Reward producers - Your employees must believe you will stand behind them. They must understand you are on their side, but they also need to be fully aware you work for your company and that's where your loyalties lie.

What I tend to do is reward people who do their best and achieve good results. The employees who stay an extra hour to be sure report is on my desk, who answer their pages after hours when there is a problem and who I can always count on can count on me for rewards.

These people get what they want, because they have proven they will produce. If they need a day off, they get a day off. I know I can depend upon them and thus they know they can depend upon me. If one of these gems has a routine doctor's appointment, they can take necessary two hour lunch or leave a couple of hours early without any comment from me. They have earned freedom.

On other hand, slackers, 9-5'ers and people who never seem to be able to get anything done don't get rewarded. If they need to go to dentist, response from me is "don't they have Saturday appointments?"

Show respect - The people who work for you and your company are people. They have desires, hope, dreams and ambitions, just like you do. They want to achieve something in life, and, unless they are a criminal or just plain stupid, they want down to depths of their soul to contribute to their organizations.

The best way to get people to be motivated is to show respect. Treat them as human beings, as living, breathing, intelligent mothers, fathers, sons and daughters.

Don't chew people out in public. Don't berate them where their fellows can see it happening. Don't belittle their personal life (what they do on their own time is absolutely none of your business).

Strive to build up their character and support their strengths. Don't allow them to be mediocre and don't put up with anything but their best.

Very importantly, let your people shine. You are their boss - this means you shine when they shine. If "Joe" does something good, tell him in front of people. If your own boss notices your team did something good, don't hog glory - take opportunity to make your people shine.

Now that's showing respect.

Be clear and firm - Make decisions fast and without being wishy-washy. Yes, you may need to take some time to get your facts, but once you have what you need, just make decision. Then begin planning and implementing it, immediately.

Little will ruin your effectiveness as a leader and a manager as fast and as thoroughly as being unwilling to make a decision. Putting off decisions until last moment is one of absolute worst things you can do for your own career, your department and even your company.

When you make a decision, communicate it well and stick with it (unless facts come up which indicate you made wrong decision). There is no need to check out your boss to see what he wants to do or how much he is willing to spend on project. Tell him what project will cost and tell him how it will be done. Then go do it, and succeed.

Manage up ladder - Now this is very subtle but very true. You have to manage up your organization board as well as down (and also to sides). This is critical for your survival.

What does this mean? This means you make sure your boss has information he needs to make right decision (the one you want him to make). You make sure he's getting what he needs from you and your people at all times.

So when a decision needs to be made, you don't say "boss, what do you want me to do?" That's weak and submissive. You say, "boss, here's what's going on and this is my plan. Permission to proceed?" That's strong and assertive, and it invites your boss to go along with you - because decision has already been made. All he needs to do is say yes. By way, before doing this, be sure you've done your homework. Have your facts and supporting data ready, just in case boss wants information. It's bad to say, when your boss asks why it's best decision, "uh, well, I don't know..."

A few years ago I worked for a man named "Fred". This guy avoided his boss at all costs. He didn't talk to man and dreaded any conversation. He also built a wall between our department and other departments in company. No one could talk to us without his approval and we couldn't talk to anyone else unless we cleared it with him.

Needless to say, Fred didn't have a clue what his boss wanted. He had no idea how to manage his group, and he was constantly undermined by his peers throughout company. No one had any respect for him, and finally he simply could not achieve anything at all - except to stop things. He became an expert at stopping projects and making plans just, well, cease to move forward.

Were we motivated to do a good job for this man? Hardly.

Conclusions - Ignore all of silly management and leadership theories and practices. Virtually all of them are useful only for fertilizing plants. Just treat your people with respect, listen to them, talk to them, build them up and don't let them fail. And remember, manage everyone up and down your organization board - your career (and career's of each and every one of your people) depend upon it.

Think you won't get caught? Perhaps you surf these types of sites at night, when no one is around. Think again. Your computer has a cache (a place to store files after they are downloaded) which an be examined at will. There are also other places which employers can examine, and it would be difficult for you to clean them all up.

Perhaps you think you are safe because you've bought one of those programs which cleans out your cache and hides your track. Think again. Many employers are monitoring every computer in company. And guess what, most employment contracts give employers right to do this. Like it or not, they can spy on your computer activities anytime they want. What about private emails sent from and to company computer systems? These can be opened and read at will by your employer, no questions asked. So watch what you write in emails.

What's bottom line? The best tactic is simply to do your personal email and surfing at home. Why put your career and your job in danger when it's just as easy to wait a short time until you get out of office?