| “Leadership is the ability to decide what is to be done and then get others to do it.”
— Dwight D. Eisenhower 1890-1969, thirty-fourth President of the United States |
This quote by Dwight Eisenhower makes leadership sound so simple. But both parts of his famous sentence are actually quite difficult to do well. This article focuses on the second part. How do we get others to do what we want them to do?
Put simply, we have three choices. We can force them. We can reward them. Or we can align our goals with theirs so that they work willingly and for their own intrinsic benefit.
The first option has been abolished. It’s called slavery. Some managers still try to use force to get what they want but it is a very inefficient method as a lot of energy is diverted into resistance.
The second option is our way of life. We reward employees with pay and benefits and we expect them to provide their labour in return. This method works well to a certain extent. But when you want to get the very most from your employees, when you want to engage their minds and their hearts in their work, then you must harness their intrinsic motivations. No matter how much you pay people, they will only engage themselves fully when they are delighted by their work and excited about their results.
Therefore you can only maximize your effectiveness when you use the third option: discover what they want to do and align that with the company’s goals.
4 Categories of Intrinsic Motivators
As described in last month’s article, the first step in motivating your people is to discover their intrinsic motivations –and not just one. The more you know about what motivates your employees, the more flexibility you will have in creating ways to harness that motivation.
Last month we looked at some methods for eliciting your staff’s motivations. This month let’s look at some classifications of motivations to will help you identify more. Most people will have at least one type of motivation in each of the following categories.
Achievement
The majority of people are motivated by results. In general people are quite aware of this kind of motivation. People readily admit that they feel motivated when they’ve achieved their aims after a challenging assignment or when they see satisfaction in the eyes of their customers.
To harness this type of motivation, you need to make sure your employees see the results they are creating and feel the control they have over them. You can probably capitalize on these motivations much more than you currently do. More on exactly how to do this in a future article.
What kinds of results motivate you? And what kinds of results are most exciting to your staff?
Actions
People are motivated by doing certain things that they enjoy, apart from the results. For example someone may enjoy persuading people just for the sake of it, regardless of any result, such as a sale, that may come about from the action. Some people enjoy precision work; some people love making broad brush strokes; some find pleasure in small talk; while others are thrilled by deep conversations. There are hundreds or maybe thousands of different possible activities that people enjoy and many of them are work related. You’ll find it very useful to discover action motivations because the people who enjoy these actions will persist in doing them regardless of any specific results.
For example, I have a friend who is a natural connection-maker. Everywhere she goes she gets to know people quickly, often starting friendly conversations with complete strangers. She is naturally open and welcoming. We call her the ‘social coordinator’.
In some jobs, her tendency to be outgoing could be a disadvantage, a distraction for others in her office environment, or a ‘time waster’. But in any job where making warm connections with strangers is a desirable quality for the company’s goals, she is a natural. And as long as she has the chance to do that, she will have fun, feel successful and add tremendous value to the company just by being herself.
What do you love to do, just for the sake of it? What do your staff members do when they have complete choice? How can you align your staff’s natural tendencies with their role at work?
Personal Needs
All of us have personal needs that motivate us, whether or not we admit it. In fact our personal needs are often the strongest motivators that cause us to get up in the morning and go to work, and that motivate us to express ourselves in specific ways. I’m talking about the need for safety, security, belonging, self-esteem, recognition and many more very important personal needs.
Personal needs are different from the other motivators. When our needs are met we don’t feel excited and inspired, we just feel satisfied. But when are needs are NOT met, we often show ourselves at our worst.
Satisfying the needs of your employees, whether by your own actions or through supporting them to make changes, is a key step in motivating them. Needs are the foundation which allows someone to be motivated by achievement, actions or contributions.
What do you need at this point in your life? What do your staff members need?
Contributions
Many people are highly motivated to make meaningful contributions to the world. They may want to save the earth, help people or express other artistic, intellectual or social values.
You may have heard the story of the janitor at NASA who, when asked what he did for a living, replied that he was sending a man to the moon. Instead of defining the meaning of his work as simply cleaning, he was motivated by the contribution he was making to something much bigger, more inspiring and important.
You can align much more of your staff’s energy and commitment by clarifying the link between your company’s business and the greater good that it achieves. The big thing that your company does, such as generating wealth and providing valuable products and services, can in itself by very motivating, as long as it is clear and evident.
What contribution do you want to make to the world? And what about your staff?
Conclusion
As you deepen the conversations you are having with your team members about their motivations, there are many wonderful things to discover about what makes them tick and what makes them happy. By looking in the four categories, Achievement, Actions, Personal Needs and Contributions, you’ll uncover a variety of ways to motivate each person, including yourself. These motivations are the raw material of personal energy that makes every person and every organization successful. I personally find it very inspiring to learn such things about people, and I hope you do too.
Whether you find this easy, difficult, inspiring or frustrating, I’d love to hear about it so I can continue to address your concerns through these articles. Please send me an email and I promise to respond to see how I can support you.