What is motivation?

In essence, motivation is the desire or willingness to do something. It is a reason for acting or behaving in a particular way. 

But what does this really mean? 

Motivation is the word derived from the word 'motive' which means needs, desires, wants, or drives within the individuals. It is the process of stimulating people to actions to accomplish the goals. In the work goal context, the psychological factors stimulating the people's behaviour can be desire for money, recognition, responsibility, or security. 

Everywhere, parents, teachers, coaches, and managers struggle with how to motivate those that they mentor, and individuals struggle to find energy, and effort to persist at the tasks of life and work. People are often moved by external factors such as reward systems, grades, evaluations, or the opinions they fear others might have of them. These people are externally motivated and often believe that they are not fully in control of their lives. 

Those who are more internally or self-motivated believe that they are the masters of their own destiny. We are all somewhere on the scale of internally or externally focused. We are motivated from within, by interests, curiosity, purpose, or our core values. These intrinsic motivations are not necessarily externally rewarded or supported, but nonetheless they can sustain passions, creativity, and sustained efforts. 

Motivation is an internal process that varies over time. You might call it a desire, drive or need but essentially it is about change. You are motivated to change what is here now to something new or different. Sometimes you might desire change as you run from something uncomfortable or painful, boring even. Other times you might be motivated to run towards something, a vision, a dream or a belief. Whether you are moving from, or towards, there is energy in motivation. When you tap into your energy you create inner drive and direction. You take action and move. 

When leaders train managers in motivational leadership or they hire managers that believe in people first, they encourage a culture of motivation that drives results. Highly motivated employees share similar characteristics and behaviours:

• Highly empowered and a greater degree of autonomy; 
• Higher or improved performance;
  
• Willingness to help, share and contribute; 
• High energy levels, and lower levels of stress; 
• Lower staff turnover and higher retention; 
• High standards, quality, and meeting deadlines; 
• Increased creativity, solutions, and innovation; 
• Increased customer focus and employer brand; 
• A general sense of caring for one another. 

The best way to explain motivation is to understand your own personal motivations. Everyone will be motivated by different drivers. 

Now apply some of the motivations to your own business and explain why you decide to stop, start or continue. Remember that we are all motivated by different things. Your job is to understand what motivates your people and tap into that. People who are self-motivated are engaged in meaningful work, supporting a purpose, aligned to their values and feel like their contribution matters. They genuinely care about their teammates and want the business to achieve its goals. They are loyal and respect their leaders and work passiontely towards success. 

But to achieve a culture where your people are self-motivated, you must learn to be a motivating leader.