People will work harder and use their discretionary time toward team goals based on their motivators, not yours! That is why understanding the vibe of your tribe is critical.
And once you understand your teams' motivators... the single most powerful leadership skill to motivating others is to:
Re-frame the goal in terms that appeal to their motivators, not yours...like the following two situations:
1. Envision you are a Manager where your sense of accomplishment is derived from defining what success looks like and then executing to plan. As the Manager, you set clear metrics and you are highly motivated to "Play to Win” as measured by those metrics. The goal you've set is to land three new accounts this quarter. Now imagine you are leading a team motivated by having a need for a "Dependable Workflow". To get the entire team pulling in the same direction means re-framing the goal in terms that connect to your teams' motivators. Consider phrases like “to ensure we have stable income for our company and create our job security for ourselves for the next year it is critical that we close 3 deals this quarter”.
2. Consider a situation where you gain energy when executing a mission such as "providing addiction recovery care" versus a high-status job with a prestigious title. Now imagine a discussion between you as a "Mission Driven" Manager and your "Career Driven" employee that starts with their question: "I am not sure what to call myself… am I the 'Assistance Executive Director' or the less impressive 'Executives Director’s Assistant?' Your response of "Does that Matter? We are here to serve our customers that need help navigating out of addiction?" may be a motivation detractor. Whereas, framing with "How would your ideal title impact your ability to serve our mission?" opens up the discussion. Perhaps this reveals that from the employee's point of view a prestigious title allows them to connect better with executives in the community to gain customer referrals and grow community being served.
Now you see how...
Understanding motivators helps leaders to get a team pulling in the same direction.... especially important when working with Partners and Employees with motivators very different from yours!
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