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Feb 28, 2010 
Kendall L. Stewart, M.D.
We all like to think we are special. Have you noticed that? This longing to feel special is greatest among those of us who are below average. A good many misguided leaders miss this point entirely. They think that the way to motivate others is to never be satisfied, to always be critical and demanding.
1. Make the goals easy at first. Here’s an uncomfortable truth. Success, even when it’s meaningless, feels good. People actually rejoice when their teams win. They may not have had a thing to do with it. Success energizes, motivates and feeds on itself.
2. Celebrate incremental improvement. Progress matters. Make a big deal out of it. People need emotional fuel to keep going. They want feel that they are at least making some headway.
3. Take small steps. People who don’t make some progress tire quickly, become discouraged and give up. They convince themselves and others that the goal didn’t really matter that much anyway.
4. Preach patience and practice what you preach. Variation happens. Significant change usually takes a long time. While genuinely celebrating incremental progress, repeatedly clarify the difference between movement and the goal line.
5. Do not celebrate failure. Feel-good leaders often mistakenly conclude that feeling good is the goal. Nope. Results are the things that matter.
How do you make people feel special?
4 Comments 
Ha! One of the ways I try to acknowledge the specialness of those I work with is to personally and privately thank them for their efforts and explain to them how they make a difference to SOMC (or the project, process, etc). I know for me personnally, this provides me with a full gas tank to take on the next hurdle! And improving results is just that…numerous hurdles (some smaller than others) to over come on a course that keeps changing. I believe that most self-motivated leaders already beat themselves up enough that having someone else point out failures at every turn can demotivate rather than motivate.
