Jason Everett’s wonderfully frenetic energy was the perfect opener for the 2023 Salon Owners Summit. His main stage talk was filled with nugget after nugget of inspiration, taken from his High Performance Salon Academy training on leadership and motivation, while his workshop ‘Prime Pricing’ gave attendees a whole new way to think about how they can raise prices for their services.
Jason began his Leadership & Motivation talk by asking the attendees: ‘What motivates your team?’. Participation from the crowd unearthed some great suggestions, including:
- Listening to them
- Team values they can get behind
- Growth opportunities
- Flexibility
The crowd were certainly on the right track, but as Jason began to describe the ‘old’ ways of motivation and leadership, there were some knowing nods and laughs from the crowd, as they recognized their own behaviors could be holding them back as leaders.
Leadership 1.0 vs Leadership 2.0 – ‘Mission is Motivating’
When describing leadership 1.0, Jason quoted some everyday things that salon owners often say to their staff. “Why is there hair on the floor? Can someone please sweep that up now? Come on, this is common sense!”
“Why is there color all over that basin? Can someone wash it down?”
“Why is there no one at the front desk? Who should be greeting that client who just walked in?”
Coaching the crowd on how to move from Leadership 1.0 to Leadership 2.0, Jason began to draw out the differences between the two,
| Leadership 1.0 – The Old Form of Leadership | Leadership 2.0 – The New Form of Leadership |
| The goals we are striving for are ‘my idea’ – the owner/leader comes up with these in isolation for the team, with the end result benefiting the business and the owner. | The goals we are striving for are ‘our ideas’ – the owner/leader and the team ideate and agree upon goals together. This is a vision of the employees’ own future, as well as that of the business. |
| The owner/leader is in a position of power over the staff, and this is their external motivator. | The ‘big picture’ or the vision for the future is the driving force behind everyone’s motivation. This is an internal motivator. |
| The owner/leader dictates each task to their employees, rarely asking for or listening to their ideas on how to get something done. | The owner/leader inspires the team and asks for their input on how the team can reach their own personal goals, which subsequently contribute to the business goals. |
| The owner/leader must give staff explicit and detailed directions for every task. They make assumptions about what is ‘common sense’ and can become frustrated when employees don’t do tasks that the owner sees as ‘obvious’. | The owner/leader communicates the ‘intentions’ for the end result, but allows the staff to come to their own understanding of how to get there and the steps or task required. |
Individualized Motivations
In Jason’s ‘Motivation Cheat Sheet’, he outlines the top 5 most common internal and external motivators, explaining that each staff member is unique and has their own recipe for motivation. He recommends sitting with each staff member to understand their motivations, and using this information when leading them. Some may respond better to all internal or external motivators, while others will respond better to a combination. Motivators include:
External motivators
- Money
- Encouragement
- Competition
- Collaboration
- Threats – not so much in a menacing way, but rather lighting a fire under someone. Sometimes people respond when there is something at stake that they could lose
Internal motivators
- Personal desire/goal visualisation
- Accomplishment
- Financial need (not necessarily money, but the opportunities and choices it can bring)
- Personal values/work ethic
- Self-belief
And a final motivator that takes a little from internal (self-belief) and external (others’ opinions) motivators is ‘proving them wrong’.
Can you already think of some of your team members who respond to some of the above motivators over others? Give this task a try and see if it makes a difference to your team’s motivation levels.
#togetherwegrow
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