Maximizing Employee Performance by Leading Individually

By Bill Bayer

By Bill Bayer

Principle 1:

William W. Bayer | www.billbayer.net | 2009-2014

Why?

Teams are composed of individuals

Excellent teams include diversity

Synergy occurs when individuals with a

variety of talents are led to work together for a

common goal

Effective teams are not accidental

A team is only as strong as its individual

components


Principle 2:


Knowing people takes time and effort

• Transparency is a catalyst

Each person wants to be valued

• If you don’t value them, someone else will

Trust must be built

• Truthfulness is the key to trust


Leading effectively requires the individual’s

knowledge of Wii-FM (What’s in it for me?)

• People need to see there is something in it for

them if they work hard and play on the team

• Part of your job is to help each individual see how

the team’s success is beneficial to them

personally

Motivation requires inside knowledge

• This is why knowing people, building trust, and

helping them feel valued is important


Principle 3:


People excel when they have both passion

and talent

4 types of employees:

High talent / Low passion High talent / High passion

Low talent / Low Passion Low Talent / High Passion


IDEALMUST FIND WAYS TO MOTIVATE

WORST – AVOID! MUST TRAIN SKILLS IN PLACE OF TALENT

How do you find an individual’s passion?

Observe them

Meet with them

When you notice something, ask questions

Provide opportunities

Set up “tests”

Seek others’ opinions


How do you evaluate talent?

Objectively identify strengths and weaknesses

Use effective performance reviews and

feedback

Analyze performance data

Look for patterns

Use assessments

Employ more test situations

Talk to the employee


Principle 4:


There is no substitute for the gifts God gives

You cannot teach someone to have a talent they

do not inherently possess

People can improve skills, but skill ≠ talent

It yields a better ROI to train a talented person to

gain on top of their talent than to train an

untalented person to gain skills in lieu of talent.

Talent + Skill is always > Skill

BUT a motivated employee is always > an

unmotivated one regardless of talent


The impact of the first 18 years: if Momma

couldn’t teach them…

• There are certain life skills people should learn

before they reach the workforce

• You should not spend your time as an employer

teaching people what they should have learned in

childhood


Before you start training an individual, ask:

• Is there passion and some talent?

• Do they want success? More or less than you?

• Will they work hard?

• Are they willing to pay the price to achieve

success, or do they think they are entitled to it?


Principle 5:


1. Play favorites

2. Show bad examples

3. Only allow one right way to do things

4. Promise rewards you don’t give

5. Don’t reward good performance

6. Evaluate individuals based on outside

factors

7. Tolerate destructive behavior or

unacceptable performance

8. Move successful people to the wrong role


Talent

Passion

Hard work

Communication

Truthfulness

Good example

Solid leadership


What good employees really want is:

• Relationships

• Interest in their career

• Potential to advance

But…

• High performers often leave

This is why individual leadership is key

• Must give them reason to stay

• Must find out what motivates them

• Must figure out how to best utilize them

• Must make them feel valued


Conclusion:

William W. Bayer | www.billbayer.net | 2009-

2014

1. There is no substitute for talent

2. There is no substitute for passion

3. Leadership is an individual exercise

4. You can’t really change people

5. You can motivate people

6. You can de-motivate people

7. Loyalty is good, but not permanent

8. You can be an effective leader if you want to

be


Business

Maximizing Employee Performance by Leading Individually