leading Others Through Change

Back to Free Articles Table of Contents

Vision Versus Mission - The Difference Every Leader Needs

to Understand

Definitions

Back to Free Articles Table of Contents

Why Don't Employees Do What They're Supposed To Do?

Back to Free Articles Table of Contents

Copyright © 2005 Morris Taylor. All rights reserved.