The Motivation Myth....

 

One of the questions leaders are constantly asking each other is “How do you motivate your followers?” You DON’T! You CAN’T! They’re ALREADY motivated! To do what they’re already doing. The question within that question is “How do I get my followers to do what I want them to do?” That’s a different question. 

Here’s an example of how we can’t motivate others because they’re already motivated. My family and I are at the mall (a place with a lot of stores where people used to go to shop for stuff before the internet existed) in Moreno Valley, California. It used to be one of our favorite pastimes. Now, we just order from amazon. Anyway, Deb, Tesa, Elyse, and I are at the mall, just looking around. We’re in some store in which Elyse, about six-years-old, decides she wants something. She HAS to have it! “No you don’t,” I tell her. She has a fit! She’s crying and screaming at the top of her lungs that she wants it! I can’t do anything but take her out of the store. It was pretty embarrassing.

I take Elyse out to the mall and start to motivate her to stop her crying. She continues on. At the time I was the Commandant of the Noncommissioned Officer Academy at March Air Force Base. I was THE expert on leadership, as per my title, which, of course, included motivation. I give her my best stuff, citing motivation development theories and sharing examples, etc. She has nothing to do with it. 

Eventually, I get so frustrated that I decide to take her out to the car. As I take her arm, she goes limp. COMPLETELY limp! I catch her before she falls to the ground. Have you ever noticed that many drunk drivers who collide with something, including another vehicle, often survive without a scratch? Why is that? Because they’re so limp, they go with the flow. What will hurt you worse than anything when you take a fall is that your first inclination is to fight it, to become rigid. That’s how you break a wrist, an arm, or some other limb. As I try to pick her up, Elyse turns into a glob of Jello. She’s not motivated to do what I wanted her to do. She’s already motivated to do what SHE wants to do and does!

We CAN’T motivate others! They’re already motivated! But the question remains…How do I get my followers to do what I want them to do? You INSPIRE them to motivate themselves to do what you want them to do, and, hopefully, what they SHOULD do. That takes knowing them and investing time and effort in helping them grow by developing trust. You develop trust by being trustworthy.

Your followers may not do what you tell them to do but they will do what you do. Do what’s right. As I said in my book titled, What I Learned From Dad Made Me a Better Man!, “We cannot teach character. We cannot teach leadership. The best we can do is show it. People will then follow.”

The best way to inspire others is by being inspirational. That takes knowing them and encouraging them to be THEIR best. Someone shared a powerful thought with me recently: “Stop expecting YOU from other people.” Help them be them. That will inspire them to follow you. Then they’ll motivate themselves to do what they need to do.

Until next time, Be GREAT! You ARE!

¡HEIRPOWER!

bob vásquez!