“He’s not motivated.”  Have you ever heard yourself saying this?  The truth is we are all motivated.  We may not be motivated in ways that our managers prefer, but we are all motivated.  In reality, we can often create our own motivation using motivation techniques.

Think about it: Even when we procrastinate, we have a motive.  Perhaps it is to delay for something more interesting or more proximate that gets our attention.

While leading virtual seminars on sustaining motivation in a virtual environment, I ask participants to share their personal motivation.  I am often met with silence.  Have you examined what motivates you?

Motivation is defined as the reasons one has for acting or behaving in a particular way (motive) and the general desire, drive, or willingness of someone to do something.  In business, we are considering the internal and external factors that stimulate desire and energy in people to be continually interested and committed to a job, role or subject, or to make an effort to attain a goal.  We often consider incentives and rewards or the avoidance of some kind of negative result. 

Sustainable motivators are internal.  They are often hidden within us and rarely articulated. However, adequate insight and strong leadership strategies can help bring out proper motivation at a moment’s notice.

Self-Examination & Motivation Techniques

Examine Your Values.  What is most important to you? 

One way to examine your values is to consider the important people in your life.  What did your parents, extended family, significant mentors, and friends communicate to you about what is most important?  What advice did they often share with you?  These are likely the values that you absorbed because these people were important in your life.

What advice do you often share with others?  How do you define success?  How have both positive and negative circumstances shaped who you are today?

Some of the potential motivators that others list are achievement, honesty, creativity, security, family, health, loyalty, pleasure, adventure, cooperation, personal growth, or satisfaction.  The list is endless.

Pause and list your top three values. This is one of the most powerful motivation techniques that can keep you on the right path when times are hardest.

Evaluate Your Strengths and Weaknesses.  Where is your comfort zone?

When evaluating your strengths, consider the following questions.  What are you doing when you are in your zone and time seems to stand still?  What do you receive compliments and praise for?  What do you love to do?  What other strengths do you imagine others might list?

We all have blind spots that often require other caring people to point out.  If you struggle to create your list of weaknesses, ask a trusted friend to help you.  Consider how the overuse of one of your strengths highlights a weakness.  To help you here, consider behaviors that hold you back or for which you later must apologize.  What is your most important behavior improvement area?

Identify Your Driver.  What excites and internally motivates you?

Many words may capture this moment for you: passion, fulfillment, happiness.  You might ask yourself the following questions:

• What challenges me and gets my best focus?
• When am I most excited during the day?
• What do I know a lot about, or what do I want to learn more about?
• What am I most determined to do?
• What tells me that it was a very good day?

With self-reflection, you will better understand yourself and begin to chart a course that empowers you to serve others inside and outside your organization.  You will be intrinsically motivated to move forward with your own professional development.

We believe that understanding your motivations also can create curiosity for the motivation of others.  To lead effectively we must find ways to tap into the intrinsic motivation of those we are influencing.  We share these suggestions in the hope that you take the journey.  Invest in your team members to sustain motivation among your team.  True team member engagement is a one-on-one endeavor.  The better you know your team and they know you, the more equipped you and they are to move forward with happiness and fulfillment.