By Daniel Bobinski
It’s not uncommon for managers or supervisors to think that when someone’s performance is slipping, the person has lost motivation. However, the idea that people lack motivation is fundamentally flawed. In fact, it’s bad psychology. By definition, the word motivation means “a reason to move.” And everyone, at all times, has reasons to move. Therefore, everyone has motivation.
I have several topics to discuss regarding this. The first is about making connections. The key for managers and supervisors is to learn how to connect a person’s personal motivations with the goals of the organization.
Picture an employee who drags his feet all day at work but bolts out the door the moment his shift is over. Clearly, the person is motivated because he has reasons for picking up the pace as he leaves the building. So, rather than assuming a person is unmotivated, it’s more appropriate for managers or supervisors to explore what’s truly going on.
THE TRUTH ABOUT MOTIVATION
Think about our reasons for moving. Hunger motivates us to find food. Thirst compels us to drink. An itch leads us to scratch. Feeling cold drives us to turn up the heat, find a blanket or don a sweater. These are simple examples, but the same logic applies to larger aspects of our lives. If someone dreams of a beach vacation, they have a reason (motivation) to save money and plan a trip. When people want promotions, they have a reason to take on extra work or learn new skills.
This brings me to the second topic: fear. After three decades of working with leaders and teams, I’ve observed a common pattern: people don’t slow down because of a lack of motivation. They slow down because something is blocking their forward progress, and it’s usually some kind of fear.
THE REAL ROADBLOCK
To illustrate the idea that fear gets mistaken for a lack of motivation, let me use a sales analogy. Here’s a truism I’ve stated for years. “Sales is one of the lowest paying easy jobs and one of the highest paying hard jobs.” Why? Because salespeople are often expected to make cold calls, and not everyone is cut out for the ongoing rejection that comes with that aspect of the sales process.
Let’s imagine a struggling new sales rep. His job depends on making sales or he can’t pay his bills, so he definitely has a reason (motivation) to make cold calls. However, when it comes to picking up the phone, this young man almost always stops. He stares at his phone and may even appear paralyzed. The reason is not a lack of motivation, but the presence of fear. The fear of rejection has taken up residence in the man’s head, and that fear has become larger than his motivation to make sales.
If this man’s manager buys into the ubiquitous myth that he simply lacks motivation, she might try offering an incentive. These often come in the form of a bonus, or perhaps tickets to a show or a sporting event, or some other reward for closing more sales. Such carrots may produce short term results, but they do nothing when it comes to eliminating the underlying obstacle.
To help us understand this issue further, let’s think of motivation as tires on the salesperson’s car. The car’s tires (his motivation) allow him to move forward toward his goals. However, when he encounters an obstacle too large to roll over, such as a large amount of fear in front of him, stopping is a natural response.
Now let’s say the sales manager is rightly concerned, so she sends our sales rep to an inspirational sales seminar. At the seminar he’s encouraged to over-inflate his tires so he can roll over the obstacles. He returns, and filled with enthusiasm, he gets up the next morning and pumps extra air into his tires. With those over-inflated tires, he rolls over each obstacle with ease. For a few days, he’s having great success making cold calls and landing deals. Everyone is thrilled.
However, by the end of the week, all that extra air has leaked out, and his tires are back to their normal size. And the obstacle, which is really his fear of rejection, remains on the road in front of him.
When his boss looks at the situation, she assumes he simply lacks motivation, and considers replacing him.
A BETTER APPROACH
Many motivational speakers and trainers emphasize the need to constantly pump up our motivation. As I said, that can work, but the effects are almost always temporary. What if we considered the problem from a different angle? What if, instead of a daily effort to pump up one’s motivation, we simply removed the obstacle that’s in the way?
From this perspective, we could imagine the sales rep working with someone to help him unwind his fear of rejection. Through some personalized assignments, our sales rep could rewire his thinking and build confidence. Then, without fear blocking his way, he wouldn’t need to rely on temporary motivation boosts. He would simply move forward naturally.
STAYING PROACTIVE
Naturally, we must acknowledge that some external obstacles are immovable. But when we encounter such obstacles, we are under no obligation to plow straight through them. We can go around immovable obstacles, find a different route, or even change our destination altogether. The key is understanding that it’s not a lack of motivation that’s slowing us down or bringing us to a complete stop, but obstacles.
Bottom line, the belief that success comes down to motivation alone is a myth. Everyone on the planet needs to identify hidden fears and remove or minimize them, or those fears remain obstacles that slow us down or keep us stuck. By identifying and removing these roadblocks, we free ourselves to make real progress.
So here’s something to think about. If you’re tired of over-inflating your tires, it might be beneficial to start clearing the road instead.
— Daniel Bobinski, who has a doctorate in theology, is a best-selling author and a popular speaker at conferences and retreats. For more than 30 years he’s been working with teams and individuals (1:1 coaching) to help them achieve excellence. He was also teaching Emotional Intelligence since before it was a thing. Reach him by email at DanielBobinski@protonmail.com or 208-649-6400.
