Three Star Leadership

Motivation Made Simple

If you're a manager then you've been told at least once that you have to "motivate your people." But how do you do that? Here's what you can do to get the job done.

Change your mindset. Forget about "motivating" people. You can't see motivation. Motivation is inside another person's head and heart. You can't touch it. You can't measure it. And, therefore you can't manage it.

Think about managing the things you can see and measure. Start concentrating on behavior and performance. The things people say and do are behavior. The results of their efforts are performance.

Use the things you say and do to influence the behavior and performance of the people who work for you. Talk your talk. Walk your walk. Your people will pay attention to what you say and do and try to do what you want them to do.

Set clear targets. If your people don't know what you want them to do, they'll guess. And you may not get the behavior or performance you want. Learn to give good directions. Constantly check for understanding.

Tell people how they're doing. Give frequent and usable feedback. If you're the boss, your job is to help your people succeed and take away any excuses for failing.

Make sure that behavior and performance have consequences. Consequences are the result of behavior and performance. If you touch a hot stove, the pain you feel is a consequence of your behavior. If you make a great sports play or cook a great meal, the joy you feel is a consequence of your performance.

Good things should happen when behavior and performance are good. We call those good things positive consequences.

Positive consequences include praise, a better assignment, time off and cash. Positive consequences are things people want. They get people to continue what they're doing or try something new. Reward good behavior and performance. Catch people doing things right.

Bad things should happen when behavior and performance are bad. We call those bad things negative consequences.

Negative consequences include discipline, more work, embarrassment, and penalties. They get people to stop what they're doing. Make bad behavior and performance something that has a consequence every time. And remember that lots of small corrections are better than fewer, bigger corrections.

Keep doing it. This is work that is never done and it's the core of your work as a boss. Great bosses do the things we're talking about over and over, every day.

This may be simple, but it's not easy.

• The article remains essentially unaltered.
• Wally Bock is shown as the author.
• The notice Copyright 2006 by Wally Bock or similar appears on the article.
• Contact information for Wally is included with the article. You may refer readers to this Web site as a way to meet this requirement, or use the information on our contact page.

Any other reprinting or reposting requires specific permission which is almost always granted. Click here to request permission if necessary.