Do we motivate, or…does ‘my way or the highway’ approach seem to always rear it’s ugly head. After all;
- I did very well in the past
- When I did, we Won
- I’ve successfully done it in pressure situations
With all the “I’s” flying around [e.g., I did, When I, I’ve] we can agree on one thing, there is no need to discuss what it takes to be successful because my way or the highway approach is the captain speaking to the passengers. We smell our own perfume and build teams of individuals who think just like us. Surround ourselves with teammates whose only goal is, not getting yelled at. The alternative is being told to take their creativity and move on!
Think about what we lose.
- Individuality and Creativity is out the window for fear of being yelled at
- Intuitiveness, Awareness, and Perceptiveness All LOST
- The Team Concept is non-existent
Richard Branson said, “The worst culture you can ingrain within a business [or in a sport] is in an atmosphere of saying yes to everything.” Sometimes it is hard to believe, but disagreement is critical to finding the right answer, to truly becoming successful.
An accomplishment that is a trait common to successful companies and successful teams. Individually, they are comfortable enough to be intuitive and solve issues as they arise with the goal focused on the overall Successful End-Result. An environment creating Independent thinking teammates.
Creating what doctors describe as Intrinsic Motivation. An environment Edward L. Deci defines as “satisfaction of performing the activity itself.” An approach where we motivate from allowing and observing. They believe in and are contributing for themselves, instead of being yelled at.
Everyone on the team is comfortable trying new things with the understanding, failure is the process it takes to get better.
I recommend Daniel Pink’s Seven Factors to enhance Intrinsic Motivation:
- Challenge – Internally promote desires to accomplish more through understanding of our role
- Curiosity – Become a student of the game/your job and promote a desire to seek ways to perform better
- Control – Truly believe we determine how well we want to perform
- Fantasy – Create an internal goal – a vision as to where we see ourselves someday
- Competition – Create an internal drive and desire to improve
- Cooperation – Recognize how doing well benefits the team
- Recognition – Seek and accept meaningful, positive recognition for what we have accomplished
Until next Blog may I suggest Intrinsically Motivating,
Al McCormick
