On the Unbearable Motivation of Being and the Leadership of Work Teams.

Yes, dear reader, we are back. We were just out partying, not dead: away from the blog briefly, but never forgetting this lovely space for reading and understanding.

For several weeks now, our clients and friends have shown a clear trend toward projects involving leadership and its cornerstone: staff motivation. They always ask us, “Does the leadership course cover staff motivation?” And conversely, “Does the motivation course cover leadership?” The answer grows more complex every day. “Does one include the other?” “Yes.” “Is the other addressed separately?” “Yes, too.” “Then how does it work?” “Together, but separately.”

Let’s take this step by step.

Which comes first, motivation or leadership? Every good leader must know how to motivate their staff. But motivation does not come only from the leader. The subject is as confusing as it is complex.

The leader must clearly develop the basic competencies to achieve this goal. One of the major problems facing industry in Mexico is staff turnover. For better or worse, depending on your viewpoint, talent moves because the company across the street pays $100 more, provides a cafeteria, lets me start half an hour later, offers grocery vouchers, etc. Ultimately, it all comes down to “motivation.” Benefits packages, rigid policies, bad bosses, very demanding work, grueling hours, inflexibility and miserable wages are everyday realities. And yes, dear reader, all of us will always look for somewhere we feel more comfortable and are better paid.

That is why the famous “emotional salary” is so prominent these days: it simply means giving staff additional benefits beyond financial compensation and hard cash. As you know, at JST&C we have just launched a new talent attraction division—if you did not know, now you do—with rigorous controls and competency-based assessments. We have found that a large proportion of companies are not ready for this. They still follow a traditional management model: I pay you for something, you work toward an objective, and that is it.

There is nothing wrong with this. However, remember that everyone works for more than money. Yes, “God made us good-looking, but not rich,” and initially money helps us meet basic needs. But what else? What is the meaning of getting up every day at 5 am to endure transportation, traffic, heat, cold, marathon meetings and unbearable bosses? That is the heart of the matter: “I pay you to do a certain job,” and nothing more.

This is where the leader should step in and help employees seek and find meaning in their work, supporting their tireless search for their “Carrot.” The carrot is a concept we illustrate through one of Disney's famous animated shorts: before their act, a magician and his rabbit fight because one does not understand the other's needs, and the other is demotivated. The result? Chaos from beginning to end.

The carrot, dear reader, is the motivation that comes from deep within people—not the car, the house, the attractive sneakers or beach vacations. It is the intrinsic motivation that amplifies human qualities, the short yet difficult distance between who you are and who you want to become.

Driving and encouraging this cognitive process is a leader's duty, but very difficult to develop, mainly because “that is how I was taught” and “things have always been this way.” It is a never-ending story.

Then there is personal motivation, which each employee should have. But honestly, dear reader… almost nobody does. Most of us love being pampered, congratulated and patted on the back, and we love wearing the “We did it” medal. We will discuss motivation in this sense later.

Given this context, our leadership course includes staff motivation, of course. So does supervisor development. Management skills? Absolutely! But we do not just discuss the importance of motivation: we give you techniques and tools to put it into practice.

Therefore, I share 3 quick, easy-to-implement techniques with you:

1. A vision for the future: Help your employee define their starting point A and the point B they want to reach. Then guide them so you can find the path together: resources, time, approaches and strategies. But be careful! Employees often sabotage themselves with defeatist thoughts such as “I was born poor and will die poor,” “It is too difficult; I do not think I can,” or “Broke, but at least healthy.” Do not let an employee give up before starting. This is where your leadership skills matter.
2. Baby steps: as the name suggests, guide your employee in drawing up short-, medium- and long-term plans—ambitious, challenging plans that keep them awake at night. Ready? Now imagine they are a baby who must reach those goals. What small steps, and how many, would a little one need to take to get there? One step at a time, one day at a time, one GREAT achievement at a time. Patience is the foundation of success.
3. Role model: All right, perhaps you as a leader are not your employee's role model, but you are their mentor. The key questions are: “Whom do you admire?” and “Whom would you like to be like?” Be careful and keep this grounded: they may say Carlos Slim. Sure, who would not? But how realistic is that? Suggest achievable, real and, above all, measurable models.

I know the exercise I am proposing is not easy; nobody said it was. However, as their leader, guru, guide or “white Indian,” you have to venture out. After all, if not you, nobody will!

And if you don't know where to start, talk to us, we'll help you with great pleasure here.

Rock´n roll people!