Category Archives: Motivation

The Name on the Locker

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“They get their name on their locker.”

I was working with a team of branch managers and I had posed the question, “What’s the difference between the home team and the visiting team?” We were discussing impact on performance. Why do teams statistically perform better at home than on the road? Why do teams covet Home Field Advantage in the playoffs?

For Managers looking for superior performance, this is more than an analogy. And someone said, “They get their name on their locker.”

When the visiting team arrives in their locker room, it is adequate for storing equipment and changing into uniforms, but it is anonymous. There are no names on the lockers, no posters on the wall. When the visiting team member opens that locker, it is empty.

What kind of locker room does your team have? In some cases, it is a truck or a cubicle farm. Do your team members have their name on their locker? When you open their locker, is it empty? This is no small thing for a Manager looking for superior performance. -TF

Whose Flag Is It, Anyway?

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Marjorie was puzzled. Twenty minutes ago, she had adjourned a meeting with her development team. The purpose of the meeting had been to share the newly published annual business plan. For the first time since Marjorie joined the company, the vision, described in the plan, finally made sense. They had staked out a customer base and truly nailed down the objectives for the next twelve months. It was the clearest flag the company had ever planted. Then, why didn’t the team respond enthusiastically?

In my class, I often ask the question, “What’s your flag?” And then, “What are the different flags of each of your team members?”

Which flag do you care the most about? Which flag does your team member care the most about? Here’s the news, nobody cares about your flag. People only care about their own flag. Companies are great about describing their own flag, but nobody cares. Customers don’t care, employees don’t care. People only care about their own flag.

As a Manager, to have any hope in the areas of motivation and alignment, you have to find out the flags of each of your individual team members. Finding out about the flags of your customers doesn’t hurt either. -TF

Attaboys

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Is anyone here getting too much appreciation?

What stops a Manager from giving appreciation to team members? It’s funny here in America. We don’t know how to receive appreciation and we don’t know how to give appreciation.

Here is what I hear:
I would give appreciation more often, but it sometimes seems shallow. I don’t know if it will sound sincere.

Sincerity has to do with “real.” Appreciation is sincere when it is real. Making appreciation real is simple. First, tell the person what you liked, admired or found interesting. Then tell the person WHY. Most managers leave out the WHY. Attaboys sound like Attaboys because they never tell you WHY.

“Thanks for a great job,” is an Attaboy.

“Thanks for a great job. The reason I say that is, I knew you were scheduled to leave early yesterday. Most would have thrown something together and left. You stayed and finished the details that made this a great job.” Now we have the WHY. Now we have sincere appreciation because it is real.

The way to receive appreciation is to simply say, “Thank you.” -TF

Out of the Fall Line

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In the sport of snow skiing, control is achieved by counter-intuitive thinking. As speed increases, and the skier becomes “out of control,” conventional thinking causes the skier to lean backwards. This disastrous response moves the front edges of the skis off of the snow creating less control and increasing speed. The counter-intuitive response is to shift the body-weight forward, creating leverage on the front edges of the skis, giving the skier the ability to turn out of the fall line, resulting in skier control and a decrease of speed.

I see many managers attempting to gain “control” of their teams using force, command and control, threat of firing. Those of us with children know the futility of these efforts. The counter intuitive response is to ask questions instead of telling, to ask for commitment instead of demanding. It takes more time, requires more patience and has a longer lasting impact. Sometimes it even works with children. -TF

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The High Road

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How many of your team members, do you suppose, drove to work this morning, saying, “I think I will come to work today and do a really crappy job?” Wipe that smirk off of your face, you know it is not true.

What really makes the difference in the performance of your team members? Each morning they arrive at work, ready for the day. They could perform well, or they could perform poorly. What makes the difference?

Managers will most often agree on this management challenge: How do I motivate my people? My team seems to be suffering from a lack of motivation. If I could just figure out how to motivate my people, everything else would fall in line.

The difference between poor performance, good performance and superior performance is the simple result of a choice. Managers cannot motivate their teams into high performance. Individual team members choose high performance. For every manager, the challenge is to create the circumstances where people most often choose the high road. -TF

Little Murders

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Most managers are unaware of the fishbowl in which they live. Years ago, I received some sage advice from one of my scoutmasters as a young patrol leader. “When you look at your own behavior in front of the other scouts, remember, you can’t go take a pee without everyone knowing about it.”

Every move a manager makes is amplified and remembered. If a manager arrives at work and walks past the receptionist without saying, “Good morning,” well, then, the business MUST be going down the tubes.

Jules Pfeiffer, a famous cartoonist, used to have a series he called, Little Murders in which he depicted the little murders we each commit every day. Little Murders we commit, often without intention or even awareness. We may not be aware, but it is still a Little Murder.

Who did you walk by today, without stopping, without a cheery remark, without a smile? How many Little Murders did you commit today? Remember, amplification works in the other direction, too. A few moments, a kind word, a warm handshake, a listening nod may make all the difference in a team member’s day. -TF

Vision & Motivation

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When I was training for a marathon (at the ripe age of 39), Thursday morning would arrive at 3:30. The alarm clock would ring and I had a decision to make. I could throw it against the wall and return to my slumber, or I could put on my shoes and head out the door.

At 3:31am, I put together the connection between vision and motivation.

The goal was clear, 16 miles, in the cold. But for some reason, that goal did not get me going. In fact, the only thing that got me out of bed was my vision. My vision was a movie-like first-place finish breaking the tape, wind in my hair, looking sharp in my fancy running togs. It was only that clear and compelling vision that got my feet on the floor.

Here is the truth. Your team doesn’t care about your goals. They are not exciting. The only tool you have, as a manager, to get your team juiced up, is a clear and compelling vision of the future. A vision complete with vibrant color, exciting sounds and the smell of success. It is a description of the details that breathe life into a project. Vision is where enthusiasm lives, energy, drive and inspiration.

So, think about your recent projects.

  • When they were planned, what picture did you paint for your team?
  • Could they see it?
  • How excited were they about your picture of the future?
  • How did that project go, anyway?

If you want to make it better, if you want your team to become engaged, paint a better picture. Better yet, get your team to help you paint the picture. –TF

Mastery

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“It is difficult to lead the charge if you think you look silly on top of a horse.”

I am often asked to describe the most important qualities of leadership. What does it take to make a good leader? There are many qualities. Today I am thinking of Mastery.

Mastery is the beginning of self-confidence. Many times, people believe they can pump themselves up with a motivational book or by attending a motivational seminar. While there are temporary positive feelings of invincibility, it doesn’t take more than a few hours back at the office for that to wear off.

True self-confidence begins with mastery. “Mastery over what?” Well, just about anything that requires some new degree of skill, anything that requires a person to truly push their performance beyond their current level of self-confidence. Most folks seldom push themselves beyond their current limits, for fear of failure. It is in the facing of that fear (fear of failure) that I see true growth, a new level of mastery. There can be no mastery without the possibility of failure.

When was the last time you truly pushed yourself beyond your limits? When was the last time you engaged in something new, something that required you to think in new ways that required more tenacity than you have ever mustered before? It isn’t going to come from a book. It isn’t going to come from a seminar. Get off the couch, go do something new. -TF

Home Field Advantage

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  • Familiar Turf
  • Cheering Crowd

Why do sports teams statistically have better records for home games than road games? In their championship series, why do sports teams jockey for playoff positions that award home-field advantage ? What impact does home-field advantage have on Motivation?

The locker room for the home team has individual accomodations, with names on each locker. Each player sleeps in their own bed the night before, life routines are simply routine. If a problem arises, any team member (including coaches and administrative staff) can tap into readily available tools, or hit the supply cabinet (readily stocked).

The visiting team is in unfamiliar surroundings, life routines are interrupted. Accomodations are adequate but anonymous. If a problem arises, the team member might have to improvise or “do without.” No hugs from family here, just the cold hard reality of a rival field of play.

Though there may be occasional fans supporting the road team, the majority of the cheering crowd is firmly in support of the home team. What is the impact of an engaged stadium full of “positive noise?”

What are the lessons in home-field advantage for the working manager?

  • Identity
  • Comfortable familiar environment
  • Problem solving systems
  • Available resources
  • The right tools
  • Ample supplies
  • Hugs (Support from the extended team)

The challenge for the manager, in the supervision of a team is to create an environment of home-field advantage in the workplace.

Motivation vs Manipulation

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My kid is in the back seat on the way home from school. I want him to put on his seatbelt. “Son, I tell you what, you put your seatbelt on and we’ll stop at McDonalds so you can have vanilla shake.”

Motivation or manipulation?

Okay, it’s positive reinforcement, but is it motivation or manipulation? Positive manipulation?

“Son, I tell you what, you put your seatbelt on or else, when we get home, there will be no computer access for the night.”

Motivation or manipulation? So, this is more clear cut. Negative manipulation. So, whichever carrot or stick I use, my kid puts his seatbelt on, what do I care? When, as a manager, you want your team members to do something, and they do it, what do you care how you got them to do it?

“Red Team, I know it’s Friday and it’s 5:00pm and most of you are ready to go home, but if we could all stay another half hour, we got pizza coming. If everyone stays, we can get this project finished in the next 30 minutes.” Motivation or manipulation? If everyone stays, what do you care?

Don’t get me wrong. Manipulation is not necessarily a bad thing. I have always said the manager carrying a well-maintained sidearm is a force to be reckoned with… But here is the critical difference for managers.

Manipulation gets short term compliance as long as the Manager is present. And sometimes, that’s enough. The critical criteria are:

  • Duration of the behavior
  • Compliance
  • Presence of the Manager

Motivation gets longer term commitment and the presence of the Manager may not be required. The same criteria exist:

  • Duration of the behavior
  • Commitment
  • Presence of the Manager

Before the Manager makes a decision about the current ploy to gain cooperation from team members, these are the questions to ask:

  • How long do I need the behavior to last?
  • Do I need commitment, or will compliance be good enough?
  • As the Manager, will I be present, or do I want to be present for the duration of the behavior?

Understanding these three differences between Motivation & Manipulation will help you decide which approach you want to use. Motivation takes time to figure out, but the impact lasts a lot longer. —TF