My leadership top tips include a very important one for me as understanding our people is also essential on the other side of the fence when it comes to the teams you lead.<\/p>\n
I\u2019ve made it my mission to personally deliver knowledge and development sessions at every level throughout my career.<\/p>\n
A quick Google search will show you that there\u2019s more written about leadership and motivation than you could fit in a stack of encyclopaedias. But when you\u2019re standing before your teams, your approach can\u2019t rely on bullet points and standard instructions. It\u2019s far more visceral, more personal when you\u2019re in the room.<\/p>\n
So how do you get the best out of people? Despite what literature might tell you, there really is no one best way. That\u2019s why it comes back to people \u2013 and understanding what makes them tick.<\/p>\n
One of my leadership top tips comes from some basic theory. In 1943, a psychologist called Abraham Maslow came up with a pyramid of human needs, which motivate them. The theory is classic, but still in some ways sound. It underpins much of how we understand people even today.<\/p>\n
At the base of the pyramid are biological needs that drive people \u2013 food, water, warmth. Then come security needs, belonging needs, esteem needs and so on.[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row type=”full_width_background” full_screen_row_position=”middle” scene_position=”center” text_color=”dark” text_align=”left” top_padding=”70″ bottom_padding=”100″ overlay_strength=”0.3″ shape_divider_position=”bottom” bg_image_animation=”none” shape_type=””][vc_column centered_text=”true” column_padding=”padding-4-percent” column_padding_position=”left-right” background_color_opacity=”1″ background_hover_color_opacity=”1″ column_link_target=”_self” column_shadow=”none” column_border_radius=”none” width=”1\/1″ tablet_width_inherit=”default” tablet_text_alignment=”default” phone_text_alignment=”default” column_border_width=”none” column_border_style=”solid” bg_image_animation=”none”][vc_column_text]\n
My first job is to listen and to get to the very heart of each individuals purpose. I always stand by the saying, that the two most important days in your life are the day you are born and the day you find out why.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row type=”in_container” full_screen_row_position=”middle” scene_position=”center” text_color=”dark” text_align=”left” overlay_strength=”0.3″ shape_divider_position=”bottom” bg_image_animation=”none”][vc_column column_padding=”no-extra-padding” column_padding_position=”all” background_color_opacity=”1″ background_hover_color_opacity=”1″ column_link_target=”_self” column_shadow=”none” column_border_radius=”none” width=”1\/1″ tablet_width_inherit=”default” tablet_text_alignment=”default” phone_text_alignment=”default” column_border_width=”none” column_border_style=”solid” bg_image_animation=”none”][vc_column_text]It sounds like a throwaway comment, but it\u2019s not. What I wanted to talk about was Maslow\u2019s esteem needs, and then the highest level at the apex of the pyramid \u2013 self actualisation; where people achieve their full potential.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s at that apex of achievement that I want to bring every member of my teams all over the world. It is a goal we have always succeeding at. For when people are motivated from the inside because they recognise their calling, they are a force to be reckoned with. This motivation shows in their work, in their client relationships, and in the ambitions they set themselves.<\/p>\n
There\u2019s no shortage of leadership theories. But for me, I believe leadership is deeply personal, and have therefore always made this one of my leadership top tips. It goes back to people \u2013 understanding them and enabling them. For when people are motivated from within, and when the fires of self-actualisation are ignited within them, there is no limit to what they can accomplish.<\/p>\n
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