Let’s continue exploring the one big leadership question…
How do I motivate people?
Here I will discuss the fourth of four dichotomies when it comes to motivating others.
- Authority vs. Relationships
- Obedience vs. Autonomy
- Your Agenda vs. Their Agenda
- Shame vs. Buy-in
Recently I listened to an interview I did with Scott Newman years ago which is part of the Motivating Saints Virtual Library.
If you are serious about understanding motivation I can’t recommend that virtual library enough.
Scott Newman talks about this concept called Owners vs. Renters.
In short, in any organization, you will always have “owners” or people who have a higher stake in the success of the organization and you will always have “renters” or people with a lower stake in the success of the organization.
I talked about this dynamic in the last message about your agenda vs. their agenda.
When we strive to convince others to have buy-in for our organization’s goals, we quickly realize how difficult it is to do so.
With little experience and understanding, we default to shaming methods.
Why?
Because shame is a very motivating tool in the short term.
However, there is nothing more corrosive to personal identity and organizational culture.
Typical shaming messages look like this:
- Pointing to a perceived expectation God has for us to influence buy-in
- Emphasizing the authority under which the members of the organization are asked to do something
- Celebrating or highlighting the efforts of those who do have buy-in
- Emphasizing the importance of obedience
Shame is tempting to use; however, it is only a signal that the leader has more personal work to do.
At the conclusion of this series, if a leader were to ask me how to motivate others, I would give this simple guidance:
- Be obsessed with building a sincere relationship with everyone you lead.
- Take time to understand their personal goals, needs, struggles, and ambitions.
- Teach as much core doctrine related to God’s grace, love, and eternal identity which can lead to personal transformation which is the source of all personal motivation.
- Have faith in each individual’s journey that they are doing the best they can to seek and follow God’s guidance for them.
- And then, surrender the rest.
What other guidance would you give related to motivating others?
Sincerely,
Kurt Francom
Executive Director
Leading Saints
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