Recently in a conversation with a potential client who runs an 8-figure business I asked him what his biggest struggle was. His answer?

To be able to motivate his team and get them to move all in the same direction when it came to growing his business. 

This is actually a common struggle among many 7 & 8 figure CEO’s: how do we get our teams to really come on board with our business growth and success? So today I want to share 5 ways to motivate your team.

1. Care about your team & make the time to regularly connect with them

Ok so this is really two points combined! I want to share a story with you about when I was the employee of a business. About 6 years ago I was working as a controller for a small business and at the start of working for that business my boss would often come into my office and just chat with me for 5-10 minutes - not about work - but about life. How were my kids doing? What did I do on the weekend? How was my mom doing (during her cancer battle) and over a period of time we became friends. 

Having this connection not only helped to motivate me to do a good job for him because he cared about me as a person but I also at the time couldn’t imagine leaving the company because I viewed him as a friend and not just a boss. 

When we really make the effort to connect with our team as humans and not just people working for us we are able to build deeper connections which often help motivate people in the work that they do. It’s not that they’ll never leave if we become their best friends but by showing that you care and that they matter you will automatically raise the motivation of your team because they will feel that you’re invested in them as people and that’s important. 

This is not about being fake, this is about taking the time each week to connect with your team and see what’s going on for them outside of your company in a genuine way. 

2. Recognize their efforts

There is nothing more frustrating to team members than not being able to communicate with their boss or sending emails and not getting responses or working really hard on a project for it never to be acknowledged. That is demotivating to people!

So make sure that you’re scheduling 15-30 minute one on one meetings with them every week to touch base with them about their work, personal things and recognize their efforts. This is important because good employees will work their butts off for you and a little recognition goes a long way in making them feel appreciated and seen. 

3. Celebrate! 

If your company achieves a milestone or has a win then celebrate with your employees, whether that’s taking them out for lunch or drinks. Encouraging them to be part of the successes helps to bond your staff together and feel like it’s their win too! This then has a bonus effect that if they’re part of a goal they will want to try their best to achieve it in order to celebrate.

4. Communicate

I know as CEO’s you can be super busy with all the things and often communicating effectively with your staff members gets overlooked but clear and regular communication is KEY! 

If you want your team to buy into changes that are happening (or about to happen) then you need to explain to them what is going on. Not just spring it on them last minute and expect a warm response. When an employee can see the bigger picture behind something they are more likely to get on board and accept any short term changes (such as increased work load) because they know in the long run it’s going to make their job easier or mean a more successful business (which in turn will mean more success for them career wise)

5. Give gifts

I know a lot of you may skip over this one but hear me out. Looping back to point one when we show our team that we care about them as people we deepen the connection we have with them. And giving gifts at special moments like a birthday or big life milestone is a great way to strengthen this

It doesn’t have to be anything over the top, just something personal to show that you care. If you have a larger team then make sure to have your HR person help you find out people’s birthdays and organize something for them. 

One thing that really lights me up is watching my clients and their business grow exponentially, and I’m very much internally motivated to do that. But many of your team members won’t have that internal motivation and so you have to find other ways to motivate them and giving gifts can help towards this. 

In fact, giving gifts often helps build all business relationships - a few years ago when I was already a CEO myself my mother passed away and I had a client of mine send me a huge box of Omaha Steaks. She said that she thought I may have a lot of family coming in from out of town and wouldn’t it be nice to have this if I needed to feed them and I thought that was a super thoughtful gift. She could have just sent me a gift card but instead she sent something she thought would really support me during that time of grief and it did! Plus it made me want to contribute even more to the success of her business. 

At the heart of it all we need to remember the very simple fact: We are all humans, we are all trying the best that we can to have the best lives that we can for ourselves and our families. When we take the time to build genuine relationships with each other and support each other through important moments we strengthen loyalty and that is priceless when it comes to teams and business! 

Watch my YouTube Video on this topic: