Geoff Steck's Catalyst Collection: Thank Goodness It's Monday #302

M-O-T-I-V-A-T-I-O-N

VIEWS YOU CAN USE ANYWHERE

“Motivation can be easily encouraged,” says Arnold Rincover, Ph.D., internationally known child psychologist and parenting consultant. “Effective parenting can make a tremendous difference.”

“Whoa!” you say. “Hold your horses. Since when has TGIM started doling out parenting advice? I’m not starting my week with a ‘nature vs. nurture’ debate. Wrong topic for my needs.”

Perhaps not. Certainly the subject matter here is largely about self-improvement and workplace empowerment. But I do try keep it “family friendly” and broaden the examples to home and community when particularly applicable.

So it strikes me as not impractical to source useful ideas from the “other” side of business life once in a while and sort of reverse engineer them to apply them to the workaday world.

TGIM ACTION IDEA: Rincover suggests that parents be guided by strategies that follow the letters in the word “motivation.”

Alright! Since we love acronyms and Dr. Rincover’s talking M-O-T-I-V-A-T-I-O-N, he’s got my attention and perhaps deserves yours, no matter where you are in the “parenting” world.

TGIM IDEA IN ACTION: Let’s take a quick look at the alphabetic breakdown as he presents them for parents, and then consider the work-world, apply-it-to-yourself-and-your-business and the community at large aspects.

Model your behavior. The fastest way to teach something is to model or demonstrate it, even elaborate or sophisticated skills. Yup. Works for kids; works for adults.

Offer feedback. Feedback is essential for learning. It tells learners – children or adults – whether they’re doing well or if they can do better. For best results, couple feedback with praise.

Talk! Many everyday situations in family life and in business and community life provide opportunities for talking and learning.

Case in point: Grabbing a quick lunch in a fast-food eatery. For kids it can become a learning experience by discussing, say, the nutrition value of the ingredients. With business acquaintances, talk marketing strategy or site location or central distribution policy.

Instill. In children, Dr. Rincover maintains, the desire to succeed does not develop entirely genetically. They learn it if adults make it an important part of their life. So it goes in the workplace. The more coworkers and management make goals clear to others, the more those others will feel motivated to take a role in meeting them.

Vary praise and rewards. Try praise first. If it seems more is needed, use rewards. When they are truly earned and are not so overused that they become commonplace and are discounted, both are powerful ways to motivate children and adults.

Attitude is everything. Differences in children’s attitude about achievement do not come purely from differences in ability, Dr. Rincover finds. They can be greatly shaped by parental attitudes. Adults, too, will take their attitude cues from authority figures. So you can be shaped according to who you allow to influence you. And you can apply what attitudinal clout you have to persuade others to your view.

Train independence. Parents of highly motivated children often have shown that they expect their children to do well. In short then, pressure to be self-reliant has been found to foster achievement. And this can play out in the adult world. If you manage others, be clear you expect great performance. If you manage managers, let them manage. Train them to give subordinates leeway to do their jobs.

Interest your child in learning. Research has shown that immediate praise, feedback, and other incentives increase interest in learning many fold. Make it interesting for others to connect to new information, learn new and better skills.

Offer a choice. This can take the sting out of undesirable tasks. Let the child who hates to go to the supermarket pick out the ice cream and you win willing cooperation. Let workers set their own rotation to the tasks they deem most unpleasant.

Never stop praising. This is the easiest, most powerful way to motivate. Yup. Works for kids; works for adults.

That’s it. Ten steps so simple, as they used to say, even a child can do them. Hope they (and I) M-O-T-I-V-A-T-E-D you to read this far.

And since, if you’re reading this you did, applying a few of them –

“Good for you.” “Great job!” “I’m proud of you.”

“Keep up the good work.” You know I’ll try.