Don’t motivate. Inspire
Motivation is an interesting creature.
If you’ve ever heard of the proverb ‘You can lead a horse to water but you can’t make him drink’, then you’ll know what I mean. You can give someone any amount of opportunities, but you cannot force them to take it. Yes, that includes trying to motivate them. Just like a horse being forced to drink, they will kick you (not literally, of course).
Have you ever tried motivating an underperforming team member? As a leader, it’s extremely common for your team members to not share the same outlook and motivations that you do, and trying to get them to your level of motivation isn’t sustainable. You’ll soon realise that it sucks the energy out of you; it’s like flogging a dead horse.
The simple truth is that leaders can’t actually motivate anyone.
And yet, we still find the self-motivated managers, business leaders and entrepreneurs asking, “My people don’t seem to have the same drive as me. How can I motivate them?”
Experience has taught me that the best motivation is self-motivation, so I try to hire people who are internally motivated from the start. It’s much easier to manage someone who’s just a little bit over-enthusiastic than someone who isn’t enthusiastic at all. That being said, not everyone can keep their motivation up all the time. Sometimes it wavers, and sometimes it simply fades away.
When that happens, it can be tempting to launch into a motivational, passionate speech. Don’t. Chances are it isn’t going to work. Instead, try inspiring your team members to find their own motivation instead. The key is to jumpstart your team member’s deepest motivators and get the gears into motion again.
Here are 3 things you can try when you notice an employee’s motivation start to fade:
See through their eyes and emotions. Understand what is truly important to them or what moves them in life.
Match those motives and interests to the right job/role/task within the company.
To sustain that energy, spend some time creating an environment for them to excel.
Your job isn’t to make a horse drink, it’s to make it thirsty enough to want to drink. Discover what makes your individual team members thirsty, and nurture them. ●