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Motivation Wisdom from Wally

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Reporting on a line in a blog post on the best small workplaces Wally Bock puts his finger on a small but critical nuance when thinking about motivation and engagement.

“”Motivating and engaging workers – and giving them opportunities for professional growth – helps a business retain the best people and ultimately boost the bottom line.”

That sounds pretty conventional. But read it again. It treats “motivation” and “engaging” as something you do to “workers” who, presumably, are different from you and need your help.

“Workers” are people. They can motivate themselves just fine, thank you. They’re quite capable of deciding whether or not to be engaged. “

Spot on Wally.  If we have got workers who are not motivated and engaged the problem lies not with them, but with us and our practices of management and leadership.

You can read Wally’s full post here.

It is not about the business, or you…

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The key to understanding someones actions, and therefore being in a position to influence them and their behaviour in the future, is understanding their agenda.

  • That salesperson who does everything by the book is not interested in the thrill of discovery.
  • That wannabe’ high flyer pursuing their own promotion is not interested in the development of other people’s potential.
  • That account manager who does the 9-5 but seems to have lost their passion for the work – is passionate about something – just not working for you.

The key to outstanding management is to recognise that it is not about your organisation, or you – it is about them and their agenda. The sooner you invest time an understanding this the sooner you will start to get a significant return on your investment in relationships.