"You Can Lead a Horse to Water but You Can’t Make Them Drink…Leadership Lessons from the Heartland"  

David Pritchett, President, Full Count Training and Consulting

To me, this speaks to Motivation. Some people just aren’t! And in some cases that’s okay. We need those people who come in, on time, every day, and do their jobs without much notice. They are dependable and low-maintenance. They like what they do and have no interest in moving up the food chain. They are not thirsty for change. Others however, need the encouragement, support and opportunities to thrive in an organization. They want to feel like they are contributing and making an impact in their positions. Delegating tasks that will challenge their abilities is a great way to “salt the oats.” Be sure to let them know why you are giving them extra responsibilities and what impact it will have on the team and the company. Give them the tools they need and the authority to make decisions, and let them run. It is amazing how things will turn out when we set people up to succeed by throwing a little salt on their oats.

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“You Can’t Fake the Harvest”

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You have to be willing to put in the work to reap the benefits. And it takes time! In our “immediate gratification” culture, patience can sometimes be lacking. To be successful and to move up in an organization, one must sacrifice, work hard and be patient. The crops don’t grow overnight. Some of the biggest deals I’ve made took months to cultivate. You must till the ground, fertilize the soil, repel the bugs, water the dirt, wait for the crop to mature, and then harvest the crop. There are no shortcuts. It’s the same for business. You have to build relationships by building trust. And trust doesn’t happen overnight. People will listen to you if they like you, but will do business with you if they TRUST you. But also remember, that trust is lost in buckets and regained in drops.

 

“There is No Education in the Second Kick of a Mule”

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Making mistakes is a part of doing business. There are no perfect plans as things change daily. Mistakes are how we learn. It’s how we handle these mistakes that makes all the difference. Do we learn from them or do we continue to do the same things over and over again? Like the old saying goes about the definition of Insanity—“Doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result.” How do we handle situations where our employees make a mistake? Do we chastise them, or do we dig a little deeper and find out the motivation behind the actions? Do we forgive them or do we hold it against them for the remainder of their careers? Mistakes are where the learnings begin! And when we are learning, we are growing. Remember failure is an event not a person. We just need to make sure they are not making the SAME mistakes over and over.  The second kick often times hurts more than the initial one.