Monday Motivation, 9.13.2021

Written by: Kaitlyn Gwaltney

Every Monday, The Rogers-Long Team meets for one of its two weekly meetings. The Monday meeting always ends with “Monday Motivation” in which a few minutes are spent listening to one team member presenting a quote, a quick reading from a book, a scene from a movie, or anything else they find motivating to provide a “spark” to the whole team on a Monday morning.

I always joke that writing the Monday Motivation is the hardest part about being on the

RLT, however, it has also become something that helps positivity and motivational stories

get passed around. I have had clients, family, and friends reach out to me to tell me about

good videos or podcast they’ve listened to and thought it would be the perfect Monday

Motivation for my next turn. That being said, my husband sent me a video that he watched

the other day on 8 habits of being a good leader and I thought you might also find

something within one of the bullet points below that you’re either already excelling at or

maybe need to improve.

1. Make everyone on the team feel like they matter. A great example of this comes from the new tv show, Ted Lasso, when greeting the team’s equipment manager, Ted makes it a point to ask his name to make sure he feels just as important as who he is headed to meet. Do not only show interest in those above you because everyone is an important part of the team.
2. Align your goals with those around you. This goes along with the cliché “there is no ‘I’ in team”. If you help those around you, they will naturally want to help you reach yours. It’s a win/win for everyone involved. To quote Ted Lasso again, he tells the greatest player on the team struggling with a team mentality “If you figure out how to turn the ‘me’ into ‘us’, the sky is the limit for you.”
3. Create lieutenants. Ask others to help you come up with ideas and/or create smaller teams within your team. Phil Jackson, NBA coach, stated “I always tried to foster an environment in which everyone played a leadership role, from the most unschooled rookie to the veteran superstar. This also helps me improve as a leader”.
4. Actively solicit feedback and try to improve.Whether you are asking for anonymous feedback or having group meetings, make sure it is someone you respect and someone who also respects you. If five people in the group meeting all have the same opinion, chances are it is going to resonate with you a little deeper than just one person sharing that opinion with you. 
5. Have empathy for those that you lead. If a leader isn’t able to do this, they should create a lieutenant to do this for them. Everyone excels by different motivation. If you can empathize with someone over demonizing them, they will see that you truly care. Chances are that person will probably have more loyalty and commitment to you once this has happened.
6. Celebrate other peoples’ wins. One of the biggest mistakes that leaders tend to make is making people feel appreciated. Praise your teammates when they are doing well. Celebrations lead to those “feel good” moments by all which will keep up the morale & positivity throughout the office.
7. Belief in a motivating vision. Take Steve Jobs as the perfect example. When he first started Apple, he convinced John Sculley, CEO of Pepsi, to quit and come to Apple. His question to John being “Do you want to sell sugar water for the rest of your life or do you want to come with me and change the world?”. This wasn’t about money, this was about doing something that was meaningful.
8. Do not deny reality.  Yes, it’s great to be optimistic and have faith, but do not pretend that things are going better than they really are. You cannot get to where you want to go until you admit where you currently are.

When was the last time you truly sat down to take an honest assessment of yourself? I’m assuming that we all have positive and negative thoughts on how we’re handling a situation, progressing towards our goals, or looking back to a past time. I hope that at least one, maybe even two or three, of the habits above can help you improve on becoming an even better leader than you currently are!

Kaitlyn Gwaltney, a Realtor with The Rogers-Long Team since 2016, previously worked in the medical field for 6 years before deciding to shift her compassion and dedication toward helping others in a different direction. The RLT excitedly brought Kaitlyn on to work with buyers and sellers due to her humility, inner drive to succeed, and her fun-loving attitude. Kaitlyn and her husband Matthew live in Chesterfield with their daughter Lily.