The Secret Sauce for Leadership: Inspire and Motivate
By Dr. Howard Gauthier
ThePositiveLeader.org
November 15, 2022
ThePositiveLeader.org
November 15, 2022
It’s well understood that leadership is a process where you influence your people to achieve a common goal. According to many experts, there are three ways to influence human behavior, you can manipulate people, motivate them, or inspire them. The best of these is to find a way to inspire your people. Let’s look at all three of these methods of influence.
Manipulation is an action where the leader tries to control the behavior of their people so that the work is completed. With manipulation, leaders don’t care about their people as long as they get the outcome they want. Manipulation can be as simple as when a child on the playground says to another child, if you share your candy with me, I’ll be your friend. This is manipulation. So are political ads where a politician promises to do something for the community, shares their stance on a particular issue, or uses fear to encourage you to vote for them. And so is bullying a person. Manipulation can work to control human behavior, but the effects are short lived, and it fails to build loyalty or trust within the employee/leader relationship.
Manipulation is an action where the leader tries to control the behavior of their people so that the work is completed. With manipulation, leaders don’t care about their people as long as they get the outcome they want. Manipulation can be as simple as when a child on the playground says to another child, if you share your candy with me, I’ll be your friend. This is manipulation. So are political ads where a politician promises to do something for the community, shares their stance on a particular issue, or uses fear to encourage you to vote for them. And so is bullying a person. Manipulation can work to control human behavior, but the effects are short lived, and it fails to build loyalty or trust within the employee/leader relationship.
Motivation on the other hand focuses on encouraging your people to accomplish a goal by providing an incentive in exchange for their effort. There are two types of motivation - intrinsic motivation and extrinsic motivation. Intrinsic motivation is where you work hard because you enjoy what you’re doing, or you’re driven to get better. This type of motivation comes from within you, and it creates emotions such as the desire to improve or the satisfaction of doing a good job. An example of someone who was intrinsically motivated was NBA great Michael Jordon. Jordan was cut from his 9th grade basketball team. Determined to never experience this type of failure again, Michael practiced every day, improved his skills, and by the time he had a growth spurt he was in a position to succeed as a basketball player. He continued his internal drive to be the best, and some people view him as the greatest basketball player of all time.
Conversely, extrinsic motivation is where you receive an external reward (or punishment) for your behavior. Extrinsic motivation can be as simple as receiving a reward for doing a good job (such as receiving a paycheck), getting a pat on the back, or being praised for your performance. It can also be where you behave a certain way so as to avoid negative consequences (similar to negative manipulation). This can include behaving a certain way, so you don’t get a speeding ticket, being belittled for making a mistake, or even receiving physical punishment for breaking a rule. Motivation, like manipulation, tends to be effective only over a short period of time. Once the motivation ends, so does the desire to achieve. A big difference between manipulation and motivation is that when an employee is positively motivated, they tend to have a more loyal and trusting relationship with their leader.
Inspiration is where the leader promotes a mindset of desire and passion within you, so you want to strive to do your best, and to better yourself. When you inspire a person, you are intrinsically motivating that person to want to be their best. The best leaders try to find ways to inspire their people, so they have a purpose in what they are working towards. For example, Angela Duckworth, author of the book Grit, shares that Pete Carroll, head coach of the Seattle Seahawks, does a great job of inspiring his team by creating a feeling that being a Seahawk is more than just being a football player. That being a part of this team is special and unique. Carroll convinces his players that the Seahawks are different from other teams in the NFL. This is part of the Seahawk culture, and the result is that players work hard to live up to the expectation of being a member of this special organization.
Simon Sinek, the author of “Start with Why” shares a story of how important it is to instill a sense of purpose that inspires people. In his story he shared . . . imagine yourself walking down the street in a beautiful and quaint village in Italy on a beautiful sunny day. As you turn the corner you notice several stone layers building a magnificent stone wall. As you walk past one of the workers you comment that the stonework is magnificent and that he must be proud of his work. The stone layer shares, it’s just a job, the stones are heavy, the sun is hot, and the work is monotonous, but it provides a paycheck. As you continue to walk down the block you strike up a conversation with a second stone layer and compliment him by saying, this must be a difficult job, the stones look heavy, the sun is hot, and the work looks monotonous. The second worker replied, yes, the stones are heavy, the sun is hot, and the work is monotonous, but I’m so excited because we are building a beautiful, magnificent cathedral! The second worker has a positive mindset and is passionate for his job. He has a sense of purpose that he is a part of something bigger than just the job.
Sinek goes on to share in the video below, that leaders need to find a way to inspire their employees.
Conversely, extrinsic motivation is where you receive an external reward (or punishment) for your behavior. Extrinsic motivation can be as simple as receiving a reward for doing a good job (such as receiving a paycheck), getting a pat on the back, or being praised for your performance. It can also be where you behave a certain way so as to avoid negative consequences (similar to negative manipulation). This can include behaving a certain way, so you don’t get a speeding ticket, being belittled for making a mistake, or even receiving physical punishment for breaking a rule. Motivation, like manipulation, tends to be effective only over a short period of time. Once the motivation ends, so does the desire to achieve. A big difference between manipulation and motivation is that when an employee is positively motivated, they tend to have a more loyal and trusting relationship with their leader.
Inspiration is where the leader promotes a mindset of desire and passion within you, so you want to strive to do your best, and to better yourself. When you inspire a person, you are intrinsically motivating that person to want to be their best. The best leaders try to find ways to inspire their people, so they have a purpose in what they are working towards. For example, Angela Duckworth, author of the book Grit, shares that Pete Carroll, head coach of the Seattle Seahawks, does a great job of inspiring his team by creating a feeling that being a Seahawk is more than just being a football player. That being a part of this team is special and unique. Carroll convinces his players that the Seahawks are different from other teams in the NFL. This is part of the Seahawk culture, and the result is that players work hard to live up to the expectation of being a member of this special organization.
Simon Sinek, the author of “Start with Why” shares a story of how important it is to instill a sense of purpose that inspires people. In his story he shared . . . imagine yourself walking down the street in a beautiful and quaint village in Italy on a beautiful sunny day. As you turn the corner you notice several stone layers building a magnificent stone wall. As you walk past one of the workers you comment that the stonework is magnificent and that he must be proud of his work. The stone layer shares, it’s just a job, the stones are heavy, the sun is hot, and the work is monotonous, but it provides a paycheck. As you continue to walk down the block you strike up a conversation with a second stone layer and compliment him by saying, this must be a difficult job, the stones look heavy, the sun is hot, and the work looks monotonous. The second worker replied, yes, the stones are heavy, the sun is hot, and the work is monotonous, but I’m so excited because we are building a beautiful, magnificent cathedral! The second worker has a positive mindset and is passionate for his job. He has a sense of purpose that he is a part of something bigger than just the job.
Sinek goes on to share in the video below, that leaders need to find a way to inspire their employees.
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Simon Sinek shares his view on the need to inspire your team
Four Strategies for Inspiring Your Team
So how do you inspire your team? Below are four possible ways to inspire your team members.
Reinforce Positive Behavior - Build a strong and trusting relationship with your people by using their name in a compliment; and be specific in your compliment (versus just saying “good job”). Ask questions, get to know them, and nurture the relationship with each individual. Figure out what the purpose is for your organization’s existence, inspire and communicate this purpose, and reinforce behavior by using positive motivation.
However you decide to frame the purpose for inspiring your team, you need to think deeply on what strategy you will use to inspire your people. Remember that it takes a mindset of positivity to get the best from your people. Properly communicate with your team members (think about the result of your words) and reinforce their positive behavior.
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Dr. Howard Gauthier is a Professor in Sports Science at Idaho State University where he teaches courses in leadership and management. Dr. Gauthier is the CEO of the Institute for Positive Leadership, and is an author, writer, and an active speaker on positive leadership and culture. He is the author of five books, eight e-books, several research articles, and hundreds of blogs. Check out his book, The Positive Leader at www.ThePositiveLeader.org.
So how do you inspire your team? Below are four possible ways to inspire your team members.
- Convince your people that your team, and place of work is special (and it needs to be special). Remember how Coach Pete Carroll has created a culture where the members of the team feel a different vibe, a vibe that tells them that they work for a very special organization, and that they are lucky to be a part of this team.
- Share with your team that their work matters, that they are making a difference in the lives of others. This might be saving lives in a hospital or building a cathedral in Italy.
- Share with your people what they can accomplish. It’s okay to dream big. Remember Michael Jordan, his disappointment, and his desire to work hard and achieve greatness.
- Create a working environment where people are close and connected. This can be achieved through various team build activities and outside the office get togethers.
Reinforce Positive Behavior - Build a strong and trusting relationship with your people by using their name in a compliment; and be specific in your compliment (versus just saying “good job”). Ask questions, get to know them, and nurture the relationship with each individual. Figure out what the purpose is for your organization’s existence, inspire and communicate this purpose, and reinforce behavior by using positive motivation.
However you decide to frame the purpose for inspiring your team, you need to think deeply on what strategy you will use to inspire your people. Remember that it takes a mindset of positivity to get the best from your people. Properly communicate with your team members (think about the result of your words) and reinforce their positive behavior.
________________
Dr. Howard Gauthier is a Professor in Sports Science at Idaho State University where he teaches courses in leadership and management. Dr. Gauthier is the CEO of the Institute for Positive Leadership, and is an author, writer, and an active speaker on positive leadership and culture. He is the author of five books, eight e-books, several research articles, and hundreds of blogs. Check out his book, The Positive Leader at www.ThePositiveLeader.org.