motivation
A Lasting Rush
How to make sure motivation sticks long after the meeting is over KIM WRIGHT WILEY
“Once upon a time, a motivational speaker would stand behind his podium and basically give a book report,” says one motivational speaker from California. “It was all memorized quotes and stories – or maybe he’d ask the audience to shout affirmations.” If management was lucky, the enthusiasm generated from such a meeting lasted about a month, which is why she says, “Whenever companies went into expense reduction mode, those rah-rah guys were the first to go.”
“The old methods used to generate enthusiasm were all
adrenaline based,” agrees a master certified coach. “Many times, you’d see a sales team who were tops in their com- pany and won every award, but the next year they’d crash and burn. Adrenaline-based enthusiasm isn’t sustainable. It’s a fast rush, so you’re always looking to find another shot of adrenaline.” Today’s coaches and motivators are after a different, longer- lasting outcome – a more slow-burning, self-sustaining type of enthusiasm. The speaker refers to it as “Time Release Inspiration” (TRI). “Inspiration always lasts longer than motivation,” he says, “because it goes inside, straight to the heart. And that’s where you find real enthusiasm, the kind that can keep itself going year after year.” How can you provide your own sales team with a little TRI? The four methods below will help you turn the fast rush that fades into the slow burn that lasts.
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1. GET RID OF THE ENERGY DRAINS “People who go into sales tend to have a naturally optimis- tic, extroverted nature,” says the coach. “They wear their hearts on their sleeves.” But there’s a flip side to being a people person: problems can more easily wear you down. If something is wrong at home, the manager has to
broach the subject carefully – you can hardly walk in and say, “I hear you’re getting a divorce.” The coach suggests that, if you’re concerned about an employee’s perfor- mance, you should “first talk about it from an energy standpoint. Energy and enthusiasm are connected in the sense that it’s impossible to feel enthusiastic if you have a low energy level. And anything that’s draining your energy in one area will ultimately affect your energy in another.” He has clients make a list of the petty annoyances they’re putting up with – the burned-out bulbs, loose buttons, broken car windows, and leaky faucets of everyday life. “People don’t realize the cost of these constant small en- ergy drains,” he says, “but, when you fix these seemingly minor things, you realize just how much energy they were taking away from you.” By helping their staffs list and then fix these small ir- ritations, managers can help make the workspace “an annoyance-free zone.” And, when staff members realize how much better they feel by cleaning up small irritants at work, there’s a good chance they’ll begin to apply the same philosophy to their home life. “As a manager, you
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