The audience was on the edge of their seats in excited anticipation. I was in that audience and I too was anticipating what the great motivational speaker would say. I can't vouch for what the rest of that audience was thinking but I was most interested in hearing this motivational speaker in person.
The speaker was Zig Ziglar who was known as one of the best motivational speakers to ever take the stage. I wanted to know how he motivated people when I had come to understand that no one can motivate another person.
Motivation is one of the least understood concepts in leadership. If you ask about ways to motivate people you'll commonly hear such things as more money, vacation time, and bonuses. Unfortunately, too many leaders use these carrots, expecting great results and fail to understand why those carrots don't work in the long run.
The problem is, too many leaders don't really understand motivation. Dr. Frederick Herzberg dedicated his life to the concept of motivation and he did extensive research on the subject. Again and again he showed that much of what is considered motivation isn't. He showed that motivation is an internal factor, not an external force.
So what does motivate people? They do. But as a leader, you can be an important part of the equation. How? Simply learn what your workers need and what they want to accomplish. Okay, maybe not so simple, but well worth the time and effort because that's how leaders get the best from workers.
When I was a new Airman in the U.S. Air Force I showed up at my first duty station as a brand new aircraft mechanic. I was proud of the fact that I would now be able to make airplanes fly and so when my supervisor informed me that I was to spend a day painting trash cans I was upset. Not being very smart at that young age, I told my supervisor that I was a highly trained aircraft mechanic and my skills should not be wasted painting trash cans. He thought about that for a moment and then said that I was right and he'd find someone else to paint the trash cans.
I noticed later that day the person who painted the trash cans had gone home. But I was a highly trained aircraft mechanic; until late that evening. I was a highly trained aircraft mechanic until late the next night. And the next. And the next several weekends. From that point forward I never argued about those extra jobs.
Was I motivated? No! I could not have cared less about those trash cans or any of the other assorted tasks we all did from time to time. My supervisor was motivated. He wanted to succeed and accomplish his own goals. My action was getting in the way of his motivation and that caused him to take action to change my behavior. It worked, but I wasn't motivated. It's important to understand the difference between behavior change and real motivation. It's also important to realize who's really the one who is motivated.
I listened carefully to Zig Ziglar that day and I had the privilege of attending a private lunch with him after his speech. I came away understanding why everyone considered him so motivational. He didn't motivate one person in that audience that day. He did something much more important and infinitely more effective. He helped people understand their own motivation then encouraged them to take action.
Zig Ziglar was motivated to help others be better. He was constantly telling people "You will get all you want in life, if you help enough other people get what they want." Words he lived by and a pretty good definition of motivation.
Is your team pulling together? Do your team members understand the mission and their part in accomplishing that mission? Does your team have an effective leader who understands where the team is headed and how to get there?
Leading for Dollar$!
Excerpts from the introductory leadership course that will develop energized leaders, engaged employees, and more profits.
Preparing to Lead
It isn't uncommon for an organization to put someone in a leadership position with little or no preparation. Sometimes, these leaders succeed and sometimes they don't. When they don't, senior leadership often claims "they just weren't leadership material" and picks another victim. This is a faulty approach because leadership is a skill and like all skills it must be developed.
So, how do you prepare to be a leader?
First, you must understand and be an expert in the area you are going to lead. This becomes less important for higher leadership positions, but for those first positions it's vital. Think about leaders you've worked under. Were they experts at the job? Did they know as much as you, if not more, in at least some area of the organization? If they didn't, how did you feel about that?
Perhaps the area you will be leading has several core responsibilities and you aren't an expert in all of them. That's okay, but you should strive to become knowledgeable as soon as possible. For instance, Jack has just been promoted to floor supervisor in a factory where he had been a machinist. Now, as a supervisor, he is leading a crew of machinists, machine operators, maintenance technicians, and assembly technicians. He is an expert machinist and has been exposed to some of the maintenance tasks, but his own analysis of his skills reveals he doesn't have any expertise as a machine operator or assembly technician so he decides to study and learn more about those areas.
The part of the organization that I will be leading involves the following core responsibilities.
1. ___________________________ 2. ____________________________
3. ___________________________ 4. ____________________________
Circle the numbers of the areas for which you feel you have at least a very good knowledge.
The areas you did not circle are the ones you will need to study.
To follow our floor supervisor example a little further, Jack decides to go to the people he recognizes as experts in their particular skills and ask them to teach him the basics. As much as possible, he actually performs their tasks to get an idea what those tasks are like and what they involve.
The workers appreciate Jack's interest because he is showing a genuine concern for what they do, and he's recognizing their unique skills. Jack does not approach this with the attitude that he intends to become more knowledgeable than the current experts. That would be seen as threatening to the workers and wouldn't help.
As you go further in leadership positions, you will become more of a generalist and it will be difficult if not impossible to maintain knowledge and expertise in specific areas. You'll be learning more about the organization as a whole and thinking at a more strategic level, but never hesitate to take the time to return to the factory floor to learn more about what those people are doing.
