The biggest mistake leaders make when trying to motivate their employees is thinking that motivation comes from carrots and sticks. Real motivation is internal and the only sustainable way to get real motivation from your team comes from helping them find purpose in their work, ensuring their immediate needs are met, and giving them flexibility in how work gets done. Despite what our favorite sports movies might show us, there’s no magic switch for motivation. How do we know this? Because we, as leaders, aren’t motivated through moving speeches or carrots and sticks.
And you might be thinking: “Patrick, surely there’s something I can do or say to give my team a boost when we’re in crunch time?” It’s natural to be interested in finding the magic beans that will grow a giant beanstalk of motivation for our team. But where others may advocate for byzantine bonus models, a merch store, or other easy “implement and forget” solutions, the best nudge you can give your team comes from somewhere far more human.
If we understand motivation to be internal, then the only way to boost motivation is to help someone feel more internally motivated. Unfortunately, there is no one-size-fits-all model for leadership – a ton of what we do is situation, person, and context dependent. Everyone’s internal motivation is different. However, there is one technique that universally boosts motivation of any team: recognition and appreciation.
Never underestimate the power of a sincere “atta boy”. Everyone responds to having their contributions acknowledged and appreciated by their manager. We’re most inspired when feeling a part of something larger than ourselves (a subset of purpose), and this feeling comes from participating in a community that values your contributions. Visibility matters to everyone, regardless of role and background – you’re not going to find anyone that says “I don’t want to be appreciated”.
What does it sound like to work with a leader who excels in recognition and appreciation?
“I’ve noticed that you’ve been going above and beyond lately with [thing they’ve been doing]. It’s really shown up in [outcome]. Not sure if people have told you but it’s made a big difference for the team.”
“Something that makes me proud to be a part of this group is [specific characteristic]. It shows me how much you all are invested in [shared set of values].”
“Really impressed by [things they’ve been doing]. It’s had a real impact on [outcome] and I appreciate the work you’ve put in.”
Sincere recognition and appreciation follows the SBI model for giving effective feedback – specific, relevant, and focusing on behaviors instead of broad character traits (hard-worker, team-player, etc.).
Being better about recognizing the contributions of your team isn’t going to feel very sexy, because it’s built around what’s most impactful for the team and not what feels best for you. The best ways to motivate your team have nothing to do with you. Sustainable motivation is about them, the people you’re leading and putting the work in for. You’ll encounter many people in your career who will use “motivation” as the excuse for lazy and ego-centric management practices. It’s tempting to see your role as one to give the big speech or make the big decision for your team, but sometimes the best thing you can do for them is to simply get out of the way and take any chance you have to recognize your key contributors.
Good luck out there.
Patrick