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I am not motivated!

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I am not motivated!

“I do not feel motivated. My boss does not motivate me. Why should I put in the effort? What’s in it for me? They pay me exactly the same! If I do more than what has been asked of me, I will get strange looks! They treat everyone the same way, regardless of what everyone does! They do not care, arrive late or leave very early, why should I worry? If I could leave… Today there are neither good employees nor good bosses! There are still some people that work hard and give all they have got, but honestly, I cannot figure it out why they do it?! “

And much more is heard nowadays.

No motivation

Não me sinto motivado

Challenge:

Very often we hear over and over again the famous quote from John F. Kennedy: “Ask not what your country can do for you! Ask what you can do for your country! “

Digressing a bit without going off too far, I get impatient when I hear politicians repeatedly challenge their fellow citizens with this quote. It does not look nice. Firstly, because the truth of the matter is that all politicians of our generation have responsibility for the state of things today; secondly, because I cannot recognize in any of our politicians, even with all the efforts of the world, the qualities of John Fitzgerald Kennedy, such as character, charisma, entrepreneurship, visionary, transformative, challenging and energizing, even with all its weaknesses, as he had some as well.

J.F. Kennedy knew that it is within us that the mobilizing driving force is born, giving us the energy needed to overcome difficulties and to overcome challenges, to turn what it seems big obstacles into negligible ones. That is why JFK underlined in another part of his speech: “In your hands, my fellow citizens, more than mine, will rest the final success or the failure of our course”

Decision:

It is not for anyone else but myself the decision to feel or not to feel motivated. This is a skill that I cannot delegate to anyone else. It is wonderful to feel that no matter what is happening around me, the decision is mine. Even knowing that I cannot always take the decision I feel l should at the moment, I am aware and a firm believer that, sooner or later the decision is mine – I decide!

I decide that waking up in the morning feeling healthy after a good night’s sleep, makes me happy and gives me strength to face another day of work. And because I love what I do, I feel motivated and happy. At the end of each day I feel tired and shattered, however, in 99% of the cases I experience a nice sense of accomplishment.

I do not let the challenges, difficulties or other matters divert me from what has to be achieved. If I do it, then I am doing it consciously and in a controlled manner.

If I do not feel happy, then I change! The decision is mine! I am the force.

We must not fall into the trap of thinking that others are responsible for the way we feel. That others are responsible for our decisions or our own motivation. If from time to time, we let them affect us, because we do, then we are always aware that the decision not to allow those moments to prolong themselves in time is ours.

We are not mere pawns dropped on a chessboard by others. We are, instead, People that make the difference, people that are not afraid of a fight or challenges, people that faces tough circumstances with courage and determination, people who believe in themselves and, above all, people who know that the key, the solution, is always within us!

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Sharing experiences

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Sharing experiences

I have already written my first post before even opening up why am I doing it. The main purpose about sharing my experiences is that, maybe, some will benefit some people among those who read them. The posts are and will be in the main a result of past and  present experiences, considerations and beliefs, some probably controversial, others not so much.

If just one person is enriched by the experiences I will share in my writings I’ll be very happy with the result. I know I cannot change the world, but perhaps, I can help someone who might change the world.

There were several times during my professional life when, reflecting about decisions taken, I came up to the following conclusion: “If I knew what I know now…” It is possible that by sharing my experiences and considerations, some will benefit from it and learn something that is applicable to what they are going through, enabling them not to go through the same experience. There will always be situations where we all go through it: “If I knew it…” and this is part of the learning process; nevertheless, if one can reduce these events by simply benefiting from the experience of others,  that will be great.

Guy Kawasaki, in one of his books about startups writes the following: “My knowledge comes from my scars.” A statement with which I identify myself completely. I do not even know if “my skin” is nothing but just scars, so many were the hard times “on the battlefield” – that has been and always be life in business.

“I never thought of writing for reputation or honor. I need to let out what is in my heart; this is why I compose.” said Ludwig Van Beethoven.

I am not a musician or a literary genius, far from being an entrepreneur or a businessman  guru, however, as Ludwig, I am aligned with this idea: Sharing my experience is not a matter reputation or honor. I do it with because I love to share my experiences and maybe, among those who love challenges and love learning, there will  be some who will benefit from it.

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Growing pains

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Growing pains

It has been a name used for over 170 years. There are several explanations about its origin, however, the designation in itself and the root causes of it are not totally clarified. Growing pains are temporary and usually disappear in less than two years, say the experts.

And in the business? Is it possible that companies may also go through growing pains at some point in time? I dare say, yes, they do.

If management team and employees let themselves get into a sense of wonder, they lose as a result the sense of urgency and stagnation takes place.

In fact, they let themselves to be surpassed by competition, by the external factors that influence the market in which they operate, by the changes in buyers´ behavior… they do not grasp all that and continue to operate as they have always done, using the same methods, processes and strategies that helped them succeed in the past which unfortunately, are no longer suited to overcome the challenges of the present.

Does a football team when promoted from the third league for the second faces the same management challenges as previously? And further, if this same team climbs up to the first league and desires to compete with the best, do the challenges remain the same? The skills and competencies of management, coach and players, the strategy, the objectives… will they be the same?

When managers and their teams in an organization stop having a sense of urgency and stop aiming for continuous improvement of their employees and their products , services or processes, when they stop paying attention to what happens in the market place and forget that strategy is evolutionary and not static and customer needs are evolving, they get their company into a stage that I designate as growing pains. The culture of an organization needs to be always in development and senior and middle management cannot let themselves and their teams “swell” into past successes and belief that the way they did business “yesterday”, whether one thinks about “internal” or “external” customers, is the best way to do business “today”. When teams invariably start looking for reasons, all external by the way, to justify poor or mediocre performance, then please be reassured the growing pains are installed.

If these conditions are not quickly addressed, then acute growing pain can very easily become a chronic disease  that will rapidly, sometimes silently, will destroy everything that was conquered before with true dedication, commitment and sacrifice. Such an organization arriving to such a stage must wake up to it before it is too late.

Leaving a company to delight itself in the shadow of past successes, even if that is for a period of time of no long duration, will have negative effects on performance and will undermine the company´s ability to compete, I dare say, for at least a period that will be two to three times longer in “hibernation”. All knowledge acquired over time should be at the service of progress and evolution. Acquired knowledge without action leads consequently to stagnation.

An organization must remain permanently IDAN – “Inquiete“, “Dynamic“, “Attentive“, “Nervous” (word of Greek origin meaning “working a lot,” that is, does not get into complacency)

  • Must maintain a continuous investment in research and development. It is necessary to maintain a “pipeline” of new products, systems and solutions, and to continuously improve the features and processes of existing products and existing solutions respectively;
  • Should bet on marketing programs that are focused on customer needs and market developments in all its aspects as well as ensuring that the sales team is also focused on customers’ needs and capable of showing the added value customers will gain from the use of their products or services, as opposed to a team that just focuses on price;
  • Must insist on continuous improvement of its internal processes;
  • Should foster permanently the development of skills and competencies of its most important asset – People, challenging them continuously not letting them getting into the comfort zone, introducing strategically “new blood” into the organization – talent to confront the “status quo” and the “modus operandi“, however talented People that act with a responsible attitude tempered with the ability that children, for example, have to ask why and learn from their curiosity.
  • Should accept that those in the organization who allow themselves to get complacent and resist to continuous improvement should leave, otherwise they become a liability to the organization.

Although all organizations at some point in time may go through a period of growing pain, the most important thing is to be alert and realize that these periods can exist; only with this awareness will everyone in the organization be mobilized to ensure these periods are as short as possible.