It’s time to make lemonade right? Had a nutty few days that I wanted to share… and a change to the next Online Business Manager training program as a result.
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January 2010
I’m generally not a big reader of business books, as I quite honestly find many of them boring (shh, don’t tell!). But for some reason I felt drawn to read Dan Pink’s latest book, Drive – the book is about motivation and what drives us to do our best work.
I’ve been working from home now for 10 years, and in that time people have always said to me “I could never do that, I simply wouldn’t get anything done!” This comment has always stumped me a bit, as i’ve never had any problem being motivated to do my work. I mean I get where people are coming from, as you would think I’d be tempted to watch talk shows and go out for coffee with friends (which I do from time to time of course, but not often).
After reading Dan’s book I get it… he has cracked the code of what really motivates us to do our best work. In a nutshell, here is what he says:
- Extrinsic (external) motivation doesn’t really work – and yet this is the traditional model of motivation that ‘traditional’ management theories focus on. “I will motivate you by giving you a structured job, clear guidelines on how to do that job and rewards (usually monetary). And I will keep a close on eye what you are doing to make sure it’s done right.”
- Intrinsic (internal) motivation is where most of us do our best work – this turns traditional management theory inside out, and essentially says that if you give people freedom to do their work they will be MUCH more creative, productive and satisfied. There are 3 key elements to intrinsic motivation – autonomy, mastery and purpose.
I just love the example he shares about Best Buy, and how they implemented a ROWE work strategy at their head office. ROWE stands for results-only work environment, and what they did is take away the requirements of time. People had no set hours to be in the office, they could do their work wherever they wanted and whenever they wanted. They just had to get their work (the results) done. It was a bit of a shift for people, but once they got used to it productivity rose dramatically and stress levels went way down.
Sound familiar? This is how many of us work as home-based (or virtual) business owners. We have the freedom to get stuff done wherever and whenever it works best for us – and as a result many of us love what we do (and can never imagine going back to a job – shiver).
Likewise, this is why so called ‘traditional’ management styles don’t work for online/virtual based business owners. I hear from OBMs and VAs on a very regular basis about how their clients are trying to micro-manage them – and how demotivating it is for them when this happens. “My client keeps hanging over my shoulder with every little thing.” I’ve seen many relationships fall apart for this very reason.
The thing is, in order to get the best work out of a virtual support professional – you need to give them freedom to do their work. Let them know what result you are looking for and a deadline to get the work done, and outside of that you shouldn’t have to do too much ‘management’ in the traditional sense. There is certainly nothing wrong with checking in, getting status updates and such, you just don’t want to micro-manage every little step. Super draining for all concerned.
If this is something you struggle with I invite you to back-off a bit. I know it can be hard to let go, and very tempting to always poke our noses in… however some freedom for your team may actually bring out the best in them.
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Date: Thursday, January 21st at at 1:00 pacific / 4:00pm eastern
As companies cut back on travel, many are hosting virtual events so that employees and business owners can upgrade their skills from the comforts of home or office. Yet many of these companies have no clue how to plan, organize and launch a virtual event, let alone one that features a multitude of speakers, exhibitors and sponsors. They end up making many mistakes that cost them time, money and their reputation.
As an Online Business Manager, you can manage your client’s online business needs with ease, but what will you do if your client asks you to plan a multi-speaker virtual event? Can your skills as an Online Business Manager transition to planning a multi-speaker virtual event? Join Leesa Barnes, a leading authority on virtual events, as she shares with you how you can help your client plan, promote and make money from multi-speaker virtual events in an exciting new role as a Virtual Event Manager.
What You’ll Learn:
- The similarities between Online Business Managers & Virtual Event Managers
- The #1 mindset you already have that will be of benefit to virtual events
- Why planning a multi-speaker virtual event is much more than booking a conference bridge line
- How to start offering virtual event management to your clients
Leesa Barnes is President of the Association of Virtual Events Managers, Organizers & Hosts and is a leading authority on using virtual events to become the #1 expert in your niche market. Nominated as one of the Top 50 Most Influential & Powerful Women in Social Media, Leesa helps independent consultants, entrepreneurs and business owners leverage virtual events and other online tools to boost profits. To learn more about Leesa, visit www.virtualeventsuccess.com.
Audio Recording (60 mins) | Click Here for MP3
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It’s now been over 10 years since I started my business, and I distinctly remember the moment when I realized I could never go back to a regular job. What was yours?
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I just got this article from my mentor David Neagle and had to share it – as I was thinking about exactly this stuff just last night. It is SO important to be aware of where fear stops us, otherwise we never move forward to achieve what we want. I recorded a quick video re: my experience with this too – enjoy!
Last ezine, I wrote that if you’re making a decision from the point of fear, you’re making the wrong decision.
The sad truth is that most of the decisions people make are motivated by fear. These are fears that are so engrained in their subconscious mind that they’re not even aware of them. These fears control their thoughts and they don’t realize it.
But it’s still not enough to be conscious of your fears; to be free of them, you have to look beneath them.
There’s an old adage that can be applied to fear:“false evidence that appears real.”
In our imagination, we create some kind of catastrophe. Let’s say you picture a tsunami overtaking an island. Now, you could imagine that tsunami far away and not feel fear, but you put yourself there with your family, and boom, you’ve got a fear. What is that fear based on? Why would you fear that product of your imagination?
You fear it because something deeper has triggered that fear. What is it? It is whatever insecurity you are protecting inside. In the example, that insecurity could be that you can’t keep your children from harm. On the surface you feel fear of a tsunami, but that fear is not a cause of your feeling; that fear is an effect of your deeper insecurity. Remember, fear is not a cause; it is an effect.
But even that insecurity isn’t deep enough. Why do you think you can’t protect your children? It may be because a parent didn’t protect you. Your psyche projects this masked scenario that if you tracked it to its source, you could gain real understanding about how you are gripped by a childhood abuse.
Most people won’t do that. They’ll focus only on the surface fear, the effect. But only by facing the cause of the fear will the fear dissolve. You’ve got to find out the root cause.
The very best way to come face to face with the cause is action. You need feedback. You get feedback from action.
It looks like this: You are inspired to take an action; a fear comes up. As I’ve written before, if you have a fear, that fear will show up. You probably stop. Most people stop. But then you examine the fear. What’s causing it? What insecurity of yours is it masking? You have an insight. You take that insight as deep as you can. You gain understanding of yourself and the fear loses its power to stop you. You move past it. You take another inspired action and come face to face with another fear. Again, you pause, examine, gain understanding and move beyond the fear.
As you continue to face fear after fear, they diminish in power and frequency and eventually fade away. Meanwhile, all of those inspired actions have led you in the direction of your purpose.
This brings me back to several months ago when I wrote that you’re always heading straight toward where you belong. This is what I meant. Even your fears, your underlying insecurities will lead you to greatness. That is, if you’re willing to unmask them. If you’re willing to know the full truth of who you are and then expand toward whom you are meant to be.
David Neagle, Million Dollar Income Acceleration Coach, mentors entrepreneurs to quantum leap their current businesses past the 7-Figure income level in just 12 months. David invites you to download—as his GIFT to you—his legendary “Art of Success” 4-hour audio program. This audio series is a tremendously compelling and comprehensive program that demonstrates—once and for all—that Success has nothing to do with “getting” or “achieving”, and everything to do with WHO we must BE to manifest our hearts’ true desires. For an additional bonus, Text: success to the number: 85800
Would love to hear your comments.
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