Motivating others… can you motivate?

Quite clearly, the answer is usually yes!  But to be motivated you need clearly defined goals that you believe in with a passion and that are very meaningful to you!

Motivating other people can come in a variety of ways, in the very short term and particularly in the world of sport, a shout of encouragement may work…But for longer term effect, different methods are needed.

Carrot and stick also applies- I recently read of the father of a very talented junior athlete who was promised by his father a new “X-box” if he beat his rival at a forthcoming race. The outcome, a win and a new “X-box”! The reverse could have been the stick…If you don’t win today you are cleaning my car tomorrow!

Praise is an important part of motivation, but needs to be timely and meaningful. The feedback needs to be specific to an event and soon after the event. This means that it is clearly understood and the feedback delivered in such a way that that the person feels motivated in that they want to repeat the successful actions again and again.

We say that constructive criticism is beneficial-criticism itself is not. We are now getting closer to the real definition of motivating others., ‘feedback and coaching’.  Other forms of motivation are very short term. i.e.words of encouragement where necessary.

Much comes down to the relationship between the giver and receiver. One of the skills in leading teams is knowing your people inside out and as individuals,  knowing when to put an arm around someone,  when to encourage, when to tell them that they are capable of more!

Coaching and feedback is critical to developing your teams and when carried out correctly it is a true tool for the motivation of others. Coaching comes in many forms- developing new talents in others which will include encouragement and reviewing recent performance against agreed targets. The skill then becomes giving feedback that both corrects the actions when needed but similarly creates new targets or goals that the coachee understands and buys in to.  Something that they want to achieve and understand the benefits…Not just on a personal level but for the business and customer.
The use of questions is important…

Involving the other person so that they help to develop their own thinking that then become established ‘goals’.
Coaching and feedback is always the most meaningful way to motivate others, providing the correct methods are used…Supported by encouragement along the journey.  Monetary reward is not a sustainable way to motivate others!