How To Create a Spark In Your Team

Whether you are in direct sales or are a manager in a traditional job, sparking excitement in your team or staff can be tough?  As a County Coordinator and then a CFO with non-profits, it was sometimes tough to get staff to see the BIG picture.  It was difficult to get them to buy into my crazy ideas.  In direct sales, as leaders, we (or at least I do) struggle with motivating my team forward toward reaching their dreams and goals,

I love this Vision recipe shared by Lynn Bardowski, the Million Dollar Party Girl, which is:

Mix 1/3 purpose with 1/3 passion
Stir in 1/3 crazy idea
Blend well and let it marinate overnight
Mix in massive action
Once you get clear on your vision ask yourself two questions: What does it look like? and How will I make it happen?

Here are some tips from the Party Girl, herself…

Empower: Empower your team.  Encourage them to come up with ideas, action plans, goals and most importantly…solutions. When people feel like they contributed to something instead of just following orders, they’ll be more likely to take ownership and act on them.

Educate: It took me a long time to get this one right.  As a boss, I was more about telling people how and what to do instead of teaching.  I eventually learned, it didn’t matter how it got done as long as it got done.  In direct sales, it’s the same.  Provide your team with the training to help them achieve their goal. There are lots to trainings out there, you don’t have to have all of the answers.  Use Zoom or Facebook Live so you can influence more people.  “When the student is ready the teacher will appear.” Just because you have been saying things for months, someone else may say it and the light bulb may go off and they think it is brilliant.

Delegate: This is when I usually hear crickets.  People lack confidence and as a result, don’t want to share.  I have been trying to delegate things to my team in the hopes of building confidence and increasing engagement which help them feel like they are part of the team. Believe it or not, the time you gain by giving up the reins will make up for the stress you feel as you let go. It will all work out. Trust me.  I have been there, and done that!

Recognize:  I love to send “happy mail”.  A way to recognize individuals for their effort, progress, and results. Did you know each generation reacts to praise/ recognition differently?  Millennials expect immediate recognition. Boomers might feel uncomfortable – and even embarrassed – by the attention. That’s me!  A great rule of thumb is safety in numbers when you’re giving praise.

Communicate:  I am are you have heard it a million times… “The key to being a great communicator is to be a great listener”.   To build stronger relationships with you need to be willing to listen to their struggles, and their triumphs.

I have learned to meet my team where they are, and not where I want them to be.  There are many ways people learn so you may need to use a variety of channels to communicate: Facebook messenger, live video chat, voice message, text, postcards and in-person coffee meet-ups.  Don’t forget about GIFs and stickers, which are fun ways to communicate an emotion.

Appreciate: Feeling appreciated is a human need…which makes it a much higher form of gratitude than recognition. [Source: Huffington Post]

Happy mail to me is a great (inexpensive) way to show my gratitude and let people know how much I value them on the team. I send happy mail to my customers too.  It not only helps you to stand out in the crowd BUT it lets people know you care.

Evaluate: We have all done it.  Waited until the middle or the end of the month, to see where we are on our personal goals as well as those of a team member.  Checking in weekly, helps everyone to make a plan to reach their goal.  I share my numbers with my team to let them know I am a consultant just like they are.  I am hopefully showing them how to take risks with new ideas, embrace bumps in the road and the idea of working together so we all are successful.

Discover: Look for the hidden gems on your team. Get to know Consultants who were sponsored by others – their dreams, their goals and help them make a plan to reach them. Believe it or not, they might just be your next super star.

This holiday season is a perfect time to spark some interest….What are your best tips?

Have a ThirtyOne-derful day!

 

How the Green-Eyed Monster of Jealousy Can Inspire You

“Comparison is the thief of joy.” – Franklin  Roosevelt

A new month.  A NEW catalog season.  A new beginning.  Time to reflect on July.  July was a tough month for me not because of my business – personal sales volume met as well as team numbers.  I was blessed to head to National Conference to enjoy the pink bubble with my Thirty One sisters.  So why was it a tough month???

I got sucked into the vortex of social media and the comparison gremlins started a new battle of whether I was a success.  As I scrolled through Instagram and Facebook, I saw countless celebrations of success.  I was happy for them because they had worked hard and deserved it.  The realization hit me that I really didn’t do my best.

What started out innocently enough, in no time at all, had me sucked into the wormhole of comparison.  By the time I emerged, I felt like crap. I was JEALOUS with a capital “J.”  Yes, I said it!  In my heart, I knew that I couldn’t compare where I was to where they were – so many things were different but those inner gremlins were having a field day.

Others had more followers. More likes. Better websites. Better pictures. Better programs. Better style. Better everything.

The question then became “What am I doing with my life?”.  Part of me wanted to start a “pity party” because I was in full on green-eyed monster mode. I know that I’m not alone.

Research shows that people have an innate drive to evaluate themselves, often in comparison to others. People are as harshest critique and the one way we do this is through social comparison.

Two recent studies found that people on Facebook frequently have lower self-esteem than those who use Facebook less or not at all. Chronic Facebook users experience mostly negative impact from comparing themselves to others who are “better” than them.

As I look back on how I reacted to the social media black hole and jumped back into the real world, my jealousy got me thinking.

What if, instead of comparing myself to those I thought were “better”, I flipped the script and let comparison be an example of what’s possible?

If you’re naturally prone to comparing, what if you used comparison as a form of motivation?  Want to exercise your green-eyed monster demons with me? Here are a few tips:

1. Eliminating social media totally isn’t a reality for may of us, BUT try to minimize the time you spend on any social media platform.  Research says Americans check their social media 17 times per day. I bet we can get that number down.

2. Remember that most people are posting their most polished, shiny, and filtered part of their life.

3. Still feeling the urge to scroll and feel less than worthy because of it? Take a look at what you’re feeling.  Dig deep because the reason isn’t usually on the surface. Take the ick out of jealousy and look at it as a tool to help you figure out what you would like more of in your life.

4. Look at the person you envy and ask yourself, how am I like this person? When you see how you are like that person, you can see their success as a real possibility for you.

“Don’t compare your beginning to someone else’s middle.” -Jon Acuff

This is my favorite saying and often hard to remember.  Reflect on where you’re at in your journey. Many times, we are comparing our beginning to someone else’s years of experience. We missed out on all of the hard work, time, and dedication that went behind the picture or post we’re seeing today.

How can you honor where you’re at in your life? How can you use this knowledge as inspiration for what’s possible for you when you reach your “middle”?  I’d love to hear from you! How do you handle comparison?

Have a ThirtyOne-derful day!