Is your team full of Floras or Laikas?

Flora is 5, she’s a Maltese and she can be a bit spiky at times, especially if she doesn’t know you. She is a good girl and pretty much obeys every command or request.?She loves hearing ‘good girl’ and when she’s happy her tail wags in a funny way.?She struggles to go across a room where there are people without collapsing on the floor and demanding a tummy rub.?She doesn’t do things for treats.?She likes treats as much as the next dog, but it’s not her prime reason for being a good girl.?She just loves praise.

Laika is 2, she’s a Yorkshire Terrier, she’s a bit naughty and doesn’t like having men she doesn’t know in the house.?She struggles to understand any command or request in isolation.?However, if you have a treat in your hand, she becomes the most obedient dog you have ever seen.?She understands the commands, just chooses not to listen to them unless there’s something in it for her.?She is motivated by treats and it’s the only way you can get her to do anything.

Together they form a great team.?Flora keeps Laika in line, Laika looks after Flora when she’s scared.

You might be wondering what the point is of this.

Motivation.

A team of 2 dogs that have had the same education, but are motivated by 2 completely different things.

And I am sure that your team would be no different.?There is not one way to motivate a team, in fact the best motivators are people that draw on a variety of methods to get the best out of their team.

The big motivational speeches that you often see in films only really work when you have a group of people that are motivated by the same thing (such as success).

Motivation is something that you need to draw from within, it’s not something you can learn or be taught.?Finding the right buttons to press to bring this out is a very special skill and not everybody can do it.

I have had some terrible managers in the past that have tried to motivate me in the wrong way.?They motivated me as they would want to be motivated. Why motivate me like Laika when I am more like Flora?

Motivation can really be broken down into 2 types, internal (intrinsic) and external.

The internal types :

1.??????Learning – this is wanting to learn more and the need to know this drives a person forward.?This might be developing or learning a new skill.?Usually you find these people in jobs that are really specialised or vocational.

2.??????Attitude – the type of person that wants to spread positivity around everywhere they go.?This type of person can usually be found in a coaching/ teaching/ counselling role.

3.??????Achievement – this is more about the achievement of a goal rather than any later consequences (such as reward).?High achievers can often be found in this group.

4.??????Creativity – some people find that their motivation is highest when they are allowed to be creative.?This type of person can often be found in a marketing or social media team.

5.??????Physiological – this is where your body is motivated by something such as food or water.?You’d find explorers or people who survive long periods of time off the beaten track would fit into this category.

External :

1.??????Incentive – achieving a reward for successfully completing a task.?The motivation comes from the outcome of the task rather than the task itself.?You could often find that this type of people in sales teams or roles where there is an incentive scheme.

Personally, I think that certain incentives (such as money/ treats) are a poor motivator.?The reward is only fleeting as the actual satisfaction of the moment only lasts a moment. ?You’ve had your treat/ bonus and now you have to wait a long time until the next one (like Laika).

Recognition is also a part of this – Flora’s tummy rubs are her reward for successfully completing her tasks.

2.??????Fear – a person is motivated by the fear of an unfavourable outcome.?The task is not something that you want to do, but it is done because there is a fear of the consequences of it not being done.?From my own experience, I would put this down to anything like Compliance, Audit, Processes etc.

3.????????Power motivation – these are people that are motivated by the fact that they can have power.?I’m sure we have all come across these people during our career and they are in every organisation, but often found in first line management roles.

4.??????Social motivation – this is the need to be accepted and validated. They are motivated by the fact that others think positive things about them.?They are often the people that come across as more reserved.

Every team has a number of these different types in them, if not all.?The skill as a leader of your team is to know which person is which type and what can motivate them.

Use a one size fits all approach and you will alienate the majority of your team and you won’t get the results that you want.

Use all of the styles in one meeting and you might get a good result, but it isn’t sure.

The best managers know how to talk to each of their people individually and use their own motivation to get the best out of them.?It is by far the best method and has the highest rate of return.

So, next time you have a situation where your team needs motivating, just think of Flora and Laika and you won’t go far wrong! ??