Do People Want to Do What You Want Them to Do?

It is a common complaint of the manager: "NO ONE, ABSOLUTELY NO ONE  wants to do what they are supposed to do."

The core question then becomes: well, exactly how does that behavior and how do those attitudes change?   And guess what - NO ONE, ABSOLUTELY NO ONE  wakes up one morning and says "Yesterday I really didn't want to do any part of my job, but today I LOVE my job and I am going to do the best I possibly can."

As leaders, we must understand this:   the easiest way to change others' behaviors and attitudes is to change our own.   So, if people aren't doing what we want - the best piece of advice is to change our own behaviors and attitudes.

Do people understand the purpose of what they are doing?  Do they understand the impacts, both large and small, of their work contributions?   Do they understand that others in the enterprise are inextricably dependent and linked to their own work output?

Do we support them;  do they feel they are supported?

Do they feel heard? (More to the core of the issue - are they actually heard?)  Are they genuinely respected first as individuals and secondly as professional contributors.

Do we thank people enough ? (And by the way, it is not possible to over-thank anyone).

Do we believe at the core that their contribution is important - that they are necessary?  And if so, are our actions a testament to that belief?

Do they feel important?

The follow-up and trigger question then comes, what can we all do to improve our own actions so that people believe in us and truly want to follow us?

It is that sense of ownership that makes true leaders.

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My book "Courageous Questions, Confident Leaders" is available on Amazon Kindle.