Effective Motivation is a Necessary Skill for Leaders

One of the roles of a leader is to motivate his team.  People need to be motivated to continue doing their best, to be invested in the project, and to feel empowered.  Motivation, however, should be doled out in measured moments.  It is meant to be the spice in the ingredient, not the main course.  Otherwise, it loses its effectiveness. 

The primary failure in motivating the team is when the compliment is viewed as insincere, and rote.  Praise cannot be seen as typical, and routine.  Praise has to be sincere.  People need to feel that their efforts are valued, and they are valued when leaders recognise those efforts.  This means praise has to be accurate, and often refer to measureable goal.  There is a difference between telling your subordinate, “Great work in your sales”, as opposed to, “It was great work on your part to increase sales more than 20% in the last quarter.”  The latter compliment lets him know you have paid attention. 

One of the worst faux pas would be undeserved praise, because it means the integrity of your observations, and your character, is now called into question.  It is transparently incompetent, for example, to tell your team, “You did a great job”, when they and everybody involved know they did not.  That is hypocrisy.  On the contrary, it would motivate them more to take them to task.  For example, recognise the failure, mention the challenges, and tell them they are better than this, and you expect more.  This enhances your credibility as a leader, because you are seen as fair and objective, and yet, reassuring.  It also puts a context for their efforts, and ties it to the larger vision of the organisation or business.  People need to feel that they are part of something larger than themselves, and they need to be reminded of that. 

In modern management, just as there are parachute managers, we now have this plague of drive-by praise.  Drive-by praise is when people randomly say nice things about our work, when there is no reality to it.  In some extreme instances, it can even be construed as harassment.  Mostly, it is incompetent man management.  We do not praise people for simply doing their job.  This is expected, and it contributes nothing to the power dynamic of the conversation.  We praise people for exceptional work, and we take them to task for falling below the high standards they have set themselves, through coaching. 

Another, more egregious form of this sin, is not merely drive-by praise, is when some managers compliment people for goof work they did not do.  More than just eroding credibility, it fosters an unhealthy work environment, because it can be construed as playing favourites, and breeding negative office politics.  A good manager is not meant to be popular, and he should never beg for it.  He is meant to be respected because of his competency and even-handedness. 

Finally, another aspect of this false praise is the unearned platitude to compensate for the inadequacy of the manager.  This is praise borne out of a guilty conscience.  This could be praising staff for cleaning up his mess, or claiming appreciation after forcing the team to do more work, or even worse, after cutting benefits and compensation.  It is unbecoming and undignified.  A good leader admits when there is a mistake, and he leads the team in addressing it.  In such an instance, we compensate with more than nice words. 

The way to distinguish whether motivation is effective is to consider the intent.  Real motivation benefits the recipient, since it raises morale, recognises tangible efforts, and highlights displays of values.  Ineffective motivation is compensation for the inadequacies of the manager, whether it is neglect, guilt, or outright incompetence.  All effort is a zero sum game.  There is a cost in terms of what the team has given up on, whether it is time with family, rest, or a hobby.  Their interests outside the immediate environs of the team, and the job matter, and we must recognise that. 

One of the tools of proper motivation is the haring session.  Just as we dissect and conduct a thorough autopsy of failure, we need to bring the team together after a major achievement, and that journey to success, the challenges, the means of overcoming them, and the result.  This is one of the most effective exercises in positive reinforcement, and it brings the team together, since managed well, it makes all major parties stakeholders of this success, and pushes them to replicate it. 

Motivation works when leaders are seen to lead, when they are seen to embody the values they espouse, and then they create an environment where effort is recognised, where achievements are highlighted, and where failure is shared just as much as success.