One of the common questions I hear from people is, “how do I know what motivates my people?”

Well, the answer is pretty simple.

Just ask.
Then listen.

I was recently at a meeting with a group of Human Resource executives, and one of the HR Directors mentioned that her slogan for her supervisory training was “would you work for you?”

That is a great question to ask - regardless of whether you have the title of leader or not. There is a tremendous amount of research, supported by the Gallup Organization and others, that indicates that people don’t leave their organizations, they leave their managers.

Twitter, facebook, instant messaging, webex, email, yada, yada, yada.

What's next?

Who knows?

But really, who cares anyways?

These are all tools (that supposedly help us do more with less). And that's all they are, just tools.They are not a replacement for building a relationship and connecting with people in person.

Have you had a chance to read The Leadership Challenge by Kouzes and Posner? It's a bit dry, but provides great stories about leadership and, more importantly, a simple and understandable leadership model. It's a great resource to have around the office.

The first of five Practices of Leadership they talk about in the book is "Model the Way." Here's a short excerpt:

This is the fourth of four posts about the sometimes opposing characteristics that are required of leaders. In Part 1, I talked about the need to balance courage with humility, in Part 2 the need to balance strength with vulnerability, and in Part 3 the need to balance being demanding with empathy.

In my two previous posts, I mentioned that leadership often requires the ability to balance sometimes opposing characteristics. In Part 1, I touched on the balance of Courage with Humility. In Part 2, I talked about the balance of Strength and Vulnerability.

The third set of characteristics that I believe is required of a successful leader is the balance of being Demanding with being Empathetic.

In my recent blog post, Courage and Humility: A Balancing Act of Leadership Characteristics, I mentioned that leadership often requires a unique balance of sometimes opposing characteristics. In Part 1,  I spoke wrote about Courage and Humility.

The second set of characteristics that I believe is required of a successful leader is the balance of strength with vulnerability.