A few months ago I bought a road bike. I’ve never had one before. One of those funny bikes with bendy handlebars that droop down for no apparent reason. I’ve been riding a mountain bike for years now. Nothing too strenuous – a small 8 mile loop on soft ground three times a week. Helps me clear my head…

But I felt I needed to do more so I bought the road bike on eBay. I set myself a big goal. 20 miles three times a week. Now the lycra-cladded amongst you will be snorting derisively. I know some of you are doing 120 miles in a single day. But I’m not there. For me, 20 miles seems like a lot. It’s a big goal. I set the goal. I planned my route and off I went.

It was terrible…I managed it but it was exhausting. It seemed to take all day. And what are those stupid handlebars about? I thought I was going to die. The sweat was pouring off me and my head was pounding. And I knew everyone was looking at me, as I huffed and puffed my way around the Cheshire countryside. After what seemed like an eternity I finished the route. Twenty miles – in the bag.

Three days later I overcame all my fears and I did it again. A bit easier this time but it still seemed like torture. Mentally, I was pleased to have done it, but I was hardly left with a huge desire to repeat the experience, and in my heart I knew that doing this three times a week was not going to happen. I just could not picture it. As a consequence I was not motivated to try because it is near impossible to feel motivated to do something when you think you’re going to fail.

I went back to the mountain bike. More my sort of thing.

Then the mountain bike had to have a repair and I was without it for over a week. Out came the road bike again. With huge trepidation. However, not being one to repeat past mistakes (usually) I started small – 10 miles. It took about forty minutes. It was fine. I did this three times a week for a fortnight. Despite the return of the repaired mountain bike I persevered with the road bike.

Then I upped it to 16 miles. Now I’m at 20 miles. I’ve just done four consecutive days at 20 miles per day and it was easy. Diary permitting, I can do 100 miles in a week. How long has it taken me to get to this giddy height? Nine weeks.

I will consolidate this over the next two weeks and then up it to 25 miles per outing. Then 30 miles. Then I buy the lycra. You have been warned.

Now this is a major achievement for me.

My progress has involved starting small and building up. We all know this is the way to do things but for me it’s been a stark reminder that to get anywhere we need to take the first step…

As Martin Luther King said, “you don’t have to see the whole staircase, just take the first step.”

The key to goal achievement is motivation and the key to motivation is a genuine belief that we will succeed. No self-delusion. A genuine feeling that in all likelihood we will succeed.

So…how to set challenging goals? Answer – don’t set challenging goals. Set small, incremental goals. Maintain motivation and keep going. Take the first step…

This week’s Pearl of Leadership Wisdom is on…
Motivating Others
“The triumph of hope over experience” – Samuel Johnson
I am often asked; “how do I motivate my team.” “How do I bring others with me?”

Well it’s really easy, this is how you do it -

Share your vision. Describe a shiny, sunlit future where all is sweetness and light. Outline the part the person in front of you must play…they will swell with an abundance of motivation because they cannot fail to see the compelling future you have so beautifully painted. Group hug. The End

Thank you for reading this week’s Pearl of Leadership Wisdom. See you next week.

Eh…no…

You cannot motivate people. You cannot motivate people where it matters.

Different situations –

Every day motivation – you work, you get paid. Seeking pleasure. Avoiding pain. Not really about motivating others.

Motivation others for superior performance…

You can drive performance – a football team at half-time for instance. They might be having a bad game but they’ve been training four times a week since they were eight years old. They ARE motivated. The manager might re-focus them at half-time. But the motivation is within the players.

A motive is a reason for action.

But where motivating others would be really useful – for example in turning ingrained poor performance into sustained, superior performance; it isn’t effective.

Kiss enough frogs…

You cannot motivate a frog to become a prince…

“Sit down Kermit. I am extremely disappointed that, despite our repeated conversations around how it would be better for both you and this organisation if you were to become a prince, I cannot help but notice that you are still a bloody frog. What’s wrong with you?”

…unless the frog is driven to want to be a prince and therefore doesn’t really need external motivation.

The frogs that can turn into princes either have done so already or work tirelessly every day on their cunning plan to do so.

You can harness…

…their intrinsic motivation, but if it doesn’t already exist within them you will struggle to create it.

By the way, there’s nothing wrong with being a frog. We need frogs. They have a role.

You can make a difference…

You can demotivate frogs. Oh yes. This is easy. Treat all the frogs the same, regardless of their potential. That’s a good way to demotivate those with prince-potential. Or even better – promote a frog with no prince-potential so he’s in charge of frogs with prince-potential – that’s the quickest way I know to jettison any excess motivation you might have in your organisation. Try it (…if you haven’t already.)

Motivation comes from within. It cannot be instilled. You can help someone to realise that they have huge potential, and you can work on their confidence, and their skills, but these are different issues.

Because motivation is…

…about attitude. The frog-princes know it. They feel it. They are intrinsically motivated. The good frogs who don’t want to become princes are also intrinsically motivated, but not to become princes, and that’s fine. I’m not having a go at good frogs.

All aboard…

Get the right frogs on the bus. You need some that have become princes, some with potential, and also lots of simply good frogs who are happy to be well-adjusted frogs. What you don’t need are the frogs who bitch, moan and whine about the colour of the bus, how much the princes get paid, how their own prince-potential has been cruelly overlooked by every manager they’ve ever had…yada yada yada.

Kick them out…

Sell them to the French. You cannot rehabilitate them. You cannot motivate them. They are toxic frogs and they do not improve with age. They fester. They have faulty thinking and they got it a long time ago. You will not make the difference. You are not a social worker. Spend your time on the princes and the good frogs.

Ask yourself…

Are your princes and frogs on the bus? Are all the rubbish frogs on the pavement? If not, sort it out. But avoid at all costs the desire to rehabilitate. 100% of all the motivation any frog will ever have is already within that frog. Then close the bus door, start the engine, eyes front and drive.

Mark

This week’s Pearl of Leadership Wisdom is on…….

Motivation

“What you have to do and the way you have to do it is incredible simple. Whether you are willing to do it, that’s another matter.”
- Peter Drucker
Motivation….that which gives purpose.

Here we are again, another Monday for most of us. What will give us purpose today?

Well, there’s three kinds of motivation:

Firstly there’s FEAR motivation. Do this or I’ll hit you with a stick/fire you. Does this motivate, give purpose? It can, for a while. It can be good to have a “burning platform” when affecting change in a business. But FEAR motivation is external to us, it is imposed upon us from outside. And it is temporary. People will find a way to shield themselves from the FEAR. Or get their own stick.

Secondly, there’s INCENTIVE…..do this and I’ll give you a large pile of money, carrot etc. Does this give purpose? It can do. But again, it’s external and temporary. When the donkey’s had a carrot it may not want another for some time. Or it may not do anything at all before the carrot is given – the incentive has become custom and practice. The drug no longer works.

Thirdly, there’s ATTITUDE motivation. We find purpose and a reason to do what we need to do because we are crystal clear on our own personal, worthwhile goals. We have really understood what we want and where we are going and what we need to do to get there. We are in charge. We have our own map. Our ATTITUDE drives us. This is internal. This is permanent. It does not ebb and flow. It serves us well.

So if there’s not enough ATTITUDE motivation in your life, email me for a goal planning sheet and begin to generate some of it right now.

Next week…..

Are We Conditioned? – what’s true and what’s not – the power of conditioning.