You Can Win Part 17

The first one was asked, "How come you do what you do? You are a drug addict, a drunk, and you beat your family. What motivates you?" He said, "My father." They asked, "What about your father?" The reply was, "My father was a drug addict, a drunk and he beat his family. What do you expect me to be? That is what I am."

They went to the brother who was doing everything right and asked him the same question. "How come you are doing everything right? What is your source of motivation?"

And guess what he said? "My father. When I was a little boy, I used to see my dad drunk and doing all the wrong things. I made up my mind that that is not what I wanted to be."

Both were deriving their strength and motivation from the same source, but one was using it positively and the other negatively.

Negative motivation brings the desire to take the easier way which ends up being the tougher way.

DIFFERENT THINGS MOTIVATE DIFFERENT PEOPLE.

Internal motivation comes from within, such as pride, a sense of achievement, responsibility and belief.

There was a young boy who used to come for regular practice but always played in the reserves and never made it to the soccer eleven. While he was practicing, his father used to sit at the far end, waiting for him.

The matches had started and for four days, he didn't show up for practice or the quarter or semifinals. All of a sudden he showed up for the finals, went to the coach and said, "Coach, you have always kept me in the reserves and never let me play in the finals. But today, please let me play." The coach said, "Son, I'm sorry, I can't let you. There are better players than you and besides, it is the finals, the reputation of the school is at stake and I cannot take a chance." The boy pleaded, "Coach, I promise I will not let you down. I beg of you, please let me play." The coach had never seen the boy plead like this before. He said, "OK, son, go, play. But remember, I am going against my better judgment and the reputation of the school is at stake. Don't let me down."

The game started and the boy played like a house on fire. Every time he got the ball, he shot a goal. Needless to say, he was the best player and the star of the game. His team had a spectacular win.

When the game finished, the coach went up to him and said, "Son, how could I have been so wrong in my life. I have never seen you play like this before. What happened?

How did you play so well?" The boy replied, "Coach, my father is watching me today."

The coach turned around and looked at the place where the boy's father used to sit.

There was no one there. He said, "Son, your father used to sit there when you came for practice, but I don't see anyone there today." The boy replied, "Coach, there is something I never told you. My father was blind. Just four days ago, he died. Today is the first day he is watching me from above."

Internal Motivation

69*Internal motivation is the inner gratification, not for success or winning, but for the fulfillment that comes from having done it. It is a feeling of accomplishment, rather than just achieving a goal. Reaching an unworthy goal does not give the gratifying feeling.

Internal motivation is lasting, because it comes from within and translates into self- motivation.

Motivation needs to be identified and constantly strengthened to succeed. Keep your goals in front of you and read them morning and evening.

The two most important motivating factors are recognition and responsibility.

Recognition means being appreciated; being treated with respect and dignity; and feeling a sense of belonging.

Responsibility gives a person a feeling of belonging and ownership. He then becomes part of the bigger picture. Lack of responsibility can become demotivating.

Monetary rewards are temporary and short-lived; they are not gratifying in the long run. In contrast, seeing an idea being implemented can be emotionally gratifying by itself.

People feel that they are not being treated like objects. They feel part of a worthwhile team. The reward of doing the right thing by itself is motivating.

THE FOUR STAGES FROM MOTIVATION TO DEMOTIVATION.

1. Motivated Ineffective

When is an employee most motivated in the cycle of employment? When he joins an organization. Why? Because he wants to prove that by hiring him, the employer made the right decision. He is motivated but because he is new to the environment, he does not know what to do. So he is ineffective.

This is the stage when the employee is most open minded, receptive and easy to mold to the culture of the organization. Training and orientation become imperative.

Unprofessional organizations have none or very poor orientation programs. The first day on the job, the supervisor shows the new employee his place of work and tells him what to do and leaves. He teaches all the bad along with the good that he is doing. The new employee quickly learns all the mistakes the supervisor is making because that is what he has been taught. The organization loses the opportunity to mold the individual to the culture of that organization.

Professional organizations, on the other hand, take special care to induct people into their organizations. They explain to them, among other things, the following:

the hierarchy expectations of each other do's and donuts parameters and guidelines what is acceptable and what is not what are the resources

How can one expect performance unless expectations are made clear up front? If induction and orientation are done well, many potential problems would not surface at all.

2. Motivated Effective

70*This is the stage when the employee has learned what to do and does it with drive and energy. He has learned the trade and it reflects in his performance. Then he moves on to the next stage.

3. Demotivated Effective

After some time the motivation level goes down and the employee starts learning the tricks of the trade. This is the stage when the employee is not motivated. He continues doing just enough so that the employer has no reason to fire him but he is really not motivated.

This stage is detrimental to growth--most people in organizations fall into this third stage.

A motivated professional learns the trade and leaves the tricks to cheats and crooks, but a demotivated employee starts sabotaging the company. His performance is marginal.

He makes fun of the good performers. He rejects new ideas and spreads the negativity all around.

Our objective is to bring them back to the second stage of motivated effective through training. An employee ought not to stay in the third stage too long; because from here either they move back to the second stage, which is being motivated and effective, or they move into the fourth stage.

4. Demotivated Ineffective

At this stage, the employer does not have much choice but to fire the employee, which may be the most appropriate thing to do anyway at this point.

Remember, employers want the same thing as employees do. They want to succeed and improve business and if employees help in this objective, then they make themselves valuable and achieve their own success.

DEMOTIVATING FACTORS.

Some of the demotivators are:

Unfair criticism Negative criticism Public humiliation Rewarding the non performer which can be demotivating for the performer Failure or fear of failure Success which leads to complacence Lack of direction Lack of measurable objectives Low self-esteem Lack of priorities Negative self-talk Office politics Unfair treatment Hypocrisy Poor standards Frequent change 71*?

Responsibility without authority

A satisfied person is not necessarily a motivated person. Some people are satisfied with very little. In this case, satisfaction may lead to complacence. Motivation comes from excitement and excitement does not come unless there is full commitment.

New methods of motivation will not work till the demotivating factors are removed. Many times, just removing the demotivating factors can spark motivation.

Motivators