Motivation Principles For Leaders - Team Building

The principles of motivation are really pretty simple. They are not easy to apply. They are simple in concept. Once you understand the basics, you can practice applying them for better results.

Basically, people do what they do because of what they expect to happen after they do it. Every situation that people find themselves in presents a range of behaviors from which to choose. Each behavior carries with it a known or expected outcome (behavioral scientists call outcomes consequences). When people choose a behavior, they choose the one that gives them either the most pleasant or the least painful consequence. The figure below shows this process graphically.

The consequences that people experience come in two basic types. Those that:

1. Encourage people to repeat the same behavior in the future. These consequences are called reinforcements because they reinforce behaviors.



2. Discourage people from repeating the same behavior in the future. These consequences are, by definition, negative consequences.

These two categories can be subdivided again as follows:

• Reinfocements can be either:


• Positive, or


• Negative.


• Discouraging consequences can be either:


• Punishments, or


• Penalties.

Let's define those consequences a bit further:

• Positive reinforcements motivate behaviors when people choose a behavior to get something they like (e.g. - good food, recognition, praise, money, etc.)



• Negative reinforcements motivate behaviors when people choose a behavior to avoid something they don't like(e.g. - they act to avoid a punishment or a penalty).



• Punishments motivate behaviors to stop because people get something they don't like as a result of the behavior. This includes anything they don't like (e.g. - physical pain, ridicule, embarrassment, etc.)



• Penalties motivate behaviors to stop because people lose something they already have as a result of the behavior (e.g. - money, free time, respect, etc.)

When you look closely at these classical definitions of the different types of consequences, you can simplify them to the common statement that people act for one of two reasons:

1. To pursue pleasure,or


2. To avoid pain.

In a nutshell, we have defined the general concepts to understand what motivates people. Now begins the hard part, applying these principles in a practical way.

For more specifics on application, you can look at The 5 B's of Motivation.

When you provide consequences to other people based on your perception of the consequence and not on their perception of the consequence, you have stumbled into what behavioral scientists call "Perception Error." This is the most common error in attempting to find motivators for other people, and all of us have probably been guilty of this error at one time or another. This error works both in the positive and in the negative.

Sadly, you can provide a consequence to others that you see as positive, but they see as negative. The list of possible situations is quite long. For simplicity sake, I'll offer one example:

Let's say that you are a sales manager responsible for both outside sales representatives and inside customer service representatives. You want to "motivate" your leading sales rep.

(Sidenote - As it says in the blue box above, you can't really motivate someone else. I'm just using the word as it is commonly used.)

Back to the sales rep, you want to "motivate" them to continue performing at a high level. In addition to monetary compensation, you create a recognition ceremony for their achievements. For the purpose of this article, let's assume that this sales rep is a very outgoing person, and that they like public recognition. You probably gave them a positive reinfiorcement that will inspire them to continued high level performance.

The next month, you notice that one of your customer service reps has performed at an excellent level, and you want to encourage more of that behavior. Reflecting on your recent experience with your star sales rep, you decide to create a public recognition experience for your outstanding customer service rep. Again for the purposes of this article, let's assume that your customer service rep is more reserved, and they don't like being the center of attention. It's possible that they could receive the public recognition as a negative experience rather than as the positive experience you intended it to be. The next month their performance drops because they were "punished" for perfoming at a high level. BAM! You just fell into perception error.

How do you avoid perception error? Well, it starts with getting to know your people, and avoiding one-size-fits-all recognition and reward strategies.

Remember that person A probably won't care what you give to person B as long as person A gets what they want. In other words, treating people fairly does not mean treating them the same. Make sure each person's needs are met and that you fairly and consistently reward ALL good behaviors, and you will likely inspire your team to higher levels of performance.

For more insights on the individual needs of different people, take a look at these lenses:

The DISC Model of Human Behavior

Connecting With People

Communicating For Results

Communicating For Fun

Communicating For Harmony

High Value Communication

Photographs courtesy of www.sxc.hu