If you want to be an effective leader, you must be able to answer these questions for EACH OF YOUR TEAM MEMBERS.
- The first question is the most important and fundamental: WHAT’S MY JOB?
- The second question follows the first: HOW WELL AM I DOING IT?
- The third question is more profound: WHAT AM I PART OF?
- The fourth question is about vision: WHERE ARE WE GOING?
The fifth question is about pure self-interest: How will I benefit when we succeed?
This is what we call the WII-FM — an acronym for the phrase, What’s In It For ME???
Before you get all pious or high-minded about why people SHOULD do their jobs (e.g. “Because they’re getting paid to…”), keep in mind that everyone on the planet is pretty much driven by self-interest. Here’s the important thing to remember: each person’s motivation is unique to THEM! So if you are going to be a motivating leader, you must know each of your team members well enough to understand their individual motivations…and then do the things that push each of their motivational “buttons.”
If you want some help understanding what motivates people, then GET MY BOOK! I devote three separate chapters of Leading Teams to different dimensions of personal motivation, including EMOTIONAL TRIGGERS and VALUES AND INTERESTS. Here’s a link to Amazon for the book, if you’re interested:
Personal motivation is a complex issue, but it really all boils down to the question, WHY SHOULD ANYONE FOLLOW YOU??? And, once again, the answer to that question is different for each person on your team.
So…What’s a leader to do?
- Know your people!
- Make sure you push EACH PERSON’S unique motivational “buttons”
- Start with the SINGLE MOST COMMON motivator in the workplace.
Yes — recent research has now identified the TOP MOTIVATOR in the workplace, and surprisingly, it is NOT recognition! In an issue of Harvard Business Review, Theresa Amabile and Steven Kramer reveal the results of a multi-year study of motivation in the workplace. Their information is a true revelation, and offers clear marching orders for every manager and supervisor. The research findings run counter to the assumptions of managers and leaders everywhere. The study shows that the top motivator of performance for employees is… Support for making progress in their work.
Here’s the blogpost I wrote about this article and its practical application in the workplace. It’s CRAMMED with great ideas:
Great Advice from Top CEO’s – #13 | The Boss Doctor
But when it comes to WII-FM, this is really only a basic start. To make a truly deep and strong connection with an individual team member’s WII-FM, you must know them well enough to know what they consider a benefit worth earning—worth applying their hard work and effective performance to obtain.
How do you find that out???
Here’s a thought—JUST ASK THEM!!!!
Up Close and Personal
I have personally trained thousands of supervisors and managers over the years. That has given me an enormous opportunity to network and accumulate strategies, tactics, and practical tools from leaders serving in an extraordinary diversity of organizations—every conceivable industry, shape, and size—for profit; not-for-profit; public sector; private sector; Fortune 500; FORTUNE 100!!; every level of government (municipal; county; state; federal) and organizations under the Department of Defense (including every branch of the military).
So… I went to my network to get some help with this managerial task. I collected ideas from hundreds of my management students—ideas designed to help leaders get to know their direct reports better and gain a clearer understanding of their employees’ motivations and drives. I compiled those ideas into a simple, but effective tool. It’s an easy, straightforward way for leaders to get to know the WII-FM of each of their team members. And you can download it here FOR FREE:
The Employee Information Survey
Once you know the motivational “buttons” for each employee, it’s up to you to figure out ways that you can “scratch” those “itches.” So…if an employee is energized by challenging work, you’ve got to identify challenging assignments you can give them. Etc. etc. This is a down-to-earth practical application of a seminal principle for successful leadership that I have always taught managers in my seminars:
If you listen to your people, they will hand you leadership success on a silver platter.
So…LISTEN TO YOUR PEOPLE. Take the initiative to talk to them—ask them the right questions and listen carefully to their answers. What questions should you ask them???? That’s the focus for the next series in this blog. DON’T MISS IT:
5 Questions Every Boss Needs Answered by Their Subordinates
And if you need help engaging your people and raising their performance…give us a call – we can help! We can show you how to turn your people into motivated, engaged, high-productive members of cohesive and productive teams!
Until next time… Yours for better leaders and better organizations,
Dr. Jim Dyke – “The Boss Doctor” ™ helping you to BE a better boss and to HAVE a better boss!
