How to communicate positive motivation

Two weeks ago I bought a new car. It was a hybrid car and I am loving driving it. Of course I was treated like royalty buying a new car! Before I received the car, the garage manager asked me how I would score the people I had bought the car from, out of 10. Naturally I said 9: there is always room for improvement and we had some time waiting at appointments.

However, I then discovered from the people who sold me the car, that there was a company policy of only paying a bonus to these people if they were given 10/10 rating from the customer. The thinking behind this being that the level of customer service should be perfect.? How true this was, I don’t know…. However to me 10/10 is perfection. There are no errors; no waiting; charming people who make me feel special. They anticipate what I will need; any questions and solve potential problems before I realise them.

Also, there are individuals who will always find fault in a service, however well it is delivered and individuals have different ways of managing service. This is a high risk. It could result in very good people - and I include the wonderful people who sold me the car, missing out on receiving excellent feedback. This is based on objective opinions.

This got me thinking about how we are able to communicate excellence and motivate people. Clearly the people who sold me the car were genuinely worried that they wouldn’t receive their bonus. Since there is some objectivity involved, these talented people risked missing out on their bonus.

How do you share feedback with your team; with your suppliers; even in your personal life? Are you someone who:

• Says “That’s great” to everything? Everyone is confused because they have nothing to compare with. There is no difference between 10/10 and 5/10
• Always finds fault in everything you do. Nothing is good enough. There is no clarification over what is wrong with your work. It is confusing or demoralising.
• Never says thank you or acknowledges your contribution.
• Or the person who said to me “I never say this went well, because there is always something more that could be done and they will get complacent otherwise”. When I asked him if there is feedback or reflection after a task or project. “No!”

Of course these could be taken out of context. There MIGHT be other pointers to indicate how well a task has been completed. However, this isn’t always the case. And it could demotivate your team. Here are three ways you could motivate your team;

• Say well done and thank you as part of the process.
• As part of the ongoing process of working in a team; have a time for celebrating success as well as reflection on ‘what we could learn’/’what went wrong that won’t happen again’.
• For some leaders, who are more demonstrative; showing a little emotion (not full out anger of course) could help the team. One leader I am working with will tell her international team “This is not bringing me joy!” and then will make suggestions. Her team love it because they know exactly where they stand.
• You could use the ‘out of 10’ measurement and then say why they were scored that with constructive feedback.
• Remember to coach individuals so they could progress their skillset
• Avoid blaming someone within the team. This is about building the skillset of everyone and the blame has no winners.

If you have any suggestions, please share them. I’d love to hear them!

At the moment I am creating courses to offer as licensed learning platforms for organisations. I am including AI powered elements for practice to future proof the content. The topics include:

• Presentation Skills
• Having Difficult conversations
• Women in Leadership Communication
• Assertiveness Skills
• Emerging Leadership

They will be available as “Train the trainer” opportunities, so organisations will be able to train managers to deliver this training and content to their teams.

I am very keen to beta test these courses. Would your organisation like to test one of these courses? If so do contact me [email protected] ?

If you want any more information about these courses or discuss licensing the training please email [email protected] or book a call https://link.lemonadeplan.com/widget/appointment/superstarcommunicator/15m-chat ?

Until next time,

Best wishes

Susan

Thank you very much for continuing to support the SuperStar Communicator newsletter.?

About the author:

Susan Heaton-Wright is the founder and creator of the SuperStar Communicator? methodology; international speaker, facilitator, coach, former international opera singer and podcaster.

Susan is best known for empowering emerging leaders all over the world to speak and communicate with clarity, confidence and credibility; through her speeches, by facilitating masterclasses and workshops and by coaching talented individuals. Since 2020 she has delivered virtual masterclasses and workshops to attendees from more than 130 countries world wide and has won a number of awards for her work.

She is curious for any changes in communication changes and especially in a technical world. Keeping the human element in communication is essential for the maximum impact! Susan co-hosts live streamed discussions with business leaders and is the co-host of the SuperStar Communicator Podcast.?

?Susan facilitates workshops - face to face and virtually on a range of topics:?

• Presentation Skills
• Public Speaking
• Assertiveness Skills
• Having difficult conversations
• Women in Leadership Communication
• How to Demonstrate Credibility
• How to be Positively Disruptive
• Networking Skills

These topics are also available as masterclasses.

I also coach talented people on being more impactful for career progression. Do contact me for more information on the one to one coaching services on communication skills I offer.

And as a speaker Susan delivers speeches on:

• How to demonstrate credibility
• Women in Leadership Communication
• Be a SuperStar Communicator: be seen, be heard, make an impact

Why not challenge your communication skills with our 30 Day planner. Purchase here.

When not working, Susan designs and sews her own wardrobe; surfs, swims and plays the viola in an orchestra. She fundraises for the Alzheimers Society, The Isabel Hospice and supports the St Albans PostBoxes Charity.

Why not connect with her on Linkedin: https://linkedin.com/in/susanheatonwright ?

If you wish to arrange a call: you can book here: https://link.lemonadeplan.com/widget/appointment/superstarcommunicator/15m-chat ?

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