►►Grab your FREE copy of my ebook, "Communicating Like a Leader: Skills For Effective Leadership" → https://www.benribble.com/communicate   Great leaders know how to motivate others. Since the amount you can accomplish on your own is limited, it’s necessary to have the assistance of others. Someone that can motivate others to do their best has an incredibly valuable talent. When you can inspire others, you can accomplish much more.   Motivate others to do their best: Be emotionally supportive. To help others shine, removing the fear of failing or looking foolish is critical. Most people are frozen by fear and prefer to remain comfortable. When fear is greater than motivation, nothing happens. Removing fear can be just as effective as instilling additional motivation. Provide additional support. Ask what resources are required. Does your employee require additional help or funds to get a project off the ground? Perhaps your child needs a tutor or assistance with creating a resume. Determine what resources are required for success and provide them. Follow up regularly. Show that you care by monitoring their progress. It’s enough to ask and then listen. Asking questions will also help to keep them on track. Be publicly supportive. It’s one thing to support an employee in the privacy of your office. It’s quite another to be supportive in front of her co-workers. Parents are guilty of this, too. Avoid only supporting your children around the dinner table. Support them in public also. Acknowledge and reward. Acknowledge progress and effort regularly. Everyone needs a little boost now and then. Ideally, give acknowledgement publicly. Conversely, your disgruntlement and any discipline should be handled privately. It’s as simple as handling praise and reprimands most effectively. Ask for ideas. You might hear a few ideas that are better than your own. It’s easier for others to get excited about their own ideas than to get excited about yours. Using ideas from your team will create a sense of purpose and involvement. Be clear. Vagueness breeds confusion. Confusion saps enthusiasm. When the objective and the necessary steps are clear, motivation is easier to generate. Ensure that everyone is clear on their roles. Set a good example. If it’s important to you, it will be important to your employees, spouse, or children. Don’t just tell them it’s important, but show them by your behavior. Make the objective a priority in your own life. Create a vision. Paint a picture of the end result in the minds of those involved. The work is rarely enjoyable, but it’s the end result that matters. Keep reminding everyone of how great things will be when it’s over. The work is the path to reach that endpoint. Deal swiftly with dissenters. It only takes one dissenting, charismatic employee to bring the whole thing crashing down. There’s often one complainer that tries to undermine the enthusiasm of everyone else. Don’t underestimate the damage this one person can do. Have a heart-to-heart conversation with them or move them out of the group. Motivation isn’t just about adding positive motivation. It’s also about removing the obstacles. Dissenters are obstacles. Encourage the sharing of opinions. However, once a decision has been made, expect cooperation.   Encourage others to do their best work or to follow their dreams. Motivating others is a skill that anyone can develop. You can only be as successful as your team. Avoid the belief that you can do it all alone. You can’t.   Great leaders are tasked with the responsibility of inspiring others to be overachievers. It’s a challenging task, but if you’re good at motivating others, you’ll always be one of the most important people around.

►►Grab your FREE copy of my ebook, "Communicating Like a Leader: Skills For Effective Leadership" → https://www.benribble.com/communicate Most of us think of a leader as someone with a great deal of education and experience in a certain area. While knowledge and experience are important qualities, one's ability to communicate and work well with others is just as important to being an effective leader.   Having a high degree of emotional intelligence (E.Q.) allows you to be able to inspire and motivate others to co-operate with you to accomplish a shared objective and vision. There are several ways that you can strengthen your interpersonal skills.   Try these methods to dramatically raise your E.Q. and accomplish more together:   Increase your self-awareness. Self-development is the foundation of excellence. Before you can lead and inspire others, you must first understand your own motivations and behavior.    Develop your vision by learning to listen to your inner values and dreams. Trust yourself. Try not to compromise your values to achieve a goal or for other temporary gains.    Embrace passion by learning to be motivated by your internal compass rather than external forces and situations.    Keep your energy fully recharged, so you can give your best effort. You can stay energized by taking the time to learn what activities re-energize you and which ones drain your energy.    Respect yourself. Know the limitations of your body, mind, and spirit and strive for balance between your responsibilities in all areas of your life.    Become aware of your flaws and limitations. Seek ways to improve yourself and be open to change.   Strengthen your discipline and self-management. Learning to be responsible for your behavior, attitudes, and actions can raise your performance level as well as help you to build trust and authority with others.    Seek the input of others. Ask how you can help them, or what you need to do differently to communicate more effectively and manage them better.    Hold yourself accountable for your actions and performance.    Don't be afraid to delegate responsibilities and tasks. Be confident enough in yourself to surround yourself with talented, qualified people.   Develop your social awareness. Be aware of your own attitudes and the power you have to motivate others.    Show genuine concern for others and learn how to actively listen. Doing so will create lasting bonds and a strong team that will work with you rather than against you.    Give others a reason to support you and your vision. Let others know when they have done a good job and look for ways to openly recognize and reward excellence.    Help others to buy into your vision by making them stakeholders in the attainment of your goals. Seek their advice when setting goals and making plans on how you’ll achieve them.    Help others to increase their abilities and fully utilize their talents by providing opportunities for training, scholarship, and self-development.   Emphasize greater relationship management. Learn how to bring out the best in yourself and others. Utilize everyone's best qualities and minimize their limitations with effective assignment of tasks and delegation of responsibilities.   Regardless of your education or experience, you can achieve greater success by learning how to use your people skills to fully harness the talents and energy of others. These strategies will allow you to increase your E.Q and inspire others to fully enlist in your cause of their own free will.

►►Grab your FREE copy of my ebook, "Communicating Like a Leader: Skills For Effective Leadership" → https://www.benribble.com/communicate Leadership is a daunting task, and there are many theories about how to best lead others. But regardless of the theory employed, there are traits that great leaders share. With the right blend of attributes, you can thrive within any leadership system. It’s possible to develop these characteristics with study and effort. Ideas are easy. It’s the execution that’s so challenging. Big ideas require multiple people to bring them to life. Leadership is all about getting everyone on the same page and moving them in the same direction. Consider developing these qualities that enhance leadership ability:     Confident people inspire confidence in others. When your team sees your confidence, they believe that you know where you’re going and how to get there. Confidence is contagious and elevates morale. No one else will be confident if you’re not. Keep up morale by dealing with setbacks confidently.   One of the most important attributes of a great leader is character. People need to trust someone before they will follow him. This is accomplished through honesty, walking the talk, and showing respect. Keep your word and follow through. It’s challenging for a team to accomplish anything without trust.   Be enthusiastic about the task at hand, your position, and the opportunity to lead. No one will be more enthusiastic than you are. Demonstrate the type of enthusiasm you’d like to see in your team members.Let everyone know that you believe in your mission and its importance. Sometimes a break is in order. Enthusiasm can wane under a never-ending workload.   There will be obstacles and times of uncertainty. Great leaders can weather these situations and demonstrate the steadiness necessary to keep the rest of the team focused. These are the times your team will look to you the most. Be positive. Be confident. Be a rock. It’s natural to have doubts. It’s not effective to share them. If you need someone to talk to, reach out to your spouse or best friend. Keep all negativity out of the workplace.   It’s easy to become distracted, especially when things start going wrong. Learn to ignore the noise and stick to the relevant facts. Avoid looking too far ahead. Deal with the current situation and maintain your commitment. Focus can begin to creep when projects drag on for an extended period of time. Return to your mission statement frequently to keep your focus fresh.   Nearly anyone can hold the course, but only a great leader can change course without tipping over the ship. Be open-minded enough to find the elegant solution to the challenges that arise. A few course corrections are the rule rather than the exception.  Avoid confusing steadfastness with stubbornness. It’s important to realize when it’s time to make some changes.   Be able to effectively communicate your vision to the others in your group. Be willing to listen to new ideas. Provide the information required for others to do their best. Communication skills are paramount to all leaders. If you’re looking for a single skill to enhance, this is a great place to start. Regardless of the leadership strategy followed in your company, these attributes will serve you well. Great leaders share many of the same attributes. Learning to demonstrate these attributes will enhance your leadership abilities and increase your power and influence at work. Leadership skills can’t be learned and developed in a day. Bringing an idea into the marketplace requires a leader. Make yourself the obvious candidate.

►►Grab your FREE copy of my ebook, "Communicating Like a Leader: Skills For Effective Leadership" → https://www.benribble.com/communicate    Do you struggle with communicating effectively? Communication is a key part of success at work or in other parts of your life. Top leaders have practiced and mastered the skills that enable them to communicate so well. Luckily, you too can learn these same skills!   Follow these strategies to practice essential communication skills:   Learn to listen. Top leaders know that listening is a crucial part of communication. Learn to love listening and engage in the stories of others.   Try to really pay attention during a conversation instead of being distracted by your phone or another device. Have one conversation at a time to give each person your full attention.    Practice retelling the person’s story in your mind to get better at listening.   Everyone wants to be heard. Others will notice that you’re listening to them and will go away from your conversations thinking what a great communicator you are, when all you did was listen.   Avoid slang and informalities. It’s normal to use slang or other types of informal language while talking to friends or family. However, business usually requires a more formal language set. Pay attention to who you’re talking to and make the necessary adjustments.   Slang, acronyms, and informalities can also make some people feel uncomfortable, especially if they’re not familiar with them.   Focus on being brief. Top leaders know that you don’t have to make a long speech to be effective.   Practice being brief and getting your point across with fewer words and less time. People appreciate brief conversations and respect others who don’t go off on tangents.   However, ensure you’re still providing enough information while you talk. You don’t want to be vague or miss important details.   This skill may take time to develop, so practice it often. The next time you have a conversation, try to get your point across with less talking. Try to summarize the important parts and only focus on them while you talk.   Pay attention to others’ emotions. When you talk, take note of how the other person is reacting. Words are powerful, and communication can affect people in many different ways.   You may want to learn psychology to understand emotions better.   Show sympathy and empathy when it’s appropriate during a conversation.   Look at things from the other person’s point of view without criticism or judgment.   Be charismatic. Communication is easier for charismatic people, but you can learn this skill.   One of the most important aspects of charisma is confidence, but not arrogance or self-righteousness. Confident communicators know their value and worth, but they’re also respectful of others.   Another facet of charisma is optimism, and it’s also a big part of communication. Even if you’re having a difficult conversation, focus on something positive. Top leaders are good at finding the silver lining.   Charismatic communicators are interesting, but they also share interesting information with others. They focus on innovation and new ideas that give people a spark.   You can learn to communicate more effectively by following these tips from top leaders. Practice these skills as often as possible. You’ll have many opportunities each day. Every time you have a conversation with anyone is an opportunity to practice a little more. And as you know, practice makes perfect!