HOW TO MOTIVATE OTHERS WHEN YOU’RE NOT FEELING MOTIVATED

I’ll be honest with you – some days I feel about as motivated as a sloth. On those days, I struggle to find the drive to put in my best performance, and I definitely struggle to try to motivate others to do the same. The problem is, as a leader, the pressure to motivate others to perform is constant. There are no days where you can slip into the background and disappear – you must be present, and you must be positive.

So how can we continue to motivate others even when our own motivation has left us? The good news is that motivation isn’t only delivered by rousing and inspirational speeches. Sure, it helps to be a wonderful orator, but this isn’t essential. To be a motivator is to be consistent. You must be a consistent force of positive energy. To help you be this in your times of de-motivation, here are 5 key things to remember and do on a daily basis.

#1 – TAKE THE PRESSURE OFF YOURSELF

Here’s a crucial realisation – you don’t have to be Steve Jobs or Sheryl Sandberg to be a motivational leader. Being a motivational leader isn’t about being a superstar, it’s about being a consistent, and level-headed human being. So the first thing to realise is that anyone can motivate a team of people. Remove the pressure that you feel to be a motivator, and realise that motivation is delivered consistently over time, and not in inspirational bursts. This is the first point – you can be a motivational leader, everyone can.

#2 – TAKE THE FOCUS OFF YOURSELF

When we feel de-motivated, we tend to be focusing on ourselves, or the tasks that we have to do. We’re also focusing on the negative points of both, such as the fact that we have no energy, or no drive, or that the task we have to do is mundane and boring. This type on inward focus is unhealthy and unhelpful. In times like this, switch your focus onto the other people in your team. Often when you do this, you start to forget your lack of motivation. Instead, you become engaged in what your team are doing, and the work they’re putting out. Or maybe, one of them is struggling with a problem you can help them with, in which case, you are adding value. This feeling of taking the focus off yourself is a great way to re-boot your motivation, and in turn, you can then start to motivate your team again.

#3 – CREATE A ‘BASICS’ CHECKLIST

A key part of being a motivational leader is consistency. You need to be a constant source of motivation for your team. If you come in one day on cloud nine, and then the next day with a cloud hanging over you, you will lose trust and motivation in your team. Instead, you must be consistent. However, this can be hard when you’re feeling de-motivated. To help with this, create a ‘basics’ checklist. This is a list of things that you must do everyday, no matter how you are feeling. Here I’m really talking about the basics. Things like, say hi to everyone in your team, and check in with them to see how they are feeling, or if anything big is happening outside of work. In your basics checklist, also make sure to look out for big events, such as birthdays. Getting these basics right is non-negotiable, however, if you’re lacking motivation, it’s easy to skip them. That’s why you should create your checklist, and make sure you check every item off, every single day, no matter how you’re feeling.

#4 – PLAN YOUR DAY METICULOUSLY

Similarly to the checklist, forward planning helps. The evening before, look at the day you have planned tomorrow. Go through each meeting and event, and answer these three questions:

a.      How do I want to be perceived in that meeting?

b.      What do I want to get out of that meeting?

c.      What role should I play in that meeting?

Then, just before you enter that meeting, or event, review your three answers. This is the perfect focus to your mind to make sure you come across as your motivational self. It means that even when you’re feeling low and de-motivated, you can still aim to be the leader you want to be and achieve what you want to achieve.

#5 – LEAD BY EXAMPLE

As you’ve seen from #3 and #4, planning ahead helps generate the clarity you need to be a motivator even when you’re struggling for motivation yourself. The same applies with #5. Leading by example is absolutely essential for any leader. It’s completely unacceptable to expect a certain type of behaviour and performance and not to deliver it yourself. Therefore, however you are feeling, ensure that you can look at your performance and your behaviour and be confident that you are setting the right example.

A good way to do this is the 3-words technique. Think ahead to 10 years from now. Then imagine your team are being interviewed about you. The interviewer asks them to summarise you in 3 words – what do you want those words to be? Write those words down. Then, every single morning before you step into the office, remember those three words, and start to embody them right now. This is a wonderful way to remind you of the example you want to set, even when you’re struggling to find the motivation to be yourself.

BRINGING IT ALL TOGETHER

Motivation is elusive. Some days it’s living inside you, and other days you can’t find it for love, nor money. The problem we have as leaders is we must be a constant source of motivation. We can’t take a day off from motivating. The key to being a motivational leader is consistency. Motivation is delivered consistently over a period of time. Forget that image of a motivational leader as someone standing on a soapbox delivering an "Any Given Sunday" speech – this isn’t how people work. A motivational leader is someone that turns up, adds value, genuinely cares and inspires positivity in others – and they do this every, single, day. So the next time you’re struggling with motivation, turn to this 5 point checklist, and above all, remember consistency is key.