Having happy, productive employees is about more than the right paycheck. Employees like to work for a growing, successful company. Do you and your management team project that image?

Be passionate and have a sense of urgency about using what you learn. Be sure that what you learn gets translated into plans that make your business meas- urably better. Be passionate and have a sense of urgency about winning in busi- ness.

Cultivate positive dissatisfaction. My good friend Dixon Thayer, former CEO at Greenleaf, had a saying I still use and love. He used to tell me always to have positive dissatisfaction. Positive dissatis- faction requires you to always be learning and expecting more, but also to always be positive as you reach a succession of high- er goals. Capture the motivating power of team

training. I have found that seminars and trainings are one of the best ways to moti- vate your most valuable people. Pay atten- tion to how team members respond to the opportunity to go get new skills. Some won’t want to go. They may still be solid employees but they may be left behind because they don’t get the skills needed to take your business to where you intend it to go.

Remember your best people will be motivated by the opportunity to acquire new skills or hone existing ones. Your accounting staff, for example, will be energized when you send them to an advanced excel class. Make sure you dis- play the certificates they have earned. Be

sure to recognize staff members who make exceptional use of their new skills in meeting your business goals. My final advice: Be hungry for success. Project that hunger and the success you are building. Choose to be a leader, not a boss. Do this long enough, and talent will come to find you. Remember only you can make business great! ■

Ron Sturgeon, an author and founder of Mr. Mission Possible small business consulting, www.autosalvageconsultant.com, combines over 35 years of entrepreneurship with exten- sive experience in consulting, speaking, and

business writing. Ron shares his expertise in strategic plan- ning, capitalization, compensation, growing market share providing field-proven, high-profit best practices.

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