Tag: motivation
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The Thinnest Sliver
What is something you really want to do or even might want but haven’t done yet? What’s the smallest, thinnest sliver of a possible next step you can take towards that goal? Right. Off you go, then. In your corner, Mike Today’s photo credit: A C cc
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When They Just Don’t Listen
Sometimes trying to get others to do the things we know they need to do (because it’s their job or it’s for their own good) can be like beating our heads against a brick wall. We try telling, selling, and yelling but they just don’t listen. They don’t because no one wants to be told…
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Leading and Selling By The One Thing That Motivates Us All
To lead and sell better, we want to know what motivates our teams and clients. Luckily, we can boil down anything anyone says they want to just one thing: happiness. We get to happiness along typical pathways such as freedom, meaning, creativity, growth, connection, competence, and challenge. And we tend to mistake false proxies like…
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Expect Them to Do Well
We get what we expect. Not what we hope, not what we think should be. This is true in general and it is especially true for getting other people to do stuff. When we plead or demand that others do stuff or when we worry about or criticize them for their inability to do stuff,…
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No Carrots. No Sticks.
Traditional notions of management are great if you want compliance. But if you want engagement, self-direction works better. – Dan Pink Despite all we’ve learned about how horribly ineffective it is, we still tend to use the old carrot and stick method. What really motivates us and the people we lead? These four inner needs: Fit:…
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The Source of Meaningful Work
Deficiency, or rather the elimination of it, is our source for meaningful work. We tend to see life, work, the world, and (secretly) ourselves as deficient in one or more of only these six ways. There is too much ignorance. Life, work, and the world would be better when we pause to understand before acting. We are…
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Tuning to What Makes Them Tick
Differences in what I value–what motivates me–and what you value can lead to miscommunication, misunderstanding, and conflict. Luckily there are only six things that motivate any of us. Theoretical: Life will be better when we pause to understand before acting. Utilitarian: Life will be better when we set goals, take practical steps to get there,…
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Two Levers for Collaboration
There are at least two levers we can use to collaborate better with others: style and motivators. We each have a behavioral style. When our styles differ, we can have mistrust, miscommunication, misunderstanding, and conflict. If we pause and briefly flex to the other person’s style, we can open doors to communication, understanding, collaboration, and…
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Micromanagement, Motivation, and Getting Stuff Done
One reason we micromanage is the way we value our work. When we arrived on this planet, we were motivated. We wanted to get good at walking, talking, and playing. We continued in school by mastering study habits and improving our grades. In our first jobs we focused on getting our work done. We were…