Hi,
As
a leader, you rely on your team to take the necessary actions to move your
projects forward, don’t you? So how do you motivate them to take action?
One
of the most common methods of influence among leaders is using money as a
motivator. While the logic of this makes sense (you complete the job, I’ll pay
you for your services), the reality is that money is seldom a motivator. In
fact, money is usually a demotivator, especially when you use money in an
attempt to appreciate your team for their work.
Another
common mistake when it comes to influence is trying to be your team’s best
friend. While it is extremely beneficial to get to know your team–what’s
important to them and what’s going on in their lives, when you become too
friendly with your team, you’ll usually see a MASSIVE drop in productivity.
Why
does this happen?
When
your team looks at you as their friend, they often stop respecting deadlines
because “you’ll understand, you know what they’re dealing with.” And while you
do know what they’re dealing with and you care about them as human beings,
you’re still running a business and you need the work to get done, right? If
your team doesn’t get it done, aren’t you the one who has to pick up the slack?
You have too much to do to be taking on extra work, don’t you?
Now,
motivation is vital to the success of your team and your business. The important
thing to remember is that you can’t motivate anyone to do anything–you can only
influence and inspire. To do that, you need to know your team well enough to
inspire them with what actually matters to them — and that’s almost NEVER about
payment or the company vision.
So
how do you influence your team and relate what needs to be done in a way that
brings your projects to completion and keeps your team on board?
Stay
safe and dare to
lead,