I was working with a group of mixed-age volunteers to decide on the type of advertising they should use for their charity. Because broadcast media was one option, we needed to know the radio stations that typical users of their services would likely listen to. The target audience would most likely be similar to the people who’ve volunteered to work at the charity.
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So I asked each volunteer to write on a card the call letters of the radio station they most often listened to. One person’s response was quite revealing, and his wasn’t even a radio station. He wrote, “WII-FM,” and then scribbled, “What’s In It For Me?”
People work with greater enthusiasm and stay at the job longer (and do so with fewer complaints) when they’re working for themselves. So you, the leader or manager, must find ways to let people work for themselves even while they’re working for you.
Stated or not, acknowledged or not, understood or not, every person on the face of the earth is already motivated because they possess personal needs that must be addressed and met. For example, money is one need. For some people all of the time and everyone some of the time, the need for money is fundamental to survival. For others money represents achievement, self-worth, or power. Its meaning and importance varies throughout a person’s lifetime.
What motivates a person to do something has been the subject of lengthy and profound studies by many experts. It’s not completely understood because it’s not exact. Hence there are no foolproof formulas. Consequently motivational methods are not guaranteed to work every time.
Motivation is complex. Like building a fire, motivation requires fuel, an ignition source, and the right conditions to support the fire. However, motivation is not complicated.
There is no esoteric body of knowledge or secret society keeping motivational skills hidden away. Everyone motivates others, even if they do it badly. Even the clumsiest of us will occasionally hit the right combination and ignite a fire, just as there are times when a skilled motivator falls flat. The best managers and leaders have some insight into the general dynamics of why people do what they do and into the specific dynamics of why a certain individual does what he or she does.
The most effective motivators know how to apply the right technique to the right person at just the right time, and do it consistently. Thus their strategic partnerships last longer and produce more with fewer problems. It’s much easier to acquire and keep a strategic work partner if you know what fuels his fire (i.e., what the fuel is and what unique conditions keep that fuel burning).
Motivation functions internally. It is purely personal. Ultimately, we will do what’s in our own personal interest. We respond to values and to stimuli because they touch something within us. What works to motivate one might work with another, but it might not.
I know what’s important to me, and I know what’s necessary for me at this moment in my life. However, those values have changed over time and will likely continue to evolve. Given my present situation—financial, relational, emotional, physical, spiritual, and psychological—I know what appeals to me and what doesn’t. Therein lies the problem and the solution.
Those who motivate me, usually know me best; so do those who motivate you. As well, you know those whom you need to motivate. Personal knowledge, understanding, and insight are absolutely fundamental, even crucial to building a fire within someone.
At this point, it may sound like I’m either contradicting myself or straying from the point. Did I not state that our circle of concern is always greater than our circle of ability? Did I not therefore deduce that we need to employ and deploy others in our attempt to reach the outer limits of our concerns? Yes. Does that not at least imply that this is about finding people who will understand what we want done and then do it for us? Yes. Isn’t this about finding people who will do what I want and need them to do? Yes.
This is about you, your concerns, your limitations, your needs, and your objectives. The days of top-down, I-give-the-orders-around-here management are long gone. They didn’t work all that well when they were here. The best results, the most far-reaching effects, and the most compelling relationships are those in which you, as the leader or manager, understand what lights the fires in the people with whom you work. And you understand how to keep those fires burning because you possess insight into their nature, personal ambitions, and character. Read my last column, “The Art of Motivation,” for a real-life example of this.
The problem is they won’t do what you want until something about what you want becomes something they want. The solution appears when it becomes personal. Then they will do it with vigor, creativity, and endurance. It is your privilege to make your objectives theirs. It is your responsibility to do so without manipulating them.
In my next column, I’ll discuss generational differences, and what you, the manager and leader, need to know to motivate associates from different age groups.
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