Category: motivation

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motivation

Consider it pure joy

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How can anyone consider it pure joy when we face trials? How can anything good come from the pressures and challenges in our lives?

James 1:2-3 Consider it pure joy.

Untested faith is unproven. How can you know if your faith holds without putting it into practice? In a story, a hero without a trial is a hero without a story. How can the hero save the day if there is no problem to confront?

We don’t like trials and tribulations. Yet, problems have benefits. We need them. So when it comes to trials of various kinds, consider it pure joy.

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motivation

What Motivates Volunteers

food and drinks inside the carton box
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In The Essential Drucker, Peter Drucker insisted that management increasingly needs to lead knowledge workers as if they were volunteers because their skills make them mobile. They can always go somewhere else to work. So, what motivates volunteers?

I’ve had the advantage of witnessing how my wife has effectively motivated volunteers in a ministry. Some of the factors that motivate volunteers are:

  • Cast a compelling, inspiring vision you want to be a part of
  • Get to know each volunteer
  • Provide training and educational opportunities
  • Publicly show appreciation
  • Correct behavior privately
  • Always consider The Golden Rule
Cartoon of a man tossing a donut to a teenager. The man says, "The youth have been great voluntters. Plus, they word for donuts!"

Perks such as doughnuts don’t hurt either. The bottom line is ordering knowledge workers around doesn’t work. An effective boss of knowledge workers leads instead of dictates. Knowledge workers are paid to think. Indeed, What motivates volunteers also motivates them.

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Business motivation

The cure for sudden Incompetence

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Peter Drucker asserted that people encounter sudden incompetence when they believe in a new role; they can continue doing what made them successful in the old role. This YouTube video summarizes his thoughts and the cure for sudden incompetence.

Making mistakes isn’t fun, but it’s necessary. What happens when mistakes occur and a person doesn’t learn but stubbornly does the same thing again?

At what point does someone become unteachable? That is when sudden incompetence occurs; a person in a new role keeps doing the things that gave them success before, but they no longer work. Yet, they refuse to learn and adjust to their new role.

The cure for sudden incompetence is to be humble enough to remain teachable regardless of experience or past successes. Be humble enough to remain a lifelong learner.

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motivation

What if I’m not in charge?

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Is anybody totally in charge? Bosses have bosses. Even those at the top answer to a board of directors or a balance sheet. Many of us ask, “What if I’m not in Charge?”

A few years ago, I attended a conference where a speaker coached us on how to lead when we aren’t the boss. Clay Scroggins advised that we have more control than we realize, even when we aren’t the leader.

Sketch notes on "How to lead when you're not in charge"

I was delighted to learn he now has a video series by the same name.

Even if we don’t have the official title, each of us has control over ourselves and how we react to different situations. I have found that when I have relinquished that control, I have made it difficult for me to lead myself and have made it harder on my leaders.

We have more control than we realize, but that also means we must take responsibility for our own actions. What if I’m not in charge? I can start leading myself, for starters. And isn’t that the most important person to lead, after all?

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Career motivation

What can I contribute?

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When it comes to jobs, very few come to a workplace asking, “What can I contribute?” Alas, we are more likely to ask, “What’s in it for me?”

"To ask, 'What can I contribute?' is to look for the unused potential in the job." Peter Drucker

But Peter Drucker’s quote reminds me when we are inwardly focused, we miss out. What if we see a job as an opportunity to contribute something only we can give?

Some would call that servant leadership.

Cartoon of a dog and cat about servant leadership

Each of us is unique in our talents, experiences, and personalities. We have skills that no one else has. Perhaps that is exactly why we are in the position we are today for a very specific purpose.

Instead of asking, “What can I get out of this?” Perhaps the better question is, “What can I do today that adds value to my organization?”