The secret to motivating your team
Do you want to know how to motivate your team?Â
Because I’m going to tell you.Â
It’s really simple, but it’s not easy.Â
Ready?Â
Listen to them.
Give them your best quality attention and as I talked about in the last blog, their thinking will be clearer, and they will feel more confident. Now that’s motivating.Â
A real life example of listening
I used to be an IT auditor at Deloitte in NZ. One day I walked into Peter’s office and told him I thought his approach to an IT audit was wrong. He was a partner and I was a senior auditor, four grades below him, and he had a good 20 years’ more experience than I did. He could have used that to get rid of me. Â
Instead, he asked me to explain why I thought it was wrong and what I’d do instead. He didn’t interrupt; he listened and asked a few questions. By the end of the conversation, I realised he was right after all and, instead of feeling stupid, I felt I knew more than when I’d walked in. I also felt heard and respected and I bet Peter felt more confident in my abilities too.Â
More than 20 years on and I still remember that experience and how motivated it made me feel.Â
Don’t ask “what motivates you?”Â
No one really knows the answer to this question and all you’ll get are answers such as autonomy, responsibility, helping people, knowing how my work contributes to the organisation.Â
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These answers don’t tell you when these things are motivational and when they’re not.Â
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For example, I love having full responsibility for a project when I can direct how it’s done. I hate it when it means I’m doing all the admin while everyone else is doing the fun stuff.Â
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If you really want to know what motivates someone ask them questions such as:Â
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📌 What did you enjoy most about your work this week?Â
📌 What do you wish you could do more of?Â
📌 In what ways did you feel valued this week?Â
Listen to the answersÂ
Use the Coaching Two-Step to learn more and check your understanding.Â
And then give them more of what lights them up and remove what drags them down. Â
The secret to motivating your team is to listen to them.
It might feel like it takes too much time in the moment but it will be worth it when you get time back from them achieving more.Â
