3 Simple
Secrets to Motivating People
It is
impossible to get people to do something they don't want to do. But if you
understand what they want and show them how to get it - they will do amazing
things.
One of the key roles any leader plays is finding ways to motivate your
team to reach your organization's goals. But the secret to motivating
people is, wait for it .....that you can't do it. I have studied this
issue by talking to and working with thousands of people over many years and
the one thing everyone can agree on is that you can't motivate someone to do
what they don't want to do.
What you need
to do instead is find out what people want and then show them how they can
get it. Motivation is intrinsic. People get excited about pursuing a goal when
it's in their own self-interest. As a leader, the trick is to see if you can
find an alignment between what your people want and what will help grow the
organization.
The upside is that if you can tap into the
underlying desires people have, you will get amazing performances in return
from them.
The first step in finding what motivates
someone is to make the time to listen to him or her and find out what they
actually want out of their job.
Now you might be thinking, well, Jim, that's
simple: everyone wants more money, a bigger title, time off, and an easy job.
But those things don't really hold true for most people. It's been my
experience that the vast majority of folks want fair compensation and opportunities
to pursue challenging and interesting work because we all need to do something
during our time on this planet. Some people are driven by mental stimulation,
others by meeting lots of people and connecting - people are all different.
The key is to
not make assumptions about what you think someone wants; this isn't about
employing a command-and-control approach where you give them orders to charge a
hill. Rather, you need to actually ask them what they want.
Maybe they do want a new big title, or maybe
even more time off to spend with their family. Maybe it's about making more
money to buy a new truck or send their kid to college. The point is you won't
know what truly motivates someone until you make the time to understand what he
or she wants from life.
That leads us
to the second step: show people how they can get what they want.Now this
might take some creativity on your part. If someone wants to become a VP one
day, for instance, you'll need to come up with the plan of attack that if they
do what you ask them to, they will receive their reward in return. (You can also ready my recent
post on how someone can earn a promotion.)
The final
secret of being a great leader is to find ways that allow your people to get
what they want while also benefiting the organization. That rule doesn't
apply to just the office either. It can work in our personal lives as well.
As an example, let me share a personal story.
When I was young, I remember wanting to buy a stereo for my room so I could
listen to my music. I didn't want anything too crazy: the unit I had my eyes
and ears on ran about $100. I remember telling my dad what I wanted, which he
thought was great. He even said he would pay for half of it. While that was
generous of him, I didn't have any other money for my purchase. So my dad gave
me a list of extra chores I could do around the house, like tackling yard work
such as raking the leaves and building a stone wall, which he would pay me for
to help earn the other half of the money I needed to buy the stereo.
That was all I needed to hear: I became a
dynamo of energy as I tackled a set of chores I might have otherwise hated
doing. The difference was I was doing them to get what I wanted. Meanwhile, my
dad also got work done in a way that freed him up to do other things (like
watch football on a Sunday afternoon). That's what made the whole thing a true
win-win for everyone.
Again, the real secret to motivating people
is finding a way to find alignment between their personal goals and your
desired outcomes. When you can do that, everyone wins.
BY JIM SCHLECKSER, author - the best-selling book, "Great CEOs Are Lazy"
http://www.inc.com/jim-schleckser/three-simple-secrets-to-motivating-people.html?cid=nl029Aweek43day25
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