The Best Kind Of Motivation For Staff, Clients And Yourself
There are two types of motivators you should think about to motivate your team and perhaps even yourself.
Before I get to how to motivate, I want to introduce you to two concepts — extrinsic and intrinsic motivation.
Extrinsic motivation comes from externally.
It is the form of reward or punishment for doing something. Think carrot and stick. You can reward your salespeople by incentivising sales results, offering praise or on the contrary offer discipline, shaming or even firing.
Intrinsic motivation is motivation from within.
It is the motivation and excitement we get when we are able to create art, share knowledge or produce something of use.
While extrinsic motivation might have its purpose, there are a few downsides to it.
It diminishes performance long term, kills creativity and innovation, crowds-out good behaviour and fosters short term thinking.
Daniel Pink wrote about the three areas of intrinsic motivation:
Autonomy – the desire to direct our own lives;
Mastery – the urge to get better and better at something that matters;
Purpose – the yearning to do what we do in the service of something larger than ourselves.
So how can you implement this in your business?
Autonomy in your team will come from you asking for a specific outcome but leaving the how to your team. This, in turn, leaves them to come up with their own solutions on how to best achieve. It is also a great way to step away from being a micromanager and letting your team work their magic.
Mastery is a way of thinking and comes from deep within. It is the constant strive to perfect one’s skills or performance. Think athlete’s who may be at their peak of career but continue to improve and become their best.
Purpose is achieved by finding a reason for creating the work. It’s the purpose your business exists. People will find purpose in doing something that matters, makes a difference and is larger than just ourselves.
Give your team members the autonomy to come up with their own way of how they achieve your outcome. Allow them to practice mastery and enable them to upskill. Lastly, give your team a higher purpose than just the work in front of them. Purpose will give your entire team energy when things get hard or when hope isn’t in sight.
