One of the competencies we undervalue most when choosing a new team supervisor is called: Motivation.
Motivation is the inner ability to encourage ourselves and move forward despite our circumstances. We must discuss not only team motivation but also self-motivation, which is even harder to develop because it depends on each person’s courage to continue without external encouragement.
During our years working in Mexican industry, we have noticed that motivating talent is one of the most neglected issues. In 80% of the country’s industry, we begin to see people as numbers: how much you billed this month, how many units you sold, how many parts you finished, how much money you saved the company, how many prospects you generated, how much waste you reduced... Everything is based on meeting objectives and hitting a number. If you do not reach it, you are neither effective nor efficient; therefore, you are not seen as adding value to the company, and your services are terminated.
That is the depressing life cycle of a person in industry. We forget the “person”: the human being, the father, mother, child or student, their needs, urgent concerns, dreams, successes and failures. Everything is reduced to a cold, calculating number. And I agree: someone who brings no value to a company is more of an expense than an investment, if that comparison is appropriate. However, we cannot assess people's attitude and performance through a single number.
A few months ago, we developed a project to increase sales for a company with a nationwide presence. It faced many issues beyond its control because it depended on headquarters on the other side of the world. Among this team of warriors was a supervisor whose group had a remarkable attitude: nothing was too difficult, and they found solutions to everything. Yet sales were not coming.
One month passed, then two, three and four, with the figures still in the red, so the manager was about to start firing people. For this person, numbers were everything, and their approach to motivation was that of a taskmaster: a foot constantly on everyone's neck. At a meeting, when staff cuts were proposed, we said: “All right, but have you noticed the number of projects they are working on? These are not sales of a single unit, but thousands of boxes representing millions of pesos. You cannot focus only on what has already been sold. You need to understand everyone's work and the objective they are pursuing. Otherwise, a well-motivated team will immediately become demoralized.”
The business premise is clear: we must achieve objectives, but how we do so also matters. Within two weeks, this team began closing deals, became #1 in sales and helped Mexico’s division become #2 worldwide.
What was the big difference?: The motivation of the supervisor.
Sometimes, pursuing goals blinds us. Supervisors feel pressure from their superiors to achieve them and pass that same pressure on to their teams. In the previous case, this person knew how to shield the team and avoid transmitting that pressure. As a good supervisor who could see the whole picture, he knew a breakthrough was only days away, but the negotiations his people were conducting were not easy to secure.
But do you think Juan—to give him a name—did not return home every day frustrated, disappointed and, above all, under pressure? His job was at stake, and he had four direct financial dependents, school fees, a mortgage, a car payment and countless other expenses. Obviously, he was a bundle of nerves! Yet when you spoke to him, he was composed, calm and, above all, motivated to reach his goals. Perhaps not today, perhaps not tomorrow, but effort would always be well rewarded; it was all a matter of working.
I remember Juan fondly. He was relentless, warm and friendly, but above all he fought fiercely for his team. He knew he needed them to achieve the goals, and they needed him to provide the reassurance and tools to get there. Were there bad days? Many. Every fifteen days they wanted to throw in the towel. In one conversation, I told Juan that everything has a price and even the greatest leaders have been through it. If he let fear make him miss this opportunity, he would be just another face in the crowd. This could be the beginning of his great legacy.
Juan understood motivation is not giving yourself an encouraging pat or repeating that everything will be all right. Motivation goes further:
- What motivates you? “My family.” Obviously your family motivates you, unless you hate them. But what motivates the person reading this—the man or woman with dreams, ambitions, virtues and flaws? Not the mother, father, child, manager or supervisor: those are labels we give ourselves.
- What is holding you back? You already know what motivates you—the flame that burns and gets you up enthusiastically at 5 a.m. every day. Now identify your limitations or barriers. What do you need to learn or develop? What support do you need? What tools?
- Let’s get to work: This is not simply a wish; it is about taking action right now, not next Monday, not next month, not after your birthday… NOW.
These are the first three steps toward self-motivation and team motivation. Every high-performance supervisor should have worked thoroughly on this area, because achieving their objectives depends on it to a large extent. Otherwise, as we move through industry, we find people working like robots, without a sense of belonging, in “just for now” jobs, with no enthusiasm: gray faces in gray uniforms, in gray companies, living gray lives… Really? Are you willing to carry on with those half-lived lives?
Dear reader, think about yourself or your supervisors. Are you motivated? Do you truly feel an inner flame driving you in life and work? If not, you have become one of the living dead. We can talk whenever you wish. Pay attention!
Rock´n roll, people!
