Unmotivated employees have rightly been called “the black holes of the business universe.” Fortunately, motivation is not something a person is born with or without. Applying these Ten Commandments can go a long way to helping existing employees find their motivation.1. Commit with all thy heart so others might follow
Before you ask your employees to commit, you must be fully committed yourself. Throw your heart over the bar, make that complete commitment, and others will follow.
2. Call it tight on dysfunctional behaviors
Declare a zero-tolerance policy for dysfunctional behaviors. People saying one thing and meaning another, giving lip service, gossiping, backstabbing… Enlist a company-wide commitment to stop every one of these.
3. Show that you care, in every way
Show those around you that you care, not just about their productivity, but about them, with a kind word or a “good job,” a pat on the back or a question about someone’s health.
4. Celebrate every victory
Recognition of achievements is high on the list of employee motivators. Every Big Project consists of scores of little victories along the way. Celebration builds confidence, and confident people are open to feedback and willing to grow.
5. Clean up thy messes
You WILL make mistakes. It is critical to clean up your messes as you make them. Acknowledge the mistake, then make a commitment to put things right and prevent a recurrence.
6. Use powerful and positive language
Say what you mean, clearly and powerfully and positively. It can do INCREDIBLE things for employee motivation when people know what is expected of them and why.
7. Be unreasonable with thyself
Being “reasonable” doesn’t bring out the best of who you are. Show that you are willing to forego the excuses and happily do what needs doing, regardless of how “unreasonable” it seems, and your people will rise to the unreasonable themselves.
8. Reprogram thy limiting beliefs
We all come equipped with self-doubting mechanisms. Begin living “as if” you are smart enough, good enough, and up to the challenge, and guess what—suddenly you will be.
9. Choose joy
When you develop a habit of interpreting things as good instead of bad, it actually alters the neural pathways in your brain, and your brain finds it easier to interpret things as good. You have rewired your brain for happiness.
10. Give, Give, GIVE
Life gives to the givers and takes from the takers, and life has a perfect accounting system. If you want your employees to shower your company with success, it’s time for you to dig in and give like crazy to your employees.
Give them your committed heart. Give them a functional environment. Give them care, celebration, integrity, clarity, and a vision of the impossible made possible. Give them a model of life without limiting beliefs. Most of all, show them the way by choosing joy.
Do these things, and you’ll all end up in the Promised Land