Your Job is to Turn on Their Motivational Switch

Our value as leaders is in how we help others achieve.
In my research for my new book, aspire... to shine, I interviewed and collected data from hundreds of highly motivated and not-so-motivated people. There is one overriding commonality for all of us:

Our motivations reflect what we value and why we currently value it.
As a leader, you can only inspire people. You can’t motivate them because their motivational switch has only one operator… them! So, how do leaders help shine the light so they bring out the potential of their people and help turn on someone's motivational switch?

If you want people to play “all in,” you have to play all in. You also have to create an inspiring environment that recognizes those who do. We naturally engage when we feel connected and important. Clearly, a person who feels valued is more likely to engage than the reverse.

When we are engaged, we turn on our motivational switch. We are inspired to learn and do more. We care more deeply. We impact others. This energy connects us and turns up the light. The brighter the light we create, the more we feel energized! This inspires us to do even more. Remember, leadership is a behavior, not a position. Engagement is about inspiring people to participate. Your job is to help shine the light so they choose to engage... so they choose to be "all in."

Playing all in is an emotional commitment that can be inspired but not demanded. As a leader, how people participate reflects you.

For your team to truly shine, you must understand how your work and the work of your team contributes to the vision of the company. Inspiring leaders who help people connect the dots between what they do and “the why” help them turn on their motivational switch, regardless of their work product.

In my years of research around “shining,” I identified three interesting trends around why people shine and what influences them to shine:

Like a light switch, pride energizes people. Your job as a leader is to turn it on through engaging, inspiring and aligning your team members. Now you have illumination!

When people feel pride, they synergize. They do the right things without being asked. They feel confident and make things happen. They know the accomplishment will feel good. It just feels right.

Another way to help your team shine is to create focus. When we are focused, we are not just productive, we are also highly engaged and motivated. Motivation is a deep desire to do something... it’s the reason (or reasons) a person is acting in a certain way.

When we have clarity around our motivations, we can establish goals that align with what we want in our life. When we don’t know what we want, it is hard to feel motivated toward it. Goals give us focus.

In addition, you want to know the motivation behind your goals and those of your people. When you understand what you gain by achieving each goal, you naturally turn on your motivational switch. Knowing the goal is only step one. You have to know what your real motivation is behind the goal!

Leaders must align goals with the motivations of their people so if you want to know what motivates your people, just ask them.

Download the first chapter of aspire... to shine for free and learn more about being a Shiner and turning on that motivational switch.