Motivation Works
Only when you understand what motivates people will you truly succeed in business...
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Develop your motivation skills to build a better team and business
Motivate your team for business success
Time to make your business more appealing to your team by building your motivation skills
Only when you motivate your team will you secure the future of your business
How to understand the science of motivation when it comes to your business success
Take the time to understand the importance of motivation and you build a better business
Why risk the future of your business by not investing in the motivation of your team
What happens when you increase the self-motivation of your team
Why should the motivation of your team matter to the success of your business?
Why risk the future of your business by not taking the motivation of your team seriously?
Motivate your team for business wins
Your business wins when you develop the self-motivation of your team
Don’t lose your best people because you have not made time to motivate them
Motivate your team or lose your team – your choice
Stop thinking your team will never leave – learn from the current research that motivation matters
Build the self-motivation of your team and build the future of your business
What happens when you work out which motivators work best with your team to build the future of your business?
When you find the right blend of motivators for your team, you secure the future of your business
Because your team is different, take time to learn the different ways to motivate them
Build the motivation of your team by understanding what actually motivates them
Drive your business forward by understanding what drives the motivation of your team
How to motivate your team with the right blend of motivators
Which motivators work best for your team - take the time to get this right and secure the future of your business
How do you tap into what motivates your team and help them build the success of your business?
When you focus on the intrinsic motivators with your team you build the future of your team and business
Motivate the right people to stay in your business by using intrinsic processes with your team
Build a sense of autonomy in your team and keep your best people
What happens when you motivate your team using 3 key intrinsic drivers
When you give your people the power to direct their own future you secure the future of your business
Avoid the slippery slope of the carrot and stick in your business
Start the building blocks of an entirely new operating system in your business with intrinsic processes
What is the payoff for your business when you build your team’s sense of autonomy?
How can clear goals, feedback and challenges help your team’s motivation?
What happens when you people have a deeper connection with the work they do in your business?
Build a sense of purpose for your team with the work they are doing and increase the profits of your business
Your business depends on you using the 3 key intrinsic drivers for motivating your team
Get the best out of your team by using Daniel Pinks’ 3 intrinsic drivers to motivate your people
What happens to the future of your business when you discover the right way to motivate your team?
Discovering the right way to motivate your team, means you keep your best people and help your business flourish
Time to use the 3 key intrinsic drivers to motivate your team
Build the autonomy and engagement of your team and benefit your business
What happens when your people have clear goals and a sense of purpose?
When you take time to help your team improve their skills you are investing in your business
Invest in your business when you make your purpose clear and obvious
What happens when you put purpose to work in your business?
Why do mastery and purpose help your team to be motivated about the work they do in your business?
Why risk the future of your business by not building the mastery of your team?
How to hold onto your best people with crystal clear goals and a purpose they can believe in
Should you be taking the motivation of your team more seriously?
Stop relying on reward and punishment to motivate and manage your people
Time to put your carrot and stick away and invest in the right drivers to motivate your team
Start building self-motivating processes into your business
Build the success of your team by using 3 key motivational drivers in your business
4 tips for successful motivation in your business
4 helping hands for you to motivate your team and build a successful business…
LinkedIn Updates
1. If I were to ask if you have a motivated team, what would you say? You might look at the members of your team and think that in their day-to-day work they appear happy and content, but how many of them are just going through the motions? Click here to discover the importance to your business of a well motivated team.
2. Back in the late 1800’s, extrinsic motivation – the carrot and stick method – was used. A member of your team does something good, you reward them; alternatively, a member of your team does something bad, you punish them. But the world has changed. Click here to learn that intrinsic motivation is the way to ensure your team are motivated and committed to the work they do.
3. A well-motivated team ensures your business will flourish and prosper. A demotivated team can act as a mood-hoover, causing your business to stutter and stall, enabling the competition to take full advantage. A demotivated team also means that your people are likely to be looking for employment elsewhere. Click here to learn how to get the motivation of your team right.
4. Understanding how to build the motivation of your team and encouraging self-motivation will mean they will want to work for you and with you and will help make your business a success and everyone wants to be part of something successful – yes? Click here to learn more.
5. In the past, people have often been motivated by external factors such as reward systems, grades, evaluations or the opinions they fear others might have of them. However, the world has moved on and now people are more frequently motivated from within, by interests, curiosity, creativity, care or abiding values. Click here to discover that when you find the right blend of motivators for your team, you secure the future of your business.
6. When you understand how your own behaviour can influence others to act, you can begin to find ways to use motivation to further your personal and business goals. So What REALLY motivates people? Click here to discover that driven people are influenced by a blend of motivators and what they are.
7. Click here to discover how to connect powerful intrinsic motivation to your business and the work done by you and your team, you will achieve greater team engagement, commitment, enthusiasm, initiative, creativity and enjoyment for the work they do. The result will be greater business success, profits and growth.
8. Click here to discover how to use the 3 key intrinsic drivers of autonomy, mastery and purpose in your business to start the building blocks of an entirely new way of working and motivating your team in your business.
9. Motivating your team can seem like an overwhelming task, especially when you are busy running your business with all of its day-to-day tasks and challenges. But when the current research suggests that only 9% of employees feel actively engaged in the work that they do, it demands your time and attention. Click here to learn more.
10. When it comes to getting the best out of your team and ensuring they are engaged in the work they do, intrinsic motivators matter most. The 3 key intrinsic drivers are Autonomy, Mastery and Purpose. Click here to learn how to start building the autonomy of your team using Daniel Pinks Four T’s.
11. Clear goals, immediate feedback and challenges well matched to their abilities are the 3 elements that will deliver a sense of mastery, building intrinsic motivation within your team, click here to discover how to link these goals to ‘Goldilocks’ tasks are to further motivate your team.
12. Click here to discover the importance of a sense of purpose to the motivation of your team and read the inspirational story of Kevin Sinfield who got all the motivation he needed from a dear friend.
13. To allow your team access to intrinsic motivation means creating a work environment where strong autonomy, mastery and purpose are living and breathing for all of your people to see and be part of. Click here for 4 helping hands to get you on your way to promoting intrinsic motivation, avoiding the carrot and stick approach in your business.
14. Should you be taking the motivation of your team more seriously? Click here to discover a 4-step approach to get you on the way to promoting intrinsic motivation in your business.
Facebook Posts
1. If I were to ask if you have a motivated team, what would you say? You might look at the members of your team and think that in their day-to-day work they appear happy and content, but how many of them are just going through the motions? Click here to discover the importance to your business of a well motivated team.
2. Back in the late 1800’s, extrinsic motivation – the carrot and stick method – was used. A member of your team does something good, you reward them; alternatively, a member of your team does something bad, you punish them. But the world has changed. Click here to learn that intrinsic motivation is the way to ensure your team are motivated and committed to the work they do.
3. A well-motivated team ensures your business will flourish and prosper. A demotivated team can act as a mood-hoover, causing your business to stutter and stall, enabling the competition to take full advantage. A demotivated team also means that your people are likely to be looking for employment elsewhere. Click here to learn how to get the motivation of your team right.
4. Understanding how to build the motivation of your team and encouraging self-motivation will mean they will want to work for you and with you and will help make your business a success and everyone wants to be part of something successful – yes? Click here to learn more.
5. In the past, people have often been motivated by external factors such as reward systems, grades, evaluations or the opinions they fear others might have of them. However, the world has moved on and now people are more frequently motivated from within, by interests, curiosity, creativity, care or abiding values. Click here to discover that when you find the right blend of motivators for your team, you secure the future of your business.
6. When you understand how your own behaviour can influence others to act, you can begin to find ways to use motivation to further your personal and business goals. So What REALLY motivates people? Click here to discover that driven people are influenced by a blend of motivators and what they are.
7. Click here to discover how to connect powerful intrinsic motivation to your business and the work done by you and your team, you will achieve greater team engagement, commitment, enthusiasm, initiative, creativity and enjoyment for the work they do. The result will be greater business success, profits and growth.
8. Click here to discover how to use the 3 key intrinsic drivers of autonomy, mastery and purpose in your business to start the building blocks of an entirely new way of working and motivating your team in your business.
9. Motivating your team can seem like an overwhelming task, especially when you are busy running your business with all of its day-to-day tasks and challenges. But when the current research suggests that only 9% of employees feel actively engaged in the work that they do, it demands your time and attention. Click here to learn more.
10. When it comes to getting the best out of your team and ensuring they are engaged in the work they do, intrinsic motivators matter most. The 3 key intrinsic drivers are Autonomy, Mastery and Purpose. Click here to learn how to start building the autonomy of your team using Daniel Pinks Four T’s.
11. Clear goals, immediate feedback and challenges well matched to their abilities are the 3 elements that will deliver a sense of mastery, building intrinsic motivation within your team, click here to discover how to link these goals to ‘Goldilocks’ tasks are to further motivate your team.
12. Click here to discover the importance of a sense of purpose to the motivation of your team and read the inspirational story of Kevin Sinfield who got all the motivation he needed from a dear friend.
13. To allow your team access to intrinsic motivation means creating a work environment where strong autonomy, mastery and purpose are living and breathing for all of your people to see and be part of. Click here for 4 helping hands to get you on your way to promoting intrinsic motivation, avoiding the carrot and stick approach in your business.
14. Should you be taking the motivation of your team more seriously? Click here to discover a 4-step approach to get you on the way to promoting intrinsic motivation in your business.
Blog Posts
Blog 1 – What happens to the success of your business when you motivate your team?
If I were to ask if you have a motivated team, what would you say?
You might look at the members of your team and think that in their day-to-day work they appear happy and content, but how many of them are just going through the motions?
The key to the future of your business is in the motivation of your employees to be engaged with their work and to perform well, to work together as a team and to go the extra mile to build a future for themselves, for the rest of the team and for your business.
A well-motivated team is more engaged, committed and enthusiastic about their environment and about the work that they do. They are not just mindlessly clocking in and out, but they are present, ready to give their all to their role.
Taking all of that into consideration, if I were to ask you again whether you have a motivated team, what would be your answer?
Remember – the motivation of your team is your responsibility, and you decide how to motivate them.
Back in the late 1800’s, extrinsic motivation – the carrot and stick method – was used. A member of your team does something good, you reward them; alternatively, a member of your team does something bad, you punish them.
And although this might sound like an archaic way in which to motivate your team, the carrot and stick method still exists in many businesses – especially for mundane, routine tasks.
But the world has changed, and the tasks of the 1800’s are not the same as those of today. Instead of working on an assembly line in a factory, we are creating technology and services, experiences.
The carrot and stick approach is proving incompatible with the world in which we live and with the expectations of today’s employees. I am sure you can see this in your own team.
They want, expect and deserve more and, if you want to hold on to your people, it is your job to understand what motivates them and make your business more appealing to them by using intrinsic, not extrinsic, motivators. When you do this, they will be motivated to help you and your business succeed.
Click here to discover the difference between extrinsic and intrinsic motivators and how the future of your business relies on you choosing the right way to motivate your team.
Blog 2 – Does the motivation of your team matter to the future of your business?
How motivated are your team?
A well-motivated team ensures your business will flourish and prosper. A demotivated team can act as a mood-hoover, causing your business to stutter and stall, enabling the competition to take full advantage. A demotivated team also means that your people are likely to be looking for employment elsewhere.
Back in the spring of 2020 most of us, due to the Covid 19 pandemic, were forced to work from home, wear masks, stay indoors and avoid contact with our family and friends. Our autonomy evaporated and we had to conform.
But now, most of us have adjusted to this new way of working and it has, for many businesses and teams, become the ‘new normal’. We like the flexibility this gives us – we can take our children to school and pick them up, attend appointments during the day and even grab lunch with a colleague or friend. Many people have resisted attempts by employers to go back into the office as it threatens this autonomy.
The attempt by some businesses to try and force their people back into the office has contributed to the well-reported ‘great resignation’ or ‘quiet quitting’, as people look for new positions in different businesses that will offer the autonomy they now seek.
According to a 2022 PwC research study, 1 in 5 people are extremely likely to find a new employer in 2022 and, according to Gallop, only 9% of employees (UK statistics 2022) are actively engaged in what they do. This means that 81% of people are unhappy with their work!
What the findings of these research studies show is that managers in many businesses are not clear on what motivates their teams. Are you?
If you asked your team how engaged they are in their work, what do you think they would say?
To understand motivation, you need to first understand how you behave and how you can influence others to act. By appealing to the self-motivation of your people, you make your business more attractive to both the people working in it and to those wanting to join it – everyone wants to be part of something successful, right?
Understanding how to build the motivation of your team and encouraging self-motivation will mean they will want to work for you and with you and will help make your business a success.
Click here to understand what motivates your team and the blend of motivators you can use within your business to get the best out of your people.
Blog 3 – Time to work out which motivators will get the best out of your team
We all struggle at times with motivation, not only our own, but that of others. Parents, teachers, coaches and managers everywhere have to contend with how to motivate those with whom they work.
I am sure there are times when you struggle to find energy and effort to keep persisting with the tasks that your business and your life in general throw at you.
In the past, people have often been motivated by external factors such as reward systems, grades, evaluations or the opinions they fear others might have of them.
HOWEVER, the world has moved on and now people are more frequently motivated from within, by interests, curiosity, creativity, care or abiding values.
When you understand how your own behaviour can influence others to act, you can begin to find ways to use motivation to further your personal and business goals.
So here is an important question: What REALLY motivates people?
Driven people are influenced by a blend of motivators:
- Internal biological motivators – hunger, thirst, sex, safety, survival
- External reward and punishment – carrot and stick – desire to complete an activity to attain positive consequence such as an incentive, or to avoid a negative consequence such as a punishment (extrinsic)
- Internal psychological and emotional motivators – deep-seated, fundamental – behaviour that is driven by internal rewards, where there may be no tangible goal to reach in order to achieve satisfaction (intrinsic)
But which of these works best?
Professor Bruno S. Frey (Professor of Economics at the University of Zurich and Professor of Behavioural Science at Warwick Business School) neatly points out that
Intrinsic motivation is of great importance for all economic activities. It is inconceivable that people are motivated solely or even mainly by external activities. These intrinsic motivations are not necessarily externally rewarded or supported, but they nonetheless can sustain passion, creativity and effort.
Click here to discover more about the 3 key intrinsic drivers and how to use them in your business to build the motivation of your team and the success of your business.
Blog 4 – Start building self-motivating, intrinsic processes into your business
Even with all the advances made since, many businesses still rely on the extrinsic motivation system developed during the Industrial Revolution and continue to use the carrot and stick (rewards and punishment) method as a way to motivate people and teams.
And yet we all know the stories of people or teams who do extraordinary things, all without the need for a carrot or a stick. People climb mountains, run marathons, raise amazing amounts of money for charity – a desire and determination that comes from within, an intrinsic motivation, a deep-seated emotional motivator that eclipses extrinsic factors.
When you connect this powerful intrinsic motivation to your business and the work done by you and your team, you will achieve greater team engagement, commitment, enthusiasm, initiative, creativity and enjoyment for the work they do. The result will be greater business success, profits and growth.
In considering how to create a highly motivated, enthusiastic team, Daniel H. Pink, author of Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us, points to 3 key intrinsic drivers:
- Autonomy – the urge to direct our own lives: your people want a say in what they do and how they do it and when you give them this autonomy, they are more driven to help your business succeed
- Mastery – the desire to get better and better at something that really matters: build knowledge, skill, tools and processes in your team; this is rewarding in and of itself and builds intrinsic motivation
- Purpose – the yearning to do what we do in the service of something larger than ourselves: doing something with worthwhile meaning will connect deeply with your people’s intrinsic motivation
Click here to discover much more about each of the 3 key intrinsic motivators, how to use them with your team and the difference they will make to the way your team feel about the work that they do.
Blog 5 – What happens when you use the 3 key intrinsic drivers for motivation in your business?
Motivating your team can seem like an overwhelming task, especially when you are busy running your business with all of its day-to-day tasks and challenges.
But when the current research suggests that only 9% of employees feel actively engaged in the work that they do, meaning that 81% are unhappy, it’s time to take steps to ensure that your team are part of the 9% and not, like many others, looking for new places of employment.
Daniel Pink, Professor Frey, Gallup and many other sources of research all show that extrinsic motivators (carrot and stick) do not work in most cases. In fact, they actually de-motivate teams, and yet, surprisingly, they are still used!
When it comes to getting the best out of your team and ensuring they are engaged in the work they do, intrinsic motivators matter most.
The 3 key intrinsic drivers are Autonomy, Mastery and Purpose.
Autonomy matters more now than perhaps ever before. Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, in March 2020 our autonomy was severely curtailed and we had to quickly adapt to a new way of working, a way that now, due to the advantages of flexibility and working from home, many are reluctant to relinquish.
How has this changed in your business since the pandemic? It is likely that there are members of your team who much prefer and still expect the flexibility afforded to them during this period.
Daniel Pink’s research suggests that human nature is one of autonomy – we want to be self-directed, not controlled by others. This is hard for many leaders and managers, as they see their role as one of controlling and dictating the work to be done. Unfortunately, this way of thinking has contributed to that figure of only 9% of people being actively engaged in their work.
But how do you build the autonomy of your people? Daniel Pink points to the ‘Four T’s’:
Task – WHAT your team do
Some businesses allow their people 20% of their working hours to focus on projects of their own choosing – Google and 3M have done this and the new ideas have been tried, tested and implemented within the business. Could you do this in your business?
Time – WHEN your team do their work
Many people now want to work from home or have flexible working hours, but how do you allow this level of autonomy and ensure that they are achieving their goals, customer expectations and the results needed within your business?
Team – How your employees WORK TOGETHER
How do you ensure that your team is connected, working together on the things they enjoy, and that the team itself is comprised of the right group of people?
Technique – HOW your team do their work
Deciding what to do and what not to do and then how to do it builds an ever-deeper level of autonomy in your business.
When you find autonomy in each of the ‘Four T’s’, your team will be more motivated, perform better and be happier, healthier and more committed to your business.
Click here to discover more about the ‘Four T’s and how to use them to help develop autonomy within your team. There are also some questions for each category to use with your people to help you start building autonomy in your business.
Blog 6 – Time to build motivation in your team with clear goals and a sense of purpose
Helping your team improve their skills is one of the most important tasks that you as their manager must undertake.
If you don’t help them improve, their skill level will become stagnant and they will likely get bored and may look elsewhere for more fulfilling work. But when you help them continually improve and get better and better at what they do, they will find personal satisfaction, and this will also reflect in the success of your business.
Clear goals, immediate feedback and challenges well matched to their abilities are the 3 elements that will deliver a sense of mastery, building intrinsic motivation.
Goals, tasks and feedback connected to what Daniel Pink calls ‘Goldilocks tasks’ – challenges that are not too hard or too easy, but just right. Avoid the mismatch between what your team can do and what they should do.
To further increase autonomy, why not have your team choose their own Goldilocks tasks and provide regular feedback. This can help ensure your people are more engaged in their work.
This engagement and commitment to their work and sense of autonomy is further enhanced when you bring a sense of meaning and connection to the work they are doing.
Humans by nature seek purpose – a cause greater and more enduring than themselves. When you connect your team to the meaningful and genuine purpose of your business, make it real and then ask them all to live by it, you will experience a greater sense of motivation and drive in them.
So, what is the purpose of your business? This is not a buzzword or a motto or HOW you do the work, this is the WHY.
For example, a hospital put up 3 signs above each wash station, and the one that had the greatest effect when it came to getting people to actually wash their hands said ‘Stop Patients from Getting Diseases’. The HOW is obvious, but this sign made the WHY appeal to everyone’s sense of purpose, and people acted appropriately because the purpose was clear and worthwhile.
If you want an inspirational story of true purpose, read this article about Kevin Sinfield. You may know him as the former Leeds Rhinos player, but ever since his friend and teammate Rob Burrow was diagnosed with Motor Neurone Disease, Kevin has dedicated himself to the cause – he has run 7 marathons in 7 days, rowed canals and, in his latest challenge, is running 7 ultra-marathons in 7 days.
The HOW – well, that’s easy (or not easy), but the WHY, the purpose – that is for a cause so worthwhile and meaningful to Kevin Sinfield that motivating himself is not a problem. The WHY is because he is hoping the money raised will find a cure and save his friend and future sufferers.
Click here to discover ways to maximise your team’s autonomy, help them work towards mastery and find purpose in what they do, and you will end up with a more motivated, engaged and enthusiastic team and your business will be on the way to sustainable success.
Blog 7 – Use autonomy, mastery and purpose to build and maintain the motivation of your team
You know that the success you have experienced in your business so far is down to your team, and you also know that building on this success and growing your business requires continued and increased effort from your team.
Insight, understanding, skills and processes that help you tap into the discretionary effort (unused energy and time) of your people requires high levels of self-motivation. Your role as business leader or manager is to create the environment to enable this.
To allow your team access to intrinsic motivation means creating a work environment where strong autonomy, mastery and purpose are living and breathing for all of your people to see and be part of.
Here are 4 helping hands to get you on your way to promoting intrinsic motivation, avoiding the carrot and stick approach:
1. Take the long-term motivation of your team seriously – Don’t rely on the quick and easy motivational fix of reward and punishment; instead, build autonomy, mastery and purpose into the way in which you and your team work. You can still reward your team after they have achieved great things.
2. Get serious about autonomy – Control ensures your people fall in line, but it will also affect the team’s engagement, so, rather than controlling them, build your skills and processes for engaging with them to enable them to feel more connected to you, to their work and to the business.
3. Get serious about mastery – Clear goals, immediate feedback and Goldilocks (just right) tasks are vital when delivering a sense of mastery in your business. Daniel Pink points out that, when you get these working, “…we don’t just enjoy it more, we do it better. That’s why it’s odd that organisations tolerate work environments that deprive their people of these experiences.”
4. Get serious about purpose – Yes, your business must make a profit, but evidence shows that it will achieve greater success when your team connects with a worthwhile meaning in the work that they do. When you bring the core purpose of your business to life and share it with and through your team, you dramatically increase their motivation – they now know, not only the HOW of what they are doing, but WHY.
Click here to learn more about the 3 key sources of intrinsic motivation and how to use them to build and maintain the skills, knowledge and creativity of your team.
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What happens to your business when you build the motivation of your team?
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When it comes to your business, have you ever wondered about the level of your team’s motivation?
A well-motivated team is more engaged, committed and enthusiastic in the work that they do, helping you ensure the success of your business.
But how do you build and maintain this motivation when the current research points to employees being less engaged than ever before?
In this ‘Motivation Works’ edition of Business Breakthrough you will learn, in the time it takes to drink a cup of tea:
- the 3 levels of motivation and why the carrot and stick approach is no longer the way to motivate your team
- the 3 intrinsic drivers that matter most to your team and the importance of the ‘Four T’s’ of autonomy
- how to get your people actively involved in choosing their ‘Goldilocks’ goals and tasks and how to avoid the mismatch between ‘must do’ and ‘can do’
Click here to discover the importance to the future of your business of creating a strong, well-motivated team, where autonomy, mastery and purpose are alive and kicking in all of your people.
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