Posted on Jun 13, 2012

10 Ways Great Leaders Motivate

How well do you know what motivates you?

Do you know what motivates others – your spouse, kids, neighbors, employees, co-workers, customers, suppliers, and more?

Great leaders understand the power of motivation. It’s a value worthy of study.

As a differentiating value, Motivation means an incentive or reason for action.

It sounds so simple, doesn’t it? The reality is that finding the right incentive or reason that causes someone to act is harder than you think. Maybe that’s why there are so many books, courses, and seminars on this topic.

Based on the book 100 Ways to Motivate Others, by Steve Chandler and Scott Richardson, I’ve selected 10 and adapted them to show how great leaders motivate others.

10 Ways to Motivate Others

Know where motivation comes from. As Dwight D. Eisenhower is credited with saying: “Leadership is the art of getting someone else to do something you want done because he wants to do it.” Real motivation can’t be forced upon someone. It’s an inside job. Great leaders understand they must connect with someone’s heart before sharing their vision.
Teach self-discipline. No one is born with self-discipline. In the same way we can all learn to speak a new language, we can learn self-discipline. Great leaders understand we all need help from others to learn something new. And just like teaching a new language, it requires patience and perseverance.
Tune in before you turn on. The old saying is still true: “Nobody cares how much you know until they know how much you care.” Great leaders understand how to listen. It’s a skill that grows with practice. It starts with a simple question, and then just listening.
Do the one thing. There is no such thing as multitasking. What we may choose to do is shift from one task to another (often quickly). But that actually reduces our effectiveness. Great leaders understand the importance of focusing on one thing at a time, and doing that well. This enables them to help others prioritize and focus.
Lead from the front. The popular saying “practice what you preach” can be applied in different ways. If you want to see something specific in others, instead of talking about it, lead by example. Be what you want to see. Great leaders understand that the effect of leading by example hits harder and lasts longer than anything else.
Put your hose away. Ineffective leaders are firefighters. Even though they think they are controlling the fire, in reality it’s the fire that controls them. Worse yet, when one fire is put out, they go looking for another. Great leaders understand the power of vision and remain focused on the future, inspiring others to stay focused on the same goal. The only fires that matter are the ones standing in the way of the goal.
See what’s possible. The statement “perception is reality” is true. People tend to perform according to how they think others see them. If they believe others see them as slow, they perform slowly. Great leaders understand the power of communicating possibility and altering the belief of what someone is capable of doing. When they change one’s perception of themselves, they change reality.
Communicate consciously. We all communicate for a living. Yet we often follow ad-hoc methods or rely on common sense believing everyone around us is informed and kept “in the know.” Great leaders never leave communication to chance. They are deliberate. They communicate frequently. And they reinforce that everyone matters.
Motivate by doing. There are doers and feelers. Doers do what needs to be done to reach a goal. Feelers do what they feel like doing, relying on their emotional temperature at that moment. Great leaders are doers, and understand who are the doers and feelers around them. By modeling and rewarding the doing, they inspire feelers to become doers.
Use positive reinforcement. Whether you are training animals at the zoo or motivating people, positive reinforcement always works better than negative criticism. Great leaders understand the value of appreciation. Before any correction, they seek out what’s right and reward it.