How can you motivate that team member who seems stuck?
Story
A manager in a tech company noticed one of his star employees started underperforming. This was a surprise because it had never been a problem before. So, as many managers do, he offered a raise to the employee. Which he gladly accepted!
But his performance didn’t improve.
Carrot Vision
If you’re surprised that underperformance was rewarded with a pay raise, don’t be. It happens more than you think. It’s a common strategy managers use when they know someone is capable of more (because they’ve seen it), but they just seem unmotivated recently.
When we ask leaders “What are the most common motivators you use in your company?” In other words, what are the “carrots” you dangle in front of people to motivate them? We always get the same two answers:
- money
- promotion
Managers seem obsessed (dare we say “blinded”?) by those two carrots. This is something we call “carrot vision.”
Carrot Vision (n.) = a manager guessing that someone’s primary motivation is money or promotion.
The manager in our story was guessing that his employee’s main motivator was money. “If that’s the fuel that makes the fire burn brighter, let’s throw some more on the pile!” Makes sense… if it’s true. But usually, it’s not.
When we work through the Performance Leadership framework (EMMA) as part of the Adaptive Leader Journey™, participants are usually very excited about step 2: Motivations.
- Expectations
- Motivation
- Measurements
- Accountability
We often encourage leaders to do a simple exercise:
- How much more motivated would you be at work if they gave you more money?
“Yes! I would be,” they often answer.
- But for how long?
“Ah. Maybe a week…?”
So that’s the problem. Throwing money at the problem is often like throwing actual money on a real fire: big burst of light and heat. Then poof. Nothing much changed.
Deep, lasting motivation is complex, and it’s very different from person to person.
3Cs and Motivation
As tempting as it is to guess at someone’s motivation, the 3Cs remind us not to.
What would it take to really find out what motivates each person? Probably new levels of Curiosity, Courage, and Care you haven’t tried.
One simple step is to ask people:
- “What’s highly motivating to you at work these days?”
The question has a few things going for it, as I’m sure you can already see:
- It assumes the best (i.e. this person is highly motivated)
- It leads to a positive discussion (i.e. what could actually “fuel” the motivation flames)
- It assumes Motivations change over time (which they totally do)
You could also use our free Work Motivations Profile, which let’s people rank their top 5 work Motivators and includes a discussion guide for how you can have a conversation about the results.
Additionally, here are some extra questions for yourself as you practice the 3Cs around Motivations.
Curiosity
- What would be the benefit of knowing my own Motivations more clearly?
- How can I be cautious about projecting my own view of Motivations onto others?
- Where could other people’s Motivations be more fully embraced here at work?
- How can I involve people in activating their own Motivations (so I don’t have to come up with all the answers)?
Courage
- What am I worried about if I discuss Motivations?
- What would be the worst thing about discovering someone is Motivated by things that feel out of reach (for them or me)?
- What unwanted obligations am I afraid will accompany my diving into the Motivations topic with my team?
Care
- How can I affirm my team members’ Motivations as real and important?
- How can I stay kind and clear if someone asks for a Motivator that is out of my scope?
- How might an open discussion of Motivations build relationships within the team?
- What is the best way to communicate care within the context of Motivations?
How do you really motivate people?
You can’t.
People’s motivations come from within them, so the best you can do is tap into their already present motivators, if you just know what they are.
In a recent TedX talk, Kristen Pressner, an experienced global HR executive gives an at-home perspective on this topic. She discusses her frustration trying to motivate her family members to do “important” tasks. Nothing worked until she found out there was some neurodiversity at play.
So she changed the way she framed tasks, and her approach to motivating people at home, to access their own motivators.
“They’re playing the video game in hard mode…so we engage in a non-judgmental, curious, and supportive way,” she says.
Notice echoes of the 3Cs in her advice? Without spoiling the talk, our summary is: don’t project what motivates you on to what motivates them.
(We highly recommend the whole 14-minute speech.)
Whatever Happened…?
Remember that tech worker who got the raise. It turns out, when his manager actually asked him:
- What would help you be more Motivated here?
His answer was simple (and immediate), “I don’t want more money. I want a harder challenge. My job is too easy.”
If that’s not music to a manager’s ears, what is?! This answer was like gold to his manager. Not only did it cost nothing, it would bring huge value to the company. He was given a tougher assignment immediately.
What if you’re sitting on a pile of gold you didn’t even know was there. Wouldn’t you at least like to take a look?
Want to learn the complete system + dozens of real examples like this one? Get the book instantly here:
Next Steps?
Forward this article to team members (or supervisor, if you discern that’s a good idea).
Also, feel free to take any images from this article and print, share, save, etc.
Finally, if you’d like to talk about an Adaptive Leader Journey for your team where we do a deep dive into EMMA and the 3Cs to integrate them into daily practice, feel free to book a free 20-minute call with one of our coaches to discuss how we can support you at making your next big breakthrough.
Looking forward to talking to you soon!
