Effectively Motivating Your Employees

Basically, people are motivated by four things, reward, comfort, affirmation, and finally, most effectively, by commitment to a greater goal, combined with a solid relationship to the one in authority.
Coaches, especially good ones, naturally motivate using these techniques on the court and field. Unfortunately, some bosses didn’t get the memo.
Panic mode is especially tempting during a recession. The panicky boss is going to rely on fear as a primary source of adrenalin. Usually threatening scenarios include eminent deadlines, declining revenue, job cutbacks.
Scary stuff and pretty motivating in the moment. But those kind of panic-ridden pep talks from the boss usually only motivate a staff to polish their resumes and surf website job listings.
So, how to move from fear-based incentives to visionary leadership?
Start by recognizing that each individual on your staff only has four basic motives. Next, identify what motivates each individual.
As humans we all crave the first three: reward, comfort, and affirmation.
The Bible describes them as “the lust of the eye, the lust of the flesh, and the boastful pride of life.” Forget the sermons you’ve heard about how naughty those things are and just think of them as part of our natural design; God’s design of humans.
Lust of the Eye is simply the desire for the stuff we can see and measure, like a nice home for our family, reliable transportation, a good education.
Wanting your neighbor’s wife is NOT what Lust of the Flesh is about, although she might seem enticing for a split second right before he shoots you. Lust of the Flesh is actually the stuff we need on a physical and emotional level; things that make us feel safe and comfortable. Things like food, clothing, and loved ones in our life are highly motivating.
Finally, the Boastful Pride of Life is simply respect. Men in particular have a need to feel that they are respected by the people who matter to them, especially their boss. Women need to feel affirmed and appreciated. Notably, there is a slight, but significant difference between respect and affirmation.
The real measure of a good boss is moving past the basic human motivators to becoming a visionary leader who motivates on that fourth level, beyond emotional to the spiritual level.
Jesus demonstrated an understanding of all four in Matthew 4:1-11 when His enemy tempted Him in the desert.
Of course, He was ultimately motivated by a vision of the future and a solid relationship with the One over Him in authority.
Now that’s powerful, spiritual motivation.
Cathy Primer Krafve, aka Checklist Charlie, lives and writes with a Texas twang. Comments are invited at checklistcharlie.blogspot.com.