he world would be a much better place if only people would do their best. However, the reality is that over 98% of people do not do their best. The following are some of the main reasons why people do not do their best: • They have little confidence in their own talents and skills. • They do not utilise the knowledge, skills and experience they have. • They do not explore and stretch the potential possibilities within themselves. • They are not motivated or inspired. • They feel they will be punished with more work. • They view that the recognition and rewards do not justify their effort.
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BRINGING OUT THE BEST IN PEOPLE Leaders can do many things to bring out the best in their people. Leaders should inspire those who lack confidence in their own ability to apply their existing talent to achieve more. For those with talent but without an outlet, leaders can create opportunities for them. On the other hand, I know of very competent people who hide their talent for fear that they might be overloaded with more work. Those overloaded with work will soon become demoralised and will shy away from taking initiatives. The solution is to develop more people with the right skills so that work can be delegated fairly. To get the best out of people, reward
talent and achievements accordingly. A morale damper is rewarding everyone the same across the board irrespective of their contribution and results. Keeping track of individual performance may take effort but it is worth it because it is only through fair recognition and rewards that people will sustain their performance.
VALUE OF DOING YOUR BEST There is a common saying, “You can take the horse to a river but you cannot force her to drink.” A better way is to take the horse for a ride in the hot sun and then lead her to a river. Driven by her thirst, the horse would want to drink. Likewise, we cannot force people to do the things. Instead, we need to find a way for them to want to do it. Many people do not want to do their best. They do not see the value for themselves except for what is good for their bosses or companies. Leaders must convince their staff about the benefits that arise from doing one’s best. Here are some of them: • Doing your best gives you credible results that provide opportunities for growth and promotion. • Doing your best is therapeutic because you feel great and not feel guilty that you have performed less. • Doing your best gives you a sense of pride and personal satisfaction which increases your self-esteem and well-being. • Doing your best justifies the talent, qualification, knowledge, skills and experience you have.
Dr Victor SL Tan is the CEO of KL Strategic Change Consulting Group. He undertakes change management consulting and training. He is also the author of 11 books on management. His latest book, Leading Positive And Profitable Change, made it to MPH’s bestseller list. His passion is to engage people to do their best to achieve their peak performance. For feedback for this article email him at victorsltan@klscc. com or contact him at 012 3903168.
Malaysia Retailer Vol 8 No 1
35 Feature
Doing Your Best
Often in the workplace, we face challenges that call for doing our best to overcome them. Many people spend a lot of time worrying about the problems they are may face tomorrow. In fact, the best preparation we can do for tomorrow is to do our best today. If we do our best to resolve the problems of today, we do not have to carry forward the problems tomorrow. Tomorrow will take care of itself. The great writer, Earl Nightingale said: “We are at our very best, and we are happiest when we are fully engaged in work we enjoy on the journey towards the goal we’ve established for ourselves. It gives meaning to our time off and comfort to our sleep. It makes everything else in life so wonderful, so worthwhile.” Indeed, we truly feel whole, meaningful and complete when we do our best at work and in life. It is when we continuously do our best, that we eventually reach the point of being the best in our area of work. In fact, the book, The Secret of Change made its way into the Malaysia Book Of Records as the First Motivation book in poem. On 26th September 2019, our company won two prestigious awards from The Brandlaureate, one individual award as “the most impactful change agent” in transforming people and companies and another company award for our change management consulting work. By doing our best, we stretch our talent and capabilities to the fullest. This eventually won us the recognition and merits we deserve in the area of strategy, change and leadership. More importantly, by doing our best, we ensure that we do not short-change ourselves as we maximise our potential and hence increase our chances for greater accomplishments, recognition and fulfilment.
