The Motivation Role Of A Business Manager

Business Motivation: Are you properly motivating the team in your business?

Compare the two quotes below and decide which one you agree with more.

1. Motivation comes from within a person. As managers we cannot motivate other people; we can only motivate ourselves. The best we can hope for is to channel their inner motivation in directions that are appropriate for their work, and stop them when their motivation is counter to what they are required to do.
2. Motivating others is the leading managers primary role. We inspire people to achieve our shared goals. If we are not motivating people to do this, then what are we there for?

Some people prefer quote A while others prefer quote B. After some discussion, we tend to agree that there is some truth in both even though they seem so contradictory.

On one hand it is true that real motivation comes from within us. On the other hand it is equally true that one of the most important duties of a manager is to create the energy and commitment that enables his / her team to achieve extraordinary results. Therefore managers need to lead in a way that releases and feeds the inner flame of enthusiasm that drives people to extraordinary achievements.

When you become a manager, your own success is no longer defined by what you produce, but by what the people you manage produce. Your success is entirely dependent on their productivity! So it is essential that you find out how best to grow their level of motivation.

As a manager, people are no longer a distraction from your job; they are your job! This is because their output, their direction, their energy, their health and safety, their ability to work together as a team, their job fulfillment, and their competence levels are all your business.

How do you create the conditions in which people become motivated?
You cant do it for them, but you absolutely can, and must, create the conditions under which their inner motivation will be activated, and you can, and must, deal with the external conditions that might stifle their level of motivation.

Four ways of achieving this are:

1. Creating an exciting vision
2. Setting inspiring and achievable goals (SMART)
3. Managing consequences i.e. rewards and punishments
4. Creating a motivating environment

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