I recently attended a teleseminar by Dr Robb Thompson that I believe anyone who makes decisions or lead should know about working with others.  Entrepreneurs to business executives need to know this. What are the 10 ways we can effectively bring out the best in others?

1. Be genuinely interested in helping others succeed: What you do speak louder than anything you can say.  Your actions matter more than your words.

2. Expect the very best from the people you lead: Believing their potential. Others will either raise their standard to meet your expectations or ask you to lower your standards to match their poor performance. Always have an attitude of positive expectation.  Provide an atmosphere of the Pygmalion effect; as you communicate your expectation, people will adjust their behavior to your expectation. High expectation, leads to high productivity.

3. Express the potential you see in them (initially): Most often, what you see in people/others determine what they see in themselves. As you are interested in them, they will be interested in you.

4. Establish high standard of excellence: Excellence is the attention to detail that gives rise to superior performance, which leads to promotion in life. Life is won or lost with details. Leaders fail when they accept mediocrity.

5. Create an environment where failure is not fatal: Everyone makes mistakes, but it takes a rare person to ever admit it. Admission stops prosecution.

6. Place a premium on interdependence:  Success is a team sport; no one climbs to the top alone. Let go people who are not willing to collaborate with others. In order words let that person be released to the industry for relocation.

7. Show appreciation to the people who are around you: Gratitude is a fragrance of the heart, while ‘thank you’ is little more than a programmed response.

8. Listen to their concerns and work towards the goals: You must always desire to give a person what they want, not what you want them to have. Try to find out what a person is looking for.
9. Keep your word:  A man’s character is defined by the quality of his actions, not the rambling of his promises.

10. Encourage and exemplify lifelong learning. To get to a higher level in life you must follow the steps of someone who is already there. No man completes his own puzzles. Show people that you have mentors.