Excellent managers don’t motivate people. They hire motivated people—people who are goal-driven consistent with the goals of the organization. While leaders cannot motivate, they can extinguish motivation. The leader sells a vision of how individual goals are achieved through the organization’s goals. People want to belong—and belong to something that recognizes their own value. If you want the right people on the bus, you start with the right people. Steve Jobs but it this way: “A”-level people want to be part of an organization of “A”-level people.

The organization wants people who want to travel north on I65 North. Sunday drivers need not apply. People who want to travel south, east, or west should look elsewhere.

Motivation is not externally created. What excellent managers learn is that they can’t change the individual, but they can change people. Excellent managers do just that. They understand that keeping the wrong person extinguishes motivation in others. A’s demand A-level performance from their peers. When you allow less than A-level performance, you degrade everyone.

# # #

For a beautiful evening join me on April 9^th 2013 at the Belmond Mansion in Nashville Tennessee for High Tea. Click here for more information.

Right People on the Bus

Jim Collins, author of Good to Great, called it “getting the right people on the bus.” He spent years researching the difference between most enterprises and those that in his judgment made the transition from good to great. His conclusion would not have been a surprise to Steve Jobs, who changed the world as the leader of Apple. The key is having the right people. Jobs explained that “A” level people want to work with “A” level people. In the typical environment, “A” people go in search of “A” opportunities; “B” and “C” level people begin to become the norm over time as “A”s leave. That is why in a turnaround situation “getting the wrong people off the bus” to make room for “A” level replacements becomes the first job of management.

How do you get the right people? It isn’t easy. Involve your “A” people in the selection process. Use an employment testing service. Hire successful people. But be prepared to get mistakes off the bus fast. It takes time to assemble an “A” team. It is like fine brandy; your team has to be distilled over time. You have to hire carefully and refine by removing and replacing those that don’t fit.

###

Mysteries by Tom Collins include Mark Rollins’ New Career, Mark Rollins and the Rainmaker, and Mark Rollins and the Puppeteer and the newest, The Claret Murders. For signed copies go to http://store.markrollinsadventures.com. Ebook editions are available on Amazon for the Kindle, on Barnes & Noble for the Nook and in Apple iTunes' iBookstore for the iPad. Paperback editions are available on Amazon, Barnes & Noble and other online bookstores.