Tuesday with Michael: The Secret to Motivating Your Team

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tuesday with michael
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Do you want to know the secret of motivating your team?

Fact No. 1: Positively motivated employees will deliver to the bottom line faster than new equipment or new technology.

Fact No. 2: Positively motivated employees are more engaged and produce better results for the company.

Fact No. 3: Positively motivated employees continue to increase their contribution factor; they continue to add more value to the organization.

In a recent Gallup Survey, “State of the American Workplace,” it was found that only 33% of employees are engaged, leaving the balance on the fence or totally disengaged.

Since motivation serves as a catalyst to focus the individual’s full potential on accomplishing goals, it is important to gain an understanding of the various methods of motivation. To explain how we do this, let me share with you three basic ways people are motivated.

The first technique is FEAR/INTIMIDATION MOTIVATION.

Fear motivation has been around for a very long time. It is probably the oldest type of motivation.  Now, fear motivation, based on force, coercion, intimidation or punishment, may work for a while, but people who are its target soon learn to ignore the pressure, rebel against it, develop resentments, seek revenge or walk away from it.  Fear ceases to motivate if the power to inflict punishment is gone. Fearful people don’t grow, develop or live up to their potential.

Fear motivation is external and its effects are temporary.  People either find a way to escape from fear or they become immune to it.  Either way, FEAR MOTIVATION eventually fails.

The second method is INCENTIVE MOTIVATION.  Incentive motivation is generally regarded as a more enlightened strategy than fear. This employs the use of REWARDS.

The rewards used in business include bonuses, trips, prizes, contests, raises, and promotions. Incentive motivation’s force (or power) relies upon the promise of some type of prize for a certain amount of effort. 

INCENTIVE MOTIVATION can be very effective with a clear destination or certain goals to achieve, but in the final analysis, it is TEMPORARY, because it’s based upon reward and appetite.  When the incentive or reward is achieved, the appetite is satisfied. When that happens, the incentive no longer has the power to motivate. 

Despite the shortcomings of FEAR MOTIVATION and INCENTIVE MOTIVATION, these are the most common forms of motivation used but  fear and incentives do not create permanent results.  They are both EXTERNAL and TEMPORARY.

This new method to motivate is called ATTITUDE MOTIVATION and it will literally change your life and give you more control than you ever realized.

Attitude motivation works because it affects the way that people THINK and ACT.  It is an INTERNAL & INTRINSIC MOTIVATION, an ongoing internal desire to achieve and its effects are PERMANENT rather than TEMPORARY in producing desired behavior. This method of motivating people by affecting a positive change in their thinking and attitude does not depend upon outside pressure or incentive and ultimately results in a lasting and permanent change.

The psychology behind attitude motivation is change. It is an inside-out proposition. This motivation affects the basic personality of people.  They learn to appreciate the intrinsic value of their work and their contribution to meaningful work.

Remember that all lasting and meaningful change starts on the inside and then moves outward. Attitude motivation grows out of the desire to do things because they matter, they are interesting and because we like doing them.  Attitude motivation grows out of the individual’s dreams and desires and their need for personal fulfillment.

As a leader it is our responsibility to create an environment for people to develop attitude motivation.

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