How To Motivate Your Team

“Leadership is the art of getting someone else to do something you want done, because he wants to do it” –Dwight Eisenhower

Leadership And Management

One of the first principles I learned about leadership is that I can’t directly control anyone. You can manage projects and objects but you lead people. You can buy someone’s time and presence but you can’t buy their heart. You can’t purchase passion and enthusiasm. Those are earned through leadership not management. No one wants to be controlled but almost everyone desires to be led.

Leadership Draws Out Motivation

Great leaders have the skills that draw out motivation. They don’t try to manage with a carrot and stick approach, which is common in many businesses. This approach says, “If you behave correctly, I’ll reward you; but if you fail, I’ll punish you.” The carrot and stick leadership style leads to control and manipulation.

Everyone Is Motivated Differently

Great leaders lead by tapping into each individual’s personal motivation. This word motivation comes from the root word motive. Leaders understand everyone has a motive. All employees have an internal why. If you can discover a person’s why and use it to motivate them, you can double productivity.

When You Discover Someone’s Motivation, You Can Lead Them

One of my clients told me his personal motivation was to send his child to college. As a result, we set a sales goal that would fund the tuition with his commissions. Once I discovered his internal why, I utilized it to help him stay motivated. Every time I spoke with him, I reminded him of his reasons. I’d say, “Are you making your calls so you can send your daughter to college?” He hit his goal because his personal motivation was clear.

Motivation Is Power

People do things for their own reasons, not yours. A person’s motive is their personal power. It becomes their reason for doing what they do. If you tap into their personal why, you can increase their power to act.