Do you, your team or organization need to overcome obstacles and deliver results?

Perhaps, you are having issues motivating your team or even yourself?

Do  you need to know how to find those elusive “hot buttons” that ignite people into action?

Until a few years ago I would have answered, “Yes” to all of these. Then one day I had an epiphany.

You cannot motivate anyone!

Yep. You heard me. You cannot motivate anyone…except yourself. Think about it.

Motivation is very personal and comes from within us.  Let’s look at the definition.

Motivation n: the reason or reasons behind one’s actions or behaviour (Oxford Dictionary)

Whether it is the primal drivers of the need for food and perpetuation of the species as in migrating salmon or it is because you have been made redundant thanks to the recent recession and you are motivated to provide for your family, the reason motivates you. There may be external factors but the driver comes from within.

Now what you can do is inspire others. Inspiration is initiated externally. At its root, inspire relates to “breathing in”. Oxford Dictionary defines inspiration as:

The process or quality of being inspired; a person or thing that inspires.

That is we must breathe it into ourselves first. Breathe in the inspiration and then use it, as the body uses oxygen, to help us to live and wilfully act upon our surroundings.

Inspiration precedes motivation.  You need to be inspired and motivated to inspire others to become motivated.

No matter the audience, when I have asked for a show of hands those who could tell me exactly what motivates the people around them at work, rest or play, there has been very few or no hands up. A sad testimony don’t you think. No wonder there is such a chronic need today for effective leadership development?

Now think of Dr Martin Luther King’s “I have a dream” speech. He inspired a movement that was motivated to bring about cultural change.  That inspiration came about because Dr King connected with his audience. He connected with them at an emotional and spiritual level. He was giving them the vision that inspired them. The intention was to pass them the baton to make it happen.  As leaders know, or most of them anyway, they cannot deliver the vision on their own. They need help.

Share the Dream

So for you to motivate anyone you must first share the dream. Communicate it clearly, consistently, constantly and creatively.

Next help your motivatees to understand their purpose as it relates to achieving the dream, goal or target. Help them to connect with it so they understand their part and how meaningful their part is in the achievement. Help them T.E.A.M U.P. – Together Everyone Achieves More Understanding Purpose.

Using a football analogy, every player has a position and with that position comes role to play (their purpose) in the game plan especially when they understand the importance of working as a team.  No game plan. No awareness of their role. Out of position. Bad result.

Key Questions

Here is a question worthy of some significant consideration. Ask yourself. Ask your team.

If we do this in sport, why do we not tend to do it in business or even in at home?

Your role is to understand your purpose and, where relevant, help your motivatees to identify theirs and how it fits into the inspiring bigger picture. Do that and motivation is beginning to take form.

As the late Jim Rohn said, “When the why gets strong the how becomes easy.”

Inspire the team. Power comes when you align the individual’s purpose with the team’s purpose. The individual becomes aware, perhaps for the first time, how key they are to the success of the team or the organization. After all, teams win championships not individuals because they work as a team playing off each other’s skills, knowledge, experience and responsibilities.

Now you might be asking how do you help your motivatees to discover their purpose?

Well, one simple way to gain insight into what may motivate someone is to ask them the following question:

If you had unlimited resource in your life, what would you do?

Everyone is born with a purpose. It is hard-wired into their DNA. Everyone has strengths and gifts that will support that purpose. Regrettably, most people never discover what their purpose, gifts or strengths are. This is a way to draw it out.

Another couple of simple clarifying questions to ask them are:

What comes easy to you?

What’s your dream?

These answers will begin to enlighten you (and hopefully them) as to what those “hot buttons” might be.

Now that we have some lights coming on, what value would it be to you, your team and your organization etc if you had a simple and effective method or tool that enabled you (and everyone else for that matter) to really know what those “hot buttons” really are in about 7 minutes over a cup of coffee?

The Hot Box

Enter the “Hot Box”

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