Three key steps to motivating your team.
In our modern world, it is not enough to be a good businessperson, or even good at management. At Evolve, we recognise that to truly thrive and grow, businesses need effective leadership. But what is leadership? We think it’s a concept that is often misunderstood. Is it the role of a leader to micro-manage day-to-day activities? to give inspirational speeches? to fire people? Perhaps in certain circumstances. However, none of these are the primary role of a leader. The primary role of a leader is to motivate and energise staff.
Motivation and energy are almost synonymous. Motivation is passion. It is fed by doing things you love. When we are motivated, we are high-energy, lateral-thinking, problem-solving, and (not to be dismissed) fun to be around. Motivating your staff leads to better performance, which leads to profit and the improvement of the bottom line. But if you focus only on
improving the bottom line, it won’t work. The people have to come first. That is what we have learned at Evolve. People grow a business. They are the first and last step, the alpha and omega! Without people on board, no grand strategy, however bold, will work.
Let’s look at this in a little more detail. Recent research from Gallup, one of the top researchers in the world, revealed that only 29% of people are actively engaged at work. That means 70%+ are actively disengaged at work.
They are de-motivated: they have no passion for what they are doing and don’t feel resonance or connection to it. Imagine, for a moment, if this figure were representative of your business. What impact could that be having on sales, client care, efficiency? So, one of the most important objectives of a leader must be to motivate their team. How do they do this?
At Evolve, we like to draw a distinction between two types of motivation. There is Short Term Motivation, which is characterised by pep talks, away days, fire walking, paint balling events etc. While these have their place and can be greater morale boosters (and allow for team building), the effects of these top-ups tend to wear off after 72 hours or so. At Evolve, we strive to create an environment where Long Term Sustainable Motivation feeds staff (and you) for years to come.
So, what are the steps to achieving this Long Term Motivation?
Harness focus, passion and belief
In his book ‘Evolve to Succeed – The Entrepreneurs’ Journey’ Warren Munson talks about the three core principles that are key to reconnecting with who we really are and why we do what we do – focus, passion and belief. Our beliefs and passions represent our values, which in turn are motivational drivers. Take a moment to think about what your real values are. Write down no more than two or three. These must become your focal point. For example, if you valued ‘making a difference’ to other people, that value must become the focus of everything you do. You have to live and breathe it in all aspects of your day-to-day. Whilst this at first
might seem like a lot of work, it is actually energising and transformative, because every single interaction becomes an opportunity to realign with your core values.
You also have to stop doing things that are not aligned with that value. Values are very important to us. It’s part of being human. This means that conflicts can develop when we engage with people who have clashing values. Part of the role of a leader in sustaining motivation levels is to resolve conflicts between employees or team members that have conflicting value systems. Part of what can help you do this is:
Defining your mission
Without clear goals, there is nowhere to direct your energy. A team without a collective goal is useless, however good the individual members are. Never is this more apparent than in football. Teams made up of total non-entities can go on to win championships because of leadership and a shared common goal that drives them. However, teams full of superstars, where everyone is in it for themselves and disagrees what the overall objective is, tend to fail.
It might seem obvious. You may be looking at a list of financial targets and thinking that you have plenty of goals to be getting on with. However, these are not the kind of goals that are truly useful and valuable. Yes, it is important to know where you stand in terms of sales and finances and all the usual metrics, but your goals have to evolve just as you do. Running a
business that performs ‘okay’ or that merely survives is probably no longer where you are at. We at Evolve support the ambitious, the bold and the innovative.
What is your grand ambition? Who do you want to impact most in the world? Ask these questions of yourself without fear and allow your child-like imagination, for a moment, to operate without intrusion of logical limitations. Once you have a sense of your mission, write it down. Define it in 30-50 words. You can edit this and refine it even more if you need to.Now, you need to share this mission with everyone who works for and with you. This leads onto step three of motivational leadership:
Align your team
It’s time to align everyone in your organisation so that you move as one. We talked earlier about values and how they define who we are. It’s important that even though people in an organisation may not share identical values, they are at least synergistic or compatible. As a leader, it’s important to respect the values of people you work with just as you would expect
respect in return. When everyone is on the same page, it makes it far easier to communicate and accomplish those shared goals. Consider hiring based on values rather than skills. Skills can be taught. Experience can be nurtured. Values are more difficult to change, and nobody wants to run a dictatorship. Your mission can become your team’s mission if they
share your values, or at least understand them. It ensures ‘buy-in’ and engagement. When everyone shares the same energisers, the same motivations and drives, then progress is universally rewarding. Part of the challenge of this, however, is discovering what those values are. At Evolve, we use a number of third-party tools to gain this insight, such as Motivational Maps, but it’s important for you to find the right tool for you.
As a leader, gaining insight into what drives your team, and what drivers you are looking for in new candidates, is one of the most important things you can invest time and energy in, and the fruitful results of this labour will help you and your business evolve to the next level.