LeadershipTracks e-Tips Issue #17
EVERYONE WANTS TO KNOW THE ANSWERS TO FIVE QUESTIONS. This advice is adapted from Jerry R. Wilson (151 Quick Ideas to Inspire Your Staff). If you want to be an effective leader, you must be able to answer these questions for EACH OF YOUR TEAM MEMBERS.
The first question is the most important and fundamental: WHAT’S MY JOB?
The second question follows the first: HOW WELL AM I DOING IT?
The third question is more profound: WHAT AM I PART OF?
The fourth question is about vision: WHERE ARE WE GOING?
The fifth question is about pure self-interest: HOW WILL I BENEFIT WHEN WE SUCCEED?
This is all about the WII-FM -- an acronym for the phrase, “What’s In It For ME???”
Before you get all pious or high-minded about why people SHOULD do their jobs (e.g. “Because they’re getting paid to…”), keep in mind that EVERYONE ON THE PLANET is pretty much driven by self interest. Here’s the key: each person’s motivation is unique to them! So if you are going to be a motivating leader, you must know each of your team members well enough to understand their individual motivations…and then do the things that push each of their motivational “buttons.”
If you want some help understanding what motivates people, then GET MY BOOK! I devote three separate chapters of “Leading Teams” to different dimensions of personal motivation, including EMOTIONAL TRIGGERS and VALUES AND INTERESTS. Personal motivation is a complex issue, but it really all boils down to the question, WHY SHOULD ANYONE FOLLOW YOU??? And, once again, the answer to that question is different for each person on your team. So…what’s a leader to do?
- Know your people!
- Make sure you push EACH PERSON’S unique motivational “buttons”
- Start with the SINGLE MOST COMMON motivator in the workplace.
Yes-- recent research has now identified the TOP MOTIVATOR in the workplace, and surprisingly, it is NOT recognition! In the latest issue of Harvard Business Review, Theresa Amabile and Steven Kramer reveal the results of a multi-year study of motivation in the workplace. Their information is a true revelation, and we will share it in the NEXT ISSUE of e-Tips.
If you need help molding your people into cohesive, collaborative, teams, give us a call – we can help! We can show you how real leaders are turning their people into motivated, engaged, high-productive teams.
P.S. WELCOME TO ALL OUR NEW SUBSCRIBERS!!! Don’t forget to check out our back issues. They’re FREE and you can find them in the archives at:
P.P.S. GET MY BOOK by using the following order form:
Yours for better leaders… and better organizations,
Dr. Jim Dyke
The Center for Leadership Impact