John Adair's 100 Greatest Ideas for Effective Leadership

Idea 41: Creating a motivating environment

Make sure that you create as motivating an environment as you can by observing these nine key points:

1. Beware of the insidious growth of a restrictive organization, one with a negative ethos and with a bureaucratic over-emphasis on controls.
2. Avoid public criticism of individuals.
3. Ensure that Herzberg's hygiene factors are catered for – the physical and psychological well-being of people should have a high priority.
4. Control systems should only be introduced where necessary and kept to a minimum.
5. Give people an input into decisions that affect their working lives (especially in respect of substantial change).
6. Keep units and sub-units as small as possible (larger units have a greater tendency to be bureaucratic ...