MOTIVATION

Motivation on its own is not the art of doing something but the means of being influenced or inspired to do what needs to be done.

There are things to be considered for effective motivation.

3 Keys to effective motivation.

·         Mission

·         Move

·         Mind

These are the keys to effective motivation. In order for the ‘Motivator’ to inspire the ‘Motivatee’ (i.e. a person to be motivated), there must be a reason behind the action and that is what I call MISSION. People don’t just respond to changes but they need to be given the reasons to do so and that is why both the ‘Motivator’ and ‘Motivatee’ need to be highly motivated, in order to achieve a successful level of motivation. While motivation is good, the motive behind it is paramount and must not be neglected.

In accordance to MISSION, there must be a MOVE to justify the reasons for your actions. When a leader of a company/organization wants a work done, he or she must be willing to take the company through a change(s), which would definitely involve some forms of actions to be taken. The leader needs to take the employees of the company through a journey of achieving the vision for the company. It is often said that it’s impossible to motivate, if we ourselves are not motivated. That means anyone can motivate, as long the person is motivated enough to motivate others. So then, what does it really mean to motivate? It simply means that the more you do, the more others will see you do and the more they will want to join you in achieving your aim for the task. We cannot motivate if we do not engage in doing...

Let me give an illustration of a jockey riding a horse for a horse racing. In order for the two of them to come out as the winner of the race, it’s impossible for the jockey to do the running alone with his own legs, so then he needs to drive the horse to run faster and win the race; hence he needs to understand the horse, communicate (directly or indirectly) to the horse to move faster. We would observe that the more the jockey beat the horse, the more it moves faster but it can get to a point where the horse will get tired, so the jockey needs to have an understanding of the horses’ endurance level and not push it beyond the limit. This is just a simple illustration of how we human beings can motivate others to do more, when we ourselves are engaged in doing. I remember the quote from Ralph Waldo Emerson (Champion of individualism), which says: “Our chief want is someone who will inspire us to be what we know we could be.” The horse knows that it can run, but it would need a jockey to drive it to run faster and win a race.

Let’s quickly jump to the last point of effective motivation, which is MIND. It is the mind that enhances motivation, which drives every other part of the body. I will say, a motivated mind is a motivated body. If you are motivated from the inside, it will quickly and obviously reflect on the outside. While many people are focusing on the effects of motivation to be seen on the outside, it would have to complete the process of inner motivation. The difference between inner motivation and outer motivation is that one is temporary while the other one could be permanent, if maintained and controlled properly. If the mind of an individual is motivated towards success, even if the success does not come as early as possible; the drive to succeed will keep pushing him until it comes but if the person is only motivated on the outside, the MIND (inner motivation) is not strong enough to handle the waiting, so it will break down and give up (i.e. temporary motivation).

It is possible to be the ‘Motivator’ and the ‘Motivatee’, if one can easily motivate himself/herself to have a change of mind that will move for change.

I strongly recommend that you motivate yourself, to motivate someone today.

What are your ways of effective motivation?

Share them with me here and I look forward to reading your comments... 

By Temitayo Oyediran, 
Director, Teesoft Limited. 

(Teesoft Limited is a consulting and coaching company with expertise in project management, service management, business analysis and personal/corporate coaching.)