Just Keep Swimming

Nicole said, “I just don’t know if I can keep doing this anymore.” Sound familiar?

Every single person struggles to stay motivated. Ever had a New Year’s resolution die out before the end of January? Intrinsic motivation is defined as the doing of an activity for its inherent satisfaction rather than for some separable consequence. Every organization wants their employees to be intrinsically motivated because it creates productivity and engagement. However, it takes nurturing the intrinsic motivation to make it last.

Ever heard someone tell you to find your why? Your why is the reason you’re going to keep going. It could be family, getting a promotion, or any number of things. How can an organization help employees find their why and keep going?

1. Create a positive environment - All teams go through a storming phase, but it’s important to understand that’s what might be happening and maintain positive communication techniques.

2. Foster learning and growth - Supporting an employee’s journey shows that you care about them and want to see them succeed. Make the learning path valuable and provide a way to apply what is learned.

3. Personalize goals - It’s easy to start something, but can be challenging to get to the finish line. The best motivation is finishing something, anything, to prove it can be done. Make the task or project personal for the employee to understand what they’re getting out of it. Start small. Once the initial goal is achieved, harder things become possible.

   Examples:

   • Someone on my team is a top-performer and working on a task for senior leadership. This person has had to do multiple iterations and wanted to give up. I explained to this person they were chosen for this activity because leadership saw potential and wanted to see what they could do.

   • Another person was extremely frustrated because another team wasn’t responding in a timely manner and started to feel like it was pointless to work with them. I explained how that team can’t improve without feedback and we all have to learn how to work together in order to deliver successfully. Helping them now will help you in the long run.

   • The organization went through an acquisition. Embracing the new team, tools, and processes will help you learn and grow. There are things we do well and things they do well. Similarly, we are not perfect and neither are they. Let’s evaluate everything before determining how to move forward. Being part of that evaluation process will help you be part of the decision instead of being forced to comply.

Now that you have your employees motivating themselves, don’t forget to show them that you’re motivated to help them. A good manager talks to their employees about what they want to achieve, a great manager gives them the tools to get there. I had an employee that was mind-blown I recommended optional courses for them based on what we discussed even though it only took me a few minutes to do it. Little things matter.

Feeling motivated?