What Motivates You?
The dictionary defines Motivate as: "To provide with an incentive; move to action; impel". Motivation is a funny thing...since it is something the impels a person or moves them to action, motivation can have many different sources. Some people are motivated by money. Some people are motivated by recognition. Some people have no motivation at all, not doing anything motivates them. Some people are motivated by the thrill of the chase, some are motivated by the catch. Yet, others are motivated by a sense of accomplishment. Some want high-visibility projects that are complicated, whereas others want low-risk smaller things to get done. Some are motivated by the rewards, some are motivated by just staying busy.
My job as a Manager is to continually motivate my team and keep them challenged. This by far is the most difficult part of my job. I have a team of individuals (that sounds so cliche) who all are motivated by different things. My challenge over the last year has been to create a common goal that each of them can understand and work towards. Since I have people who get paid at different levels and have different pay grades, different functions this has not been easy. Adding to this motivational challenge is the matrix management team that I'm involved in. For me, I couldn't be happier as a great challenge and a difficult problem with monetary and personal recognition is what motivates me. This is why I'm happy to be a manager and tackle the challenges of motivating my team to have them be effective.
So I ask my faithful readers (all 3 of you) what is it that motivates you? Why is it that you think it motivates you? At the end of the day are the motivators in your life (whether internal or external) helping you get to your goals and what you want? When was the last time you wrote down your goals...I mean physically wrote them down? I'm a firm believer that if you don't write something down, you'll never accomplish it. Once you write something down, it becomes part of your subconscious and since it's written you can refer to it if you feel that you're not on the right path.
Writing goals is the hardest thing for 99% of the population, myself included. I find that I have to write them much like Jack Kerouac wrote "On the Road"....free flowing, uninterrupted with no structure. I can then later go back and put them into a time perspective.
Goal writing also covers many different aspects of your life. There are Professional Goals, Personal Goals, Monetary Goals, Possession Goals, Spiritual Goals, Exercise Goals. Writing them all down will help you identify what you want to be now and in the future. It also helps to either motivate you or help you better understand where you are in life and where you want to be.
Earlier this year I sat down with my team and had them write 2 business goals and 3 personal goals -- things they wouldn't mind sharing with the team at a later date. I then wrote their names on an envelope, had them seal the goals up in it and I stored them away in a drawer. Next week, we're going to sit down and open them up. I had planned on doing this earlier in the year, but I had not met my own personal goals....Take an Excel Class, Read a John Sanford novel, and Read a book called "Bringing Down the House". The Excel classes are the only two that I have left. Funny thing about sealing up your goals in an envelope are I do not remember the business goals. If I try hard enough, I think that I can remember them. Since I wrote them down, I do not doubt that I've accomplished them.
I'm also writing about Motivation and what Motivates you because it's time to do a Ranking and a Rating of my team. I'm continually amazed at the people who come into their final review and are either surprised at the results or totally in denial. What I've tried to teach each of them this year, and with every team that I've managed, is that they are responsible for their review, for meeting their goals, and for understanding what is expected of them. This may sound backwards to most people, but in the end it's their paycheck. I set a vision for them and a few high-level goals, but how they get them down and what they do to grow themselves is their owne responsibility. My answer to this, is Motivation. My team members who are motivated by knowing what they must do to get more money, recognized, and feel challenged are the ones who do well by my measurements and by the measurement s my peers use. As I type this, I realize that those folks like me are the ones who do well under me. Upon reflection, this has been another challenge for me as I have a team of introverted people. Introverts like to think about ideas, thoughts, processes, things before they respond to them. They internalize most things and mull them over (sometimes for agonizing periods of time). Since I'm an extorvert, it can be painful for me. I like to discuss new ideas, work things out on a whiteboard, talk about them....my team meeting consist of me talking for the better part of an hour. I've countered this by sending out agendas, having agenda slides, and letting my introverts think about things before we discuss them. .....wait I was talking about Motivation.....For my introverts, they are Motivated by having time to think about things before being required to take action. My other thought for this paragraph, take ownership of your goals and expectations from your boss, understand them and help him/her out. In the end you'll look better, your boss will look better, and together you both will do well.
For me, sharing my rambling thoughts has become a Motivator. I'm also working on a new test phase at work. If I'm able to define this and implement it, it could save my company millions of dollars a year. Funny thing about a new innovative idea is it pushes most people out of their comfort zone and makes it hard for them to embrace. For this new lab and new process to be successful I have to find out what motivates the people who are eventually gonna pay for it and appeal to that. Right now that is what is keeping me motivated at work.
As we near the end of the year and you reflect back and look forward, please take the time to write down a few simple goals and motivators and work towards them. For your goals and motivators, identify some rewards. Take time to celebrate the victories, no matter how large or small. One of the things I have to work on. Continuous improvement of myself as a person, as a father, as a manager is one of the things that motivates me.
Affectionately yours. Gio
My job as a Manager is to continually motivate my team and keep them challenged. This by far is the most difficult part of my job. I have a team of individuals (that sounds so cliche) who all are motivated by different things. My challenge over the last year has been to create a common goal that each of them can understand and work towards. Since I have people who get paid at different levels and have different pay grades, different functions this has not been easy. Adding to this motivational challenge is the matrix management team that I'm involved in. For me, I couldn't be happier as a great challenge and a difficult problem with monetary and personal recognition is what motivates me. This is why I'm happy to be a manager and tackle the challenges of motivating my team to have them be effective.
So I ask my faithful readers (all 3 of you) what is it that motivates you? Why is it that you think it motivates you? At the end of the day are the motivators in your life (whether internal or external) helping you get to your goals and what you want? When was the last time you wrote down your goals...I mean physically wrote them down? I'm a firm believer that if you don't write something down, you'll never accomplish it. Once you write something down, it becomes part of your subconscious and since it's written you can refer to it if you feel that you're not on the right path.
Writing goals is the hardest thing for 99% of the population, myself included. I find that I have to write them much like Jack Kerouac wrote "On the Road"....free flowing, uninterrupted with no structure. I can then later go back and put them into a time perspective.
Goal writing also covers many different aspects of your life. There are Professional Goals, Personal Goals, Monetary Goals, Possession Goals, Spiritual Goals, Exercise Goals. Writing them all down will help you identify what you want to be now and in the future. It also helps to either motivate you or help you better understand where you are in life and where you want to be.
Earlier this year I sat down with my team and had them write 2 business goals and 3 personal goals -- things they wouldn't mind sharing with the team at a later date. I then wrote their names on an envelope, had them seal the goals up in it and I stored them away in a drawer. Next week, we're going to sit down and open them up. I had planned on doing this earlier in the year, but I had not met my own personal goals....Take an Excel Class, Read a John Sanford novel, and Read a book called "Bringing Down the House". The Excel classes are the only two that I have left. Funny thing about sealing up your goals in an envelope are I do not remember the business goals. If I try hard enough, I think that I can remember them. Since I wrote them down, I do not doubt that I've accomplished them.
I'm also writing about Motivation and what Motivates you because it's time to do a Ranking and a Rating of my team. I'm continually amazed at the people who come into their final review and are either surprised at the results or totally in denial. What I've tried to teach each of them this year, and with every team that I've managed, is that they are responsible for their review, for meeting their goals, and for understanding what is expected of them. This may sound backwards to most people, but in the end it's their paycheck. I set a vision for them and a few high-level goals, but how they get them down and what they do to grow themselves is their owne responsibility. My answer to this, is Motivation. My team members who are motivated by knowing what they must do to get more money, recognized, and feel challenged are the ones who do well by my measurements and by the measurement s my peers use. As I type this, I realize that those folks like me are the ones who do well under me. Upon reflection, this has been another challenge for me as I have a team of introverted people. Introverts like to think about ideas, thoughts, processes, things before they respond to them. They internalize most things and mull them over (sometimes for agonizing periods of time). Since I'm an extorvert, it can be painful for me. I like to discuss new ideas, work things out on a whiteboard, talk about them....my team meeting consist of me talking for the better part of an hour. I've countered this by sending out agendas, having agenda slides, and letting my introverts think about things before we discuss them. .....wait I was talking about Motivation.....For my introverts, they are Motivated by having time to think about things before being required to take action. My other thought for this paragraph, take ownership of your goals and expectations from your boss, understand them and help him/her out. In the end you'll look better, your boss will look better, and together you both will do well.
For me, sharing my rambling thoughts has become a Motivator. I'm also working on a new test phase at work. If I'm able to define this and implement it, it could save my company millions of dollars a year. Funny thing about a new innovative idea is it pushes most people out of their comfort zone and makes it hard for them to embrace. For this new lab and new process to be successful I have to find out what motivates the people who are eventually gonna pay for it and appeal to that. Right now that is what is keeping me motivated at work.
As we near the end of the year and you reflect back and look forward, please take the time to write down a few simple goals and motivators and work towards them. For your goals and motivators, identify some rewards. Take time to celebrate the victories, no matter how large or small. One of the things I have to work on. Continuous improvement of myself as a person, as a father, as a manager is one of the things that motivates me.
Affectionately yours. Gio
posted by Juan Giovanni at 1:47 AM
0 comments
