Successful Leaders Help Team Members Find Their Motivation
Want your teamwork to be as successful as possible? Want to be an effective team leader? Then create relationships and be a powerful motivator by helping others realize what they gain from working on a project with you — help them discover their own motivation to do great work.
The more helpful you are to other people, the more they will give you access to what motivates them — so it is in your best interest to learn as much as possible about other people’s goals and to look for opportunities to help them move closer to achieving them.
Don’t Dictate Tasks, Try to Inspire Your Team Members
Which scenario do you think is more successful:
Scenario No. 1: a leader who tells a team member what to do and what the reward will be for complying
Scenario No. 2: a leader tapping into the other person’s existing motivation instead of dictating it
Scenario No. 2 is much more successful and rewarding — the best way to serve fellow workers is to help them focus on their own motivation.
Creating Powerful Partnerships is Key For Successful Teamwork
People who consistently create powerful relationships at work are people who are good team members and leaders. To build powerful relationships, you first need to uncover your own existing motivation. So dig until you find the motivation that will move you to action.
Once you see how powerful it is to ask yourself what you have to gain instead of being told what to do, ask your team members, “What’s in it for you to work with me on this project?” If that doesn’t seem to work, ask, “What else does it do for you?” until the person’s expectations and wishes line up with his or her potential contribution to the group.
Buckminster Fuller, a philosopher and inventor, taught that the best way for one person to win is not by making others lose but by making others win too. It would be nice if more business leaders would learn that dictating steps to others and expecting them to serve their personal success doesn’t yield the best results or make for the best working atmosphere.
For teamwork to be enjoyable for all and most fruitful, inspiring others to work toward their motivating goal and being a servant leader who helps others become successful is the way to go.
