How leaders can motivate people

Leaders should communicate to motivate

Gene Mage

“My people are just not motivated,” a client explains. Studying his facial expressions, I anticipate the inevitable “fix it” request. Or, to be more accurate, the inevitable “fix them” request.

“I want you to do one of your workshops and get them motivated,” he posits. I wonder what exactly he wants me to do to his staff in a workshop to “motivate” them before returning them to him a day later like so much dry-cleaning. Perhaps a mild electrical shock would do the trick.

But the terrible truth, dear leader, is that you cannot “motivate” anybody. You cannot coerce or cajole to control people into a motivation they do not have. Motivation is an inside job.

But through your mindset, words, and actions as a leader, you can powerfully influence the motivational climate of your workplace in ways that encourage people to tap into the internal motivation they already possess.

What is motivation? The word “motivation” describes the drives that compel an individual to take action. I call motivation the “visible intersection of reason, emotion, and will.”

The root of “motivation” is “motive”. A motive is a conscious or sub-conscious “reason why” for taking an action. Motives are “intentions to act” formed from unique internal desires.

Peeling back the layers further, we find the word “emotion”. Emotion encompasses two root words, “energy” and “motion”. Emotion is “energy that gets us into motion.” Fear, hope, serenity, and angst are a few of the labels we give to the colorful spectrum of feelings that jostle for our attention.
What motivates people? According to decades of research, people get motivated to act when they perceive the attractive benefits of a choice outweigh the fear of negative consequences.

Psychologists observe that our primary human drives are competence, acceptance, and autonomy. Every one of us has a deep, compelling need to feel “OK” about ourselves and our world. We want to feel safe, that we belong, and have at least some control over the world around us.

Each day our environment presents us with a smorgasbord of choices. We can get up or stay in bed. We can eat breakfast or watch TV. We can make calls or surf the internet. We are continually choosing what to do, or not do, based on a highly individualized internal guidance system that sorts out our choices according to what “fits” our view of who we are and how the world ought to work.

We are attracted to those choices that enhance our sense of who we are. Possibilities that threaten our view of the world make us feel vulnerable and unsafe.
Why are some people more “motivated”? Motivated people apply reason to arbitrate their choices. While they acknowledge their emotions towards various options, they also use reason and will to look beyond initial impressions.

For example, our gut reaction to a new choice sometimes tells us, “Warning, unsafe,” but our reason says, “That’s just unfamiliar.” Highly motivated people rise above animal instinct to exercise free will, even when doing so takes them outside of their comfort zone. Over time, motivated individuals become more and more effective at interacting with the world around them.
What can leaders do?

Stop using carrots and sticks. We are not mice. Tangible rewards and punishments erode our sense of control, and therefore undermine internal motivation. External rewards stop working unless they are provided in ever-increasing amounts. Today’s bonus becomes tomorrow’s expectation.
Start communicating. Communication that clarifies where we stand enhances our sense of control, competence, and acceptance. According to dozens of studies, leaders who regularly speak with people about their work in non-judgmental terms tap into the internal motivation of workers.

Simply let people know that you notice their work, and that their work matters to the organization. Tell them what specifically they did, and how it made a difference. Avoid evaluative statements such as “good job,” or “keep up the good work.”