Is It Motivation or Inspiration?
Doyle Slayton | May 27, 2008 | Comments 28
Written by Lance Cooper – President of SalesManage Solutions
[Contributing Author]
People read more about motivation in management schools than inspiration. Many sales managers strive to learn how to motivate salespeople. They sincerely want to learn how to motivate them to reach sales goals, to fill out paperwork, to follow a sales process, etc. Good managers spend much of their time on motivational actions. Often, they do not learn how to inspire.
From 5th century BC until now, many teachers have provided instructions for the motivation of people. In the twentieth century, these theories swept around people like B.F. Skinner and Pavlov’s dog. Remember, ring a bell and the person salivates, if they have been conditioned to do so. The dog did and so will a person.
Motivation often involves thinking about incentives. Or, it means striving to stimulate others into wanting to do something. It eventually turns into control – how to control another person.
We need to understand motivation for one very important reason only – and it’s not to control another person. It is to set up environments in which people can learn, grow, and thrive. -Lance Cooper
We need to understand different types of personalities so that we coach and teach in a manner in which others learn best. For example, children learn new information differently – so do adults.
We need to communicate with people in a manner in which they trust us and hear us – really hear us. Usually, that involves listening to their needs and acting on what we hear. We need to know the blockades and barriers that demotivate sales performance and develop action plans to remove them.
But there’s a higher need as well. For greatest long-term impact upon a sales team, we need to inspire the people we lead. When we do this, we encourage others to greater efforts, greater enthusiasm, and greater creativity. We help others find the purpose in what they do – how what they do makes things better. We define the war we are in – the adventure we are on, the battles we fight, and who we strive to rescue. We help salespeople understand the valuable role they play in the health of the company and their family. Then, goals take on a significance greater than the person. And, people are inspired.
Lance Cooper is the President of SalesManage Solutions – Coaching People from Good to Great,™ Recruiting and Coaching the Best™. Sales Manage Solutions knows that great coaches inspire, challenge, and get the best from those on their team.
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Filed Under: Blog • Featured • Guest Authors • Leadership • Sales
Motivation is akin to catching fish and feeding someone a meal. Inspiration is akin to teaching someone to fish and feeding them for life.
You inspire your salespeople to achieve greatness by showing them how achieving greatness helps them to meet, and expand, then meet again, their own goals. Helping and coaching them to create those goals in the first place is your first step.
The quote as written by Lynne and John are so good to be true. i only wish we in our daily sales functions can implement this thought. cheerz, Benaifer
Inspiration is the KEY word. Lane has hit the nail on the head. Employees are not Pavlov’s dog to provide predictable reflex reactions to stimulus e.g. bonus. While cash rewards are important, there are other forces at work here. Remember, the employee is an individual, with dreams and aspirations, desires and ambitions, not a robot responding to commands. Large companies at times tend to de-humanize (for want of a better word) their employees. But a collection of employees acting like automatons is not a prescription for a company to achieve excellence. Employees need to feel valued – they need to be appreciated – they need to feel important – that they are not just a small cog in a huge machine, but an integral part. It is upto management to provide this inspiration – and it is this that differentiates the excellent organisation from the mediocre.
John …
How true you rare … Isn’t it interesting that most salespeople, today, do not have goals; and, yet, they do have people in their lives for whom many responsibilities exist. So, you’re right, we need to help and coach them “to create goals in the first place.” Thanks, Lance.
Mahavir …
Very well articulated … We are not “robots.” We are very complex human beings with individual and unique spirits. Captain Abrashoff’s best seller, “It’s Your Ship!” does a great job of showing how leadership inspires. And, when it does, greatness occurs in people. Thanks, Lance.
A couple of bolt-on thoughts to your insight around inspiration:
1. Sales leadership (not management, but leadership) must be an effective “dealer in hope”. I can’t recall who first said that (wasn’t me..I merely ).
2. The inspired sales person must understand the mission and possess the necessary skills to accomplish his/her goals. Measurement is critical as well.
Combine the powerful ingredients of learning and reinforcement, and you have a field force that is both “willing and able” to deliver results.
3. One final thought: Goals are met when they are personalized, first-person singular, emotionally driven, and focused on. Quotas rarely work to get results. But if “I” set my mind to it, “I” can move mountains. The effective leader channels inspiration into internalized objectives that are hard-wired to commitment.
That’s it.
Enjoyed the article. Thanks, Lance!
Rick Pulito
I would like to post a few job openings. Is that possible?
Rick …
“The effective leader channels inspiration into internalized objectives that are hard-wired to commitment.” WOW. Great definition of the connection between leadership and committed people. Your bolt-on thoughts are “right on!” “Dealer in hope” “Personalized” “Emotionally Driven” In the last five (5) years, I’ve been making sure that sales managers and salespeople knew that goals are only goals if they are emotionally-driven. Otherwise they are pipe dreams and manipulative. Emotionally-driven means commitment – honest, deep down personal responsibility for something important. Thanks, Rick. I keep thinking I’m original, and then I see that these realities are truth – truth that last the ages. Let’s work together to unleash the energies of those around us. Lance.
Motivation is owned by the individual who is motivated. It must come from within to be true motivation.
One cannot feed on another’s enthusiasm and receive a byproduct of motivation unless they are truly interested in the subject matter. Therefore as Mr. Cooper put so well, inspiration is the key to assiting someone in their own motivation and thus the challenge that managers must face.
So how do we get through to our people and inspire them? We must help them come to a realization that what they want is attainable. THEY MUST BELIEVE that they are capable of doing that which will give them the reward that they want, and which they usually feel is unattainable.
In order to inspire people, a manager must first be aware of their obstacles, which often are merely boundaries set by a person’s own expectations of themselves. People will limit themselves to trying only that which they believe they can do. If they are uncertain of their ability to do something, more often than not they will not try.
So my question to Mr. Cooper is: How do we help people BELIEVE they are truly better than they are, and inspire them to reach that level that they perceive to be unattainable?
John …
GREAT question …
First of all we must believe they have what it takes. If we do not, then, if it’s business, we must kindly and directly part ways, and we must help them do that with dignity. If we do believe they have what it takes, then we must put together an environment in which they want to grow and strive toward their goals – one in which we NEVER give up on them … as longs as we believe they have what it takes. Secondly, we must care about them as individuals.
Now, what is that “environment” – one in which they will strive – and how do we put it in place? That answer takes a book, or several books, or certainly another article. For now, read Captain Abrashoff’s “It’s Your Ship!” and takes notes on how he put an environment together that increased retention, production, and created from one of the worst … “the best damn ship in the Navy.”
And, about caring for the individual. All of us should know the backgrounds of those we coach. This is a difficult area and requires a lot of work and focus outside of oneself. For example, who are the significant people in the lives of those we coach? What are their names? What one area does this person want to make better with his/her financial earnings? What is the number one motivator of the person? What are their hobbies? How do they like to learn? What 1-2 sales skills do they most need to master at this time? What’s the individualized coaching plan for each person? The more we know these things and act on them … the more we will see growth and inspiration. Do you believe in your people?
Now, go and make things better. You can do it. Lance.
For years I have been saying that it is impossible for anyone to motivate another person. At best we can inspire them! Yet, the common reaction I get is that our job as a trainer is to do just that! This articles gives me faith in the real power that we have. It is too inspire through our own experience, not to even try to motivate.
Steve
Steve …
Isn’t is great to finally understand this. It’s actually liberating – as if I’m smart enough to motivate or control other people. Now, we can instead look to what we can work to make better – the way we communicate our experiences, the way we show we care, the respect we have in their ability to grow, the way we listen, the way we ask questions so they discover for themselves, etc. etc. I love your books. Lance.
Love the article. One thing that we need to keep in mind is that people react in different ways to different kinds of management. It is really not as cut and dry as to if we are inspiring or motivating. It is how we go about inspiring or motivating as to the results that we obtain. In this day and age, we have sales people that are of various ages and backgrounds. Where one salesperson may react better to harsh criticism and another may just want a little pat on the back every now and then. We really have to take a look at the sales force and mold our behavior and methods of management as to how we obtain the goals that we have set for the department. Basically we have to adapt to the management style that best motivates or inspires. If you show them how, give them the tools, and give them the support and lead them to the $$$$$, that is the motivation or inspiration any salesperson is looking for.
Paxton …
I love your comments. And, if the article was extended, we could discuss how to coach people differently so that they are inspired. People really do motivate (or move) themselves. We do not have the power to do it unless they give it to us – just as the Germans could not take hope from the prisoners unless they gave it up (ref: Victor Frankl’s “Man’s Search for Meaning (1946).”
When we know them well enough to coach them differently, as you suggest, then the environment is made right for their learning … vs. ‘a one shoe fits all approach.’ Inspiration really occurs with personal responsibility in the results. That’s their part. You’ve made some wonderful comments that I agree with wholeheartedly. We are responsible for the environment: belief in them, respect for their ideas, skills training and encouragement, etc.. The individual is responsible for taking continued action and learning to do that when we are not around. Keep on making things better. Lance.
You make a strong point. When you help sales people set their “own” goals, it plays a huge role in creating individual buy-in!
Ah yes Doyle …
How true … and if we help them find the emotional center behind the goals … WOW! … of course that’s really all wrapped up in the definition of a goal. It’s really not a goal unless it has emotional significance.
And, goal diffusion (or getting off track and losing direction) is easy – that’s why we have coaches, “to help them set and ‘remember’ their OWN goals.” Lance
Lance,
I just wanted to thank you for the time you spent responding to all the comments. It is not often that you get feedback and for you to spend the time to respond to all of them deserves a big…THANKS!
Paxton …
You’re very kind. Just trying to do what’s right … people take the time to think and write about something that I started need to be listened to and responded to. I’m really grateful and humbled by the attention. at YOUR Service. Lance.
Hi Doyle!
Interesting that you shared on this topic! Just last night I was reading about how to motivate and inspire others through training……
Adults are motivated to learn when they see:
The topic as meaningful
The tasks are obtainable
The feeling or tone is positive
But my personal favorite is
The learning experience is FUN!
Paige …
From my buddy and a great trainer, Jim Million,”FUN: Feeling Unusually Nice … FUD: Feeling Unusually Depressed!” lol. Training that is meaningful, that works, and is positive makes the learning environment FUN even when people are challenged. Thanks, Lance
Great points Paige! I will build on your comment by adding one more…
Adults are motivated to learn about the things that most “apply” to their “current situation.”
In fact… your comment has just given me an idea for tonight’s post!
Look for it around… say 7 PM Central Time… See you all then…
-Doyle
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This brings up a great point in just conversation. Follow up on all levels of sales is the most important key to success. You have to follow up on prospects, clients, management…but most of all you have to follow up on training and your intent to motivate your sales staff. I think that follow up is a major key to our daily processes that is easily over looked because of the looking ahead at tasks that need to be completed. FOLLOW-UP! Amazing what comes out of conversation! Thanks for the follow-up Lance.
Paxton …
Last night I had dinner with a Regional Director and two of his Sales Managers who managed and sold, and follow up with their team became the topic. Because of a lack of attention (sales managers were also selling), their people did not realize the goals were important or that they, as individuals, were cared about. This was far from the truth, but perception was reality, and because of a lack of action (follow up) by the sales managers their people were performing at about a 60% level. Actually, reality was reality – no perception to it. The managers flat didn’t care or there would have been action not just thought good intention. Ummmmmmm! Over dinner they got the point. Great thoughts in the post. Lance.
I really enjoyed this article. As a life coach I spend a lot of time motivating people to do the things THEY want to do let alone the things I think would be helpful for them to do. I really agree that when we are trying to motivate people it can be very tempting to control or manipulate them and I really appreciate your comments regarding setting up environments conducive to growth and not manipulation. I also think it is important to try and help others to create their own motivation for growth and development. I loved your comments about helping them find purpose, because it has been my experience that when people have purpose, motivation is not far behind. When motivation comes from within an individual, i merely have to cheer the effort. Helping others find their purpose will spur their own motivation. Great thoughts!
Sharon …
WOW. What’s it like being a “life coach?” Must be very rewarding when you see a person go “Ah Ah, ” and the light bulbs go off in their eyes. We are responsible for the environment and our influence. They are responsible for choosing what they will believe and act on. How true. Thanks, Lance
Lance great article! I think their is a very real distinction that needs to be made about motivation and inspiration – this article is a great start.
I often wonder if these practices apply to sales professionals… my colleagues often tell me that MONEY is the goal, but also the motivation! is this a common thought amongst the sales professionals you deal with(please let me know)?
I think as sales leaders we need to be aware of what is the underlying motivation for our teams to make that extra call/appointment or send that late night email etc. before we can inspire them.