This quote by Dwight Eisenhower
makes leadership sound so simple. But both parts of his famous sentence are
actually quite difficult to do well. This article focuses on the second part.
How do we get others to do what we want them to do? 

Put simply, we have three choices. We can force them. We can reward
them. Or we can align our goals with theirs so that they work willingly and for
their own intrinsic benefit. 

The first option has
been abolished. It's called slavery. Some managers still try to use force to
get what they want but it is a very inefficient method as a lot of energy is
diverted into resistance. 

The second option is our
way of life. We reward employees with pay and benefits and we expect them to
provide their labour in return. This method works well to a certain extent. But
when you want to get the very most from your employees, when you want to engage
their minds and their hearts in their work, then you must harness their intrinsic
motivations. No matter how much you pay people, they will only engage
themselves fully when they are delighted by their work and excited about their
results. 

Therefore you can only maximize your
effectiveness when you use the third option: discover what they want to do and
align that with the company's goals. 

4
Categories of Intrinsic Motivators 

As described
in last months article, the first step in motivating your people is to discover
their intrinsic motivations –and not just one. The more you know about what
motivates your employees, the more flexibility you will have in creating ways
to harness that motivation. 

Last month we looked
at some methods for eliciting your staff's motivations. This month let's look
at some classifications of motivations to will help you identify more. Most
people will have at least one type of motivation in each of the following
categories. 

Achievement 

The majority of people are motivated by results. In general people are
quite aware of this kind of motivation. People readily admit that they feel
motivated when they've achieved their aims after a challenging assignment or
when they see satisfaction in the eyes of their customers. 

To harness this type of motivation, you need to make sure your
employees see the results they are creating and feel the control they have over
them. You can probably capitalize on these motivations much more than you
currently do. More on exactly how to do this in a future article. 

What kinds of results motivate you? And what kinds of results are most
exciting to your staff? 

Actions 

People are motivated by doing certain things that they enjoy, apart
from the results. For example someone may enjoy persuading people just for the
sake of it, regardless of any result, such as a sale, that may come about from
the action. Some people enjoy precision work; some people love making broad
brush strokes; some find pleasure in small talk; while others are thrilled by
deep conversations. There are hundreds or maybe thousands of different possible
activities that people enjoy and many of them are work related. You'll find it
very useful to discover action motivations because the people who enjoy these
actions will persist in doing them regardless of any specific
results. 

For example, I have a friend who is a
natural connection-maker. Everywhere she goes she gets to know people quickly,
often starting friendly conversations with complete strangers. She is naturally
open and welcoming. We call her the 'social coordinator'. 

In some jobs, her tendency to be outgoing could be a disadvantage, a
distraction for others in her office environment, or a 'time waster'. But in
any job where making warm connections with strangers is a desirable quality for
the company's goals, she is a natural. And as long as she has the chance to do
that, she will have fun, feel successful and add tremendous value to the
company just by being herself. 

What do you love to
do, just for the sake of it? What do your staff members do when they have
complete choice? How can you align your staff's natural tendencies with their
role at work? 

Personal Needs 

All of us have personal needs that motivate us, whether or not we
admit it. In fact our personal needs are often the strongest motivators that
cause us to get up in the morning and go to work, and that motivate us to
express ourselves in specific ways. I'm talking about the need for safety,
security, belonging, self-esteem, recognition and many more very important
personal needs. 

Personal needs are different from
the other motivators. When our needs are met we don't feel excited and
inspired, we just feel satisfied. But when are needs are NOT met, we often show
ourselves at our worst. 

Satisfying the needs of
your employees, whether by your own actions or through supporting them to make
changes, is a key step in motivating them. Needs are the foundation which
allows someone to be motivated by achievement, actions or
contributions. 

What do you need at this point in
your life? What do your staff members need? 

Contributions 

Many people are highly motivated to make meaningful contributions to
the world. They may want to save the earth, help people or express other
artistic, intellectual or social values. 

You may
have heard the story of the janitor at NASA who, when asked what he did for a
living, replied that he was sending a man to the moon. Instead of defining the
meaning of his work as simply cleaning, he was motivated by the contribution he
was making to something much bigger, more inspiring and important. 

You can align much more of your staff's energy and commitment by
clarifying the link between your company's business and the greater good that
it achieves. The big thing that your company does, such as generating wealth
and providing valuable products and services, can in itself by very motivating,
as long as it is clear and evident. 

What
contribution do you want to make to the world? And what about your staff? 

Conclusion 

As you
deepen the conversations you are having with your team members about their
motivations, there are many wonderful things to discover about what makes them
tick and what makes them happy. By looking in the four categories, Achievement,
Actions, Personal Needs and Contributions, you'll uncover a variety of ways to
motivate each person, including yourself. These motivations are the raw
material of personal energy that makes every person and every organization
successful. I personally find it very inspiring to learn such things about
people, and I hope you do too. 

Whether you find
this easy, difficult, inspiring or frustrating, I'd love to hear about it so I
can continue to address your concerns through these articles. Please send me an
email and I promise to respond to see how I can support you. coach-manager@progressu.com.hk