If we could only motivate our team to always strive for excellence, go the extra mile and deliver over the top client service with every interaction; we would be in a place to make a real difference.
The question is how do we motivate our team? My answer is; I have no idea. As a matter of fact, the jury in my head is still out on whether it is even possible to motivate another person to do anything. We can and should; coach, mentor, empower and provide adequate personalized training, but my gut says that we can only motivate ourselves, not one another.
But one thing I know for sure; we can DEmotivate our team in a nano second. There are obvious DEmotivators like not walking our talk. For example; showing up late to meetings or not charging yourself for that bag of dog food you took home.
Let’s consider the more subtle DEmotivators.
- How many times do our team members shine and we are too distracted to notice and offer praise?
- Then there are those situations when we flip flop on policy or procedure and the team feels like they can’t get it right no matter what they do.
- Have you ever procrastinated on giving constructive feedback in the moment because you were absorbed in your deadlines or the crisis du jour and a new team member was permitted to learn something the wrong way?
- Then there is the king of all demoralizing management behaviors; treating team members differently. Playing favorites or allowing someone to continue with a poor attitude because they have great technical skills or because they are challenging to correct and you just don’t want to engage.
In summary, I can’t tell you how to motivate your team. But maybe we can start by DEmotivating them less.
Carry on J
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