In the iconic 1996 movie Jerry Maguire, the phrase “show me the money” became one of the most recognized phrases in movie history. Uttered by sports agent, Jerry Maguire (played by Tom Cruise) to his football player client, Rod Tidwell (played by Cuba Goodling, Jr.) the phrase took on a life of its own asRead… Read more »
I love many things about my job. The agency has a meaningful and worthwhile mission that I believe in. I share a mutual respect with my supervisor. I enjoy real friendships with a few of my coworkers and professionally appreciate many more. There are perks to my job: I can work from home sometimes, I’mRead… Read more »
What is one thing managers can do to increase creativity, productivity, and commitment by their employees? A recent study by two psychologists, Teresa Amabile and Steven Kramer, concludes: “If you focus on supporting the daily progress of people working in your organization, you will not only foster the success of the organization but also enrichRead… Read more »
Knowing what motivates you can lead you to do your job better and drive you to contribute more at work. Here are four ways to find out what drives you and use it to improve in your career.
If you do your job and do it well, you get rewards – better pay, a bonus, or a promotion. If you don’t, you get punishments – like a bad review or docked pay. Sound familiar? The “carrot-and-stick” approach to motivating employees is a venerable part of a manager’s toolkit, and most of us have experiencedRead… Read more »
Perhaps the most popular example of average Americans resisting authority came during the Prohibition Era of 1920-1933. Putting aside the imagery of movies like The Untouchables, moonshine & home breweries took on bigger, albeit clandestine, role in American innovation. Also of note during prohibition, production of sacramental wine for churches rose by hundreds of thousands… Read more »
Late last month, Robert Lavigna penned an article for the Harvard Business Review titled “Why Government Workers are Harder to Motivate.” And this is certainly a topic he’d know a lot about: Lavigna has a long history in government HR, having served as the director of the Wisconsin Civil Service System, at the GAO, andRead… Read more »
According to this post on Zen Habits, all the motivation hacks in the world can be broken down into two categories: 1) make things enjoyable, and 2) use public pressure. The theory is that if only you can find the joy in your work and hold yourself accountable to others, you can find the motivationRead… Read more »
Feeling stuck at work? Passed over? You know the feeling: it seems like you’ve been doing the same old thing for ages, yet no one seems to notice. You’d excel at a higher position, but coworkers who have been around for less time are being picked before you. What’s going wrong? If you’ve been wonderingRead… Read more »
Oftentimes, getting the job comes down to building relationships. One way I did this early on in my postal career was to seek out ways in which I could showcase other people and their talent. Late Motivational Speaker Zig Ziglar was often quoted as saying, “You can get everything you want in life, if youRead… Read more »