Chapter 5 - Motivation
Introduction
Effective leaders know how to motivate. They can motivate their employees, co-workers, board members, subordinates or superiors. There are many ways to express motivation. I have success in motivating others through my ability to build a strong relationship with them. Once they know me, and can trust me, I feel like I am successful at motivating them to complete tasks. However, prior to that, it is tough for me to be motivating without some sort of given authority. I need to improve my motivational skills in order to be recognized as a skilled manager within my company. This will help me when being considered for the next potential branch management position, and my long term management goals stated in my mid-term and long-term aspirations.
In this chapter I will discuss how I can improve my motivation skills – more specifically: enthusiasm and coaching. These two things are critical in making motivation stick, for the long haul.
Introduction
Effective leaders know how to motivate. They can motivate their employees, co-workers, board members, subordinates or superiors. There are many ways to express motivation. I have success in motivating others through my ability to build a strong relationship with them. Once they know me, and can trust me, I feel like I am successful at motivating them to complete tasks. However, prior to that, it is tough for me to be motivating without some sort of given authority. I need to improve my motivational skills in order to be recognized as a skilled manager within my company. This will help me when being considered for the next potential branch management position, and my long term management goals stated in my mid-term and long-term aspirations.
In this chapter I will discuss how I can improve my motivation skills – more specifically: enthusiasm and coaching. These two things are critical in making motivation stick, for the long haul.
View the video below. It is legendary Notre Dame football head coach Knute Rockne giving one of the most famous pre-game speeches in Notre Dame, or maybe college football, history. Though the dialect and verbiage used in the time of this speech is different than how most of us speak today, there is one surefire underlying commonality: he is enthusiastic about his team! And as they gather up at the end to take the field, there is no doubt they are one motivated group of men!
“Fires can't be made with dead embers, nor can enthusiasm be stirred by spiritless men. Enthusiasm in our daily work lightens effort and turns even labor into pleasant tasks.” (James A Baldwin)
James Baldwin’s quote on enthusiasm rings true to those of us in the corporate world today. Often times I find myself pitching a task or idea to fellow co-workers or subordinates wondering what they think of what I am saying. Do they think this is a good idea? Great idea? Or, terrible idea? These unsure thoughts could be minimized if I could just refine my presentation styles to express more enthusiasm. Show some enthusiasm in your work, and others will feed off that enthusiasm – it truly is contagious.
The other motivational tactic I will focus on in this book, as well as in my everyday work life is coaching. There are numerous great coaches I could draw upon here, but instead of trying to pick one, I will focus on the article “Coaching and Mentoring Your Staff.” This article was written for the medical nurse field, but it is applicable to most any professional coaching and mentoring positions.
James Baldwin’s quote on enthusiasm rings true to those of us in the corporate world today. Often times I find myself pitching a task or idea to fellow co-workers or subordinates wondering what they think of what I am saying. Do they think this is a good idea? Great idea? Or, terrible idea? These unsure thoughts could be minimized if I could just refine my presentation styles to express more enthusiasm. Show some enthusiasm in your work, and others will feed off that enthusiasm – it truly is contagious.
The other motivational tactic I will focus on in this book, as well as in my everyday work life is coaching. There are numerous great coaches I could draw upon here, but instead of trying to pick one, I will focus on the article “Coaching and Mentoring Your Staff.” This article was written for the medical nurse field, but it is applicable to most any professional coaching and mentoring positions.
Article 1 – Coaching and Mentoring Your Staff
The article discusses the importance of coaching and developing your staff. It describes the importance of coaching and it goes into detail about what effective coaching looks like. It also describes mentoring as an effective tool to put to use in addition to coaching. Shaneberger says “Mentoring must be linked to organizational culture; the goals and values of each must be congruent.” (Shaneberger 2008) The author goes on to tie coaching and mentoring into planning for the future. In order to ensure organizational, thus, personal success for all, coaching and mentoring must take place to prepare employees for their next role within the firm. The article concludes by saying none of this means anything without effective performance evaluation, followed by more coaching and mentoring.
Exercise – Coaching for development
I decided to put the theory of coaching and mentoring to work. I decided to tweak the agenda of my one on one coaching sessions with a sales and service representative in my charge. Instead of just reviewing numbers and offering feedback, I began to ask questions about her goals and where she wanted to be in the next three, five, or seven years in her career. Over the course of several meetings I was able to understand her wants and needs, and was able to position my feedback to benefit her toward her goals. Not only did I learn what her interests were, I strengthened the professional relationship by showing interest in her progression.
This exercise also proves fruitful for me, in that, her goals aligned with progression toward my position. I am able to prove that I can effectively train and develop an associate to position themselves for promotional opportunities. I plan to keep this meeting agenda for the next month or two to finalize our discussions around this topic. See coaching document below for specific documentation.
Article 2 - Examining the Technical Corporate Entrepreneurs’ Motivation: Voices from the Field
This article examines five conditions that support the notion of how scientists and engineers are motivated: rewards, management support, resources including time, organizational structures, and risk acceptance. These conditions are investigated to see how they motivate scientists and engineers who have developed innovative products or procedures. There is discussion around how the employees say they are motivated and how their managers say they are motivated; a disparity between the two is found.
This article is intriguing in the fact that it discusses the natural differences between management and its employees. The “Managerial Lobotomy” comes into play here. How do managers lose sight of what their employees want? What causes managers to think differently than they would if they were an employee? Often times, too, managers are former employees and this mind shift occurs almost over night upon receiving the promotion to manager.
The article discusses the importance of coaching and developing your staff. It describes the importance of coaching and it goes into detail about what effective coaching looks like. It also describes mentoring as an effective tool to put to use in addition to coaching. Shaneberger says “Mentoring must be linked to organizational culture; the goals and values of each must be congruent.” (Shaneberger 2008) The author goes on to tie coaching and mentoring into planning for the future. In order to ensure organizational, thus, personal success for all, coaching and mentoring must take place to prepare employees for their next role within the firm. The article concludes by saying none of this means anything without effective performance evaluation, followed by more coaching and mentoring.
Exercise – Coaching for development
I decided to put the theory of coaching and mentoring to work. I decided to tweak the agenda of my one on one coaching sessions with a sales and service representative in my charge. Instead of just reviewing numbers and offering feedback, I began to ask questions about her goals and where she wanted to be in the next three, five, or seven years in her career. Over the course of several meetings I was able to understand her wants and needs, and was able to position my feedback to benefit her toward her goals. Not only did I learn what her interests were, I strengthened the professional relationship by showing interest in her progression.
This exercise also proves fruitful for me, in that, her goals aligned with progression toward my position. I am able to prove that I can effectively train and develop an associate to position themselves for promotional opportunities. I plan to keep this meeting agenda for the next month or two to finalize our discussions around this topic. See coaching document below for specific documentation.
Article 2 - Examining the Technical Corporate Entrepreneurs’ Motivation: Voices from the Field
This article examines five conditions that support the notion of how scientists and engineers are motivated: rewards, management support, resources including time, organizational structures, and risk acceptance. These conditions are investigated to see how they motivate scientists and engineers who have developed innovative products or procedures. There is discussion around how the employees say they are motivated and how their managers say they are motivated; a disparity between the two is found.
This article is intriguing in the fact that it discusses the natural differences between management and its employees. The “Managerial Lobotomy” comes into play here. How do managers lose sight of what their employees want? What causes managers to think differently than they would if they were an employee? Often times, too, managers are former employees and this mind shift occurs almost over night upon receiving the promotion to manager.
References
Shaneberger K. "Coaching and Mentoring Your Staff." OR Manager. p. 24 September 2008. Internet. Accessed 11 November 2013.
Marvel Matthew R, Griffin Abbie, Hebda John, Vojak Bruce. "Examining the Technical Corporate Entrepreneurs’ Motivation: Voices from the Field." Baylor University. p. September 2007. Internet. Accessed 4 November 2013.
Shaneberger K. "Coaching and Mentoring Your Staff." OR Manager. p. 24 September 2008. Internet. Accessed 11 November 2013.
Marvel Matthew R, Griffin Abbie, Hebda John, Vojak Bruce. "Examining the Technical Corporate Entrepreneurs’ Motivation: Voices from the Field." Baylor University. p. September 2007. Internet. Accessed 4 November 2013.
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