Motivation is difficult to master. It ebbs and flows with time and task. This category will focus on ways that you can find out what motivates your team and how to keep it going.
We keep moving forward, opening new doors, and doing new things, because we’re curious and curiosity keeps leading us down new paths. Walter Disney
Lot’s of influential people will tell you that reading books will change your life. I’m here to tell you that this just isn’t true!
If you are anything like me, you probably read quite a bit. But that also means that you’ve probably ran into more than one book that made little to no impact on who you are.
I know it’s the cultural norm to work long hours and to give so much to your job that you collapse at the end of the day. I’m doing that right now in my day job. But something doesn’t feel right about it to me.
The funny thing is that I don’t mind doing the work. I don’t even mind the extra hours. My problem is that the rest of my life is suffering. You know, the parts that I live for.
Enjoying the smile on my daughters’ faces. Holding my wife’s hand on a long walk. Writing. Bringing hope to people at work through this business. Normal stuff, right?
Maybe I’m spoiled from years of light duty? Probably not.
Maybe it’s because I’ve worked really hard to keep balance in my life? Yep, that’s it! I think…
Lately, things have been very busy! It’s been difficult to keep up with work, family, business, etc. My energy has been waning since we came back from vacation. That’s why I decided to write a different kind of post this week. This one will be laser focused on re-energizing my readers and myself!
For some time now I’ve been struggling with the question written in the headline above. I’ve personally worked in an organization that seemingly had endless profits and resources, while I’ve also worked in one that was struggling to break even. Obviously the one with endless resources had the advantage, but maybe it’s not as simple as you think.
It seems like no matter the size of the company, you will hear people complaining, “our training here stinks…oh wait, what training”. Of course, there are exceptions to this rule where training is seemingly over-the-top. However, even at these places you’ll hear people saying, “why are they teaching us this…it’s such a waste of time”.
Trust me, I’ve worked in both of these environments! There is no such thing as a perfect training program!
Have you ever found out that a co-worker makes more money than you? Worse yet, was it someone that isn’t even as good as you are? That’s a real bummer, but let me explain why it doesn’t really matter…
Can you tell who the quarterback is in this photo? I sure can’t.
Does it even matter?
What matters is that the guy with the ball is moving forward. That means everyone is working together to get the job done.
There’s someone else missing in this photo who is even more elusive than the quarterback…the coach.
Where is he when the blocks start coming? Where is he when the ball is thrown?
Truth be told, when it comes to football, we don’t even expect to see the coach blocking, tackling, or throwing. But why?
It’s difficult to have authority over people. There are so many things to consider: inspiration, motivation, results, feelings, safety, etc. No wonder bosses screw it up so bad. No wonder, they get paid more.
Even the bosses I’ve appreciated the most, have made some pretty big mistakes. It would be easy for me to hold it against them…and I have.
What I’ve found though is that holding that in, is a zero sum game.
Teams are finicky. It’s often difficult to figure them out. Personally, I’m not a huge sports fan, but if I was going to pick a favorite, it would be football. The team aspect is fascinating; there is much to learn by peeking under the hood here…
Whether it’s winners or losers, the idea that a team’s coach, who doesn’t even take the field, has some ability to make the team win or lose, is pretty amazing. This is such a good correlation to what we do in the business world, yet we rarely compare the two.
Motivational speeches get a pretty bad rap. Many people wouldn’t even admit to enjoying them, let alone being truly impacted by an event. Personally, I believe motivational speeches can be very influential throughout the course of one’s life, especially if the presenter has heart, passion, and skill.
Last week I had the pleasure of witnessing one of the most memorable motivational speeches of my life. The presenter’s name was Christopher Gardner. If you aren’t sure who that is, check out the trailer below for the movie, “The Pursuit of Happyness”, starring Will & Jaden Smith:
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