The Art of Being A Brilliant Communicator

In the fifth part of our article, we are entering the realm of motivation, this is a huge area. Understanding just a little about motivation can bring rewards, both for your own self motivation and also for helping others connect to the situations and contexts that will power them forward. No parent, manager, or coach should be without a knowledge of motivation.

Mistake 5: Thinking that you can motivate others

The truth is that no one can motivate another person. Have you ever tried to motivate someone else and failed? Motivation comes from inside and the only thing you can do is to create the environment where a person’s natural motivation system is triggered. The clever part is to know what external conditions will work for each person. This can go a long way to ease the burden of meeting or even exceeding goals and aspirations.

“If only I could motivate them”

In the absence of understanding the different types of motivation we fall back on our own familiar personal style, which (at best) has a hit or miss effect. At worst, this creates mistrust and passive aggressive behaviour. One of the best ways to uncover these patterns is described in the work of Professor David McClelland who spent his professional life studying the motivational structures of people at work. He found three distinct patterns of ‘needs-based’ motivation. Once you know these they’re pretty easy to spot and with a little bit of knowledge you can use them to help you create motivation within your team and those that manage you!

Here’s a quick description of each type. Bear in mind that we will have one of these very strongly, one as a backup and one that we don’t use very much at all.

Achievement: Seeks achievement, attainment of realistic but challenging goals, and advancement in the job. This person will require detailed feedback with regard to their achievements and the progress they are making, in order to have their need for a sense of accomplishment satisfied.

Power: Has a need to be influential, effective and to make an impact. There is a strong desire to lead and for their ideas to be heard and acted upon. There is also a strong desire to have personal status and prestige.

Affiliation: Has a need for friendly relationships and is motivated by interaction with other people. The affiliation motive drives a need to be liked and held in popular regard and to do activities and build relationships that will satisfy that desire. They are often team players who are the glue that keeps teams functioning.

As you master the understanding of motivation you will move into the highly significant arena of being a brilliant communicator; you have obliterated the FIFTH MISTAKE.

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Roger Terry

Director of Training and Coaching at Evolution Training Ltd
Roger Terry is one of the world’s leading experts on applying NLP to drive excellence both professionally and personally. Roger leads seminars and consults with companies all over the world, including in the UK, USA, Europe and Middle East. He is the author of several books, including The Hidden Art of Interviewing, NLP and Qualitative Research, NLP for Teachers and The NLP Toolkit.