Business_Spotlight_-_Nr.2_2020

40 Business Spotlight 2/2020 BUSINESS SKILLS

5. Motivating people (BS 5/2019)
   One of the most frequent questions leaders ask
   in training courses is: “How do I motivate my
   people to perform better?” Discovering reliable
   ways to ensure that individuals and teams de­
   liver the results they are supposed to ... is a key
   leadership challenge. Yet the notion that there
   are somehow secret techniques to motivate
   others may be a false hope. Motivation may be
   less an extrinsic phenomenon, and more an in­
   trinsic one. The aim of leaders may be less about
   pushing people to success, and more about ac­
   tivating their inner resources to enable them to
   discover ways to fulfil their own motivations
   — and so perform to high standards in their
   specific tasks.

QUESTIONS

A. Compared to other, similar organizations,

companies with motivated employees do

what?

1. Outperform them significantly.


2. Perform slightly better.


3. Perform slightly worse.


4. Perform exactly the same.

B. What is the best way to assess the underly-

ing motivation(s) of others?

1. Listen to their underlying needs.


2. Profile them psychologically.


3. Observe their performance.


4. Challenge them regularly to perform better.

C. If an employee says, “It’s not my job”, what

does this probably mean?

1. They don’t want to help others.


2. They don’t want to take on more responsi­
   bilities.


3. They like to have a clear sense of their own
   responsibilities.


4. They lack confidence in their ability to per­
   form other tasks.

D. A leader who is often absent and invisible

probably...

1. has too much to do.


2. does not believe that motivating their team
   is important.


3. trusts their team and believes that showing
   trust is the best form of motivation.


4. lacks feedback skills.
   6. Taking decisions (BS 6/2019)
   The fact that we live in an age of VUCA (vola­
   tility, uncertainty, complexity and ambiguity) is
   often cited in management articles and blogs.
   What is less discussed is the challenge this
   brings to bear on a central leadership activi­
   ty — decision­making. If we can’t truly know
   our environment and are surrounded not only
   by “known unknowns” but also by “unknown
   unknowns”, how is it possible to take a deci­
   sion at all with any confidence? Is leadership
   descending into a form of gambling on uncer­
   tain outcomes? Leaders need to reflect longer
   and harder on the nature of decision­making,
   its limitations in the modern world and the re­
   ality that being right has become increasingly
   difficult.

QUESTIONS

A. Do you agree that the decisions of leaders

determine what gets done and how it gets

done?

1. Absolutely right. Leaders drive results.


2. Agree mostly. However, leaders act within
   complex organizational and economic sys­
   tems, so they are not in full control of out­
   comes.


3. Disagree mostly. Leaders have little influ­
   ence in a VUCA world.


4. Disagree totally. Everyone is responsible for
   deciding what happens, not just leaders.

B. How would you describe people who take

decisions effectively?

1. They are generally very focused on their own
   roles and on achieving results.


2. They align their decisions with others in the
   organization before finally deciding.


3. They are bold and courageous.


4. They take time to consider and reflect.

C. What are the best decisions based on?

1. data


2. feelings


3. data and feelings


4. data and feelings and doubt

D. When taking decisions in diverse teams,

what is it vital to do?

1. Provide enough time to hear everyone’s
   opinions.


2. Use the most experienced members of the
   team to guide the decisions being taken.


3. Follow clear decision­making processes.


4. Be ready to take full accountability for what
   is decided.

accountability

[E)kaUntE(bIlEti]

, Verantwortung,

Verantwortlichkeit

ambiguity

[)ÄmbI(gju:Eti]

, Mehrdeutigkeit

assess sth. [E(ses]

, etw. beurteilen,

einschätzen

bring sth. to bear on sth.

[)brIN tE (beEr Qn]

, etw. bei etw. zum

Tragen bringen

cite sth. [saIt]

, etw. anführen

descend into sth.

[di(send )Intu]

, in etw. absinken; hier: zu

etw. entwertet werden

extrinsic [eks(trInsIk]

, äußerlich; hier: auf

Außenwirkung beruhend

gamble on sth.

[(gÄmb&l Qn]

, auf etw. setzen, wetten

intrinsic [In(trInsIk]

, innewohnend; hier: von

Innen kommend

outperform sb.

[)aUtpE(fO:m]

, jmdn. an Leistung

übertreffen

technique [tek(ni:k]

, [wg. Aussprache]

underlying [)VndE(laIIN]

, zugrunde liegend

LEADERS NEED

TO REFLECT

LONGER AND

HARDER ON

DECISIONS