People feel motivated by their desire for change. Your job is to either find out what motivates them and craft a goal around their intrinsic values and motivators, or craft a vision so compelling that people willingly follow.
A case study
When I was a Middle Manager, I had to take the top business goals and give them to my team. We were given a target around the number of Direct Debit customer mix. Now my team were sales analysts. They had no control over the upselling activities of the customer services teams. When I saw the target, even I sighed with disengagement. I had to find a way that the goal could be own, not only by myself but by my team members too.
I gathered the team together and asked them how we could personally contribute to the target. At first, the silence was deafening. Eventually I threw in an idea. If we report on the direct debit numbers at senior level, how can we help others to get better information to help improve themselves. This reframing of the question allowed others creativity to burst into life. We brainstormed so many ideas and as a team prioritised what we would do first, who was responsible and how we would measure success.
The team were involved in the solution and became motivated to make it become a reality.
The lesson here is that when leaders facilitate conversations in a safe space, others willingly contribute.
Great leaders inspire others to be more and do more. They give them something to run to, not run from. They share a vision of the future and allow others to strategize over how to achieve it.
How would you approach my case study?
What would you have done differently?
Activity
Think of a task, project or activity that you need to start within your teams or business.
What will be different once you have achieved it?
What is exciting about that?
How can you paint a compelling picture that excites, inspires and motivates?
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