Motivate Like a CEO
I figured since I am a CEO, I should figure out how to motivate like a CEO so I read the book called, "Motivate Like A CEO Communicate Your Strategic Vision and Inspire People to Act!" by Suzanne Bates.The first chapter resonated a lot with me. The gist of the message is summarized by one of the quotes, "Purpose is necessary, critical to a happy, healthy, and successful life". The message is that purpose is essential for motivation. The challenge is that people are motivated by different things. People work for a pay cheque but they live for a purpose. The first step in leading an organization is to be in touch with your own purpose.
The second chapter talks about the eight principles of motivating others through communication. In her previous book, Bates wrote "Speaking Like a CEO" and much of her topic was on communications. This book further re-emphasizes that with eight principles which include:
1) Begins with you -- your purpose and passion.
2) Communicate a clear powerful mission.
3) Learn what motivates people.
4) Make personal connections with others.
5) Make the conversation about them (like Stephen Covey's first law -- Seek first to understand).
6) Praise recognize and reward.
7) Walk the talk.
8) Empower people (I am big on this one. I don't believe any organization is scaleable unless people are empowered to do the right thing). Any leader is very limited if they expect to control and do everything themselves.
The book has exercises on how to discover your purpose; how to connect with people to purpose; link the what with the why, etc.
The book absolutely needs to be written. It is clear that good leaders need to inspire people and the book gives a lot of the reasons why they need to be inspired and some examples on how some people were inspired. I think in some cases it is harder to put into action some of the ideas in real-life.
I found the book to be an easy read and very well laid out. I like the summaries at the end of the chapters and you could read just the insert boxes to understand the book.
It is a good, well written book for any leader.
posted by Jim Estill @ 9:52 AM 
6 Comments:
Great message. Sometimes it's easy to forget that it does start with being the best we can be for ourselves before we can be the best for others. The book sounds like it makes some great points.
I'm contemplating how the CEO is irrelevant unless he or she is driven by customers, their needs and complaints and unmet requirements.
Let customers write your mission statement. What do they want you to be? Be that then.
If you value customers more than your own company, and act like it, your customers will make sure your company thrives.
The CEO should be the perpetual student, not of management techniques, but of customer reality, letting customer-centrism replace corporate leveraging.
Making the customer the real King of your company is the royal road to survival and success, as I see it.
Now, to swallow my own medicine...
P.S. Are you on Twitter?
Sure I am on Twitter @jimestill
Dear Jim:
Thank you for the great executive summary of the book "Motivate like a CEO...."
Your article made me think back to the leadership and leadership style (specifically Level 5 Leadership) chapters in Jim Collins' cult business book: "Good to Great."
There Jim Collins, emphasizes the humility as a must have "quality" for a Level 5 Leader. That is humility for the passion and ambition for the cause, for the company, and for the work; and not themselves.
In that sense the "charismatic leadership" most employees and stockholders place a high premium on gets in the way of a great CEO and a great leader.
The 8 principles for CEOs listed in your article seem so much in line with overall qualities of a Level 5 leader as Jim Collins describe it, that I am sold the "Motivate like a CEO...." book. I'll definitely put it on my reading list thanks to your article.
Best regards,
Ky Ekinci
Co-Founder
Office Divvy
_____________
on the web: Office Divvy website
@OfficeDivvy
Hi there Jim
I could not agree with this post more especially with the following
1) Begins with you -- your purpose and passion.
2) Communicate a clear powerful mission.
3) Learn what motivates people.
4) Make personal connections with others.
5) Make the conversation about them (like Stephen Covey's first law -- Seek first to understand).
6) Praise recognize and reward.
7) Walk the talk.
8) Empower people (I am big on this one. I don't believe any organization is scaleable unless people are empowered to do the right thing). Any leader is very limited if they expect to control and do everything themselves.
These are all very important points and once the person on the top know these and does them himself then it can be carried through to the rest of the company.
Thank you for a great post.
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