Executing Strategy

For the past two meetings, we have been discussing how to effectively execute strategy. Funny thing is, concept wise, it's comprehensible. But to actually do it.....that's another issue, right?

When I was around 3 years old, I hung around the office already. That lasted til I was around 16 years old. I met a lot of people, ALL SORTS of people. From foreigners to rank-and-file. [I stayed with my tita most of the time. She was in logistics (maybe that's why I'm an IE?).] Somehow, I unconsciously took in my surroundings. It was fun, really fun! She even taught me how things worked about. It's different half growing up in the office - it was reeeeally boring. But now I appreciate the fact that I'm familiar with this territory. When you've had a feel of the topic being discussed, it's fun to talk about it. It's like you want to converse about it.

Converse. The monetary/non-monetary rewards I was really fond of! The feeling is really so much better when someone taps you in the back than giving you a gift certificate or something. It's like there was a void inside you because of the hard work you've done, but because you've been complimented, you're whole again. Even in our families. We want to constantly please people so that they may have something nice to tell about us. So we push ourselves in making our lives an extension of an important person. We're being dependent on our existence. But the fact remains that all we want is that simple phrase, "Damn good job!" How I wish that the world (I mean people) is simple enough to do it.=) It's not wishing for world peace naman eh..=)

I'm not a hypocrite that I won't admit it's nice to be monetarily rewarded. Hey, we're human. It's natural. But being human means we have a rational - and that's where emotion comes in. And that's where praises and criticisms fall under.

The hardest thing to ever do is make people see your vision...to make them want to do it too, to make them want to be a part of it. Motivation. Committment. Sure, I could be motivated or committed right now. You got my participation. How will you keep it that way? Yeah, there are all sorts of things we can do as bosses to make a firm statement of our directions and make our people want to do it. But us humans are complicated beings - always wanting more, always wanting less - and playing mind games is hard. It's mentally draining and emotionally tiring. But then again, that's why there's a "corporate ladder". Each step teaches us how to work, each step shows us another perspective. That's why we all have to start from scratch...

How do you make and keep people motivated? How do you handle different behaviors?