For decades the word ” MOTIVATION” was the challenge. Managers were expected to MOTIVATE those who worked for them. We spent lots of time MOTIVATING others..and lots of money!
Staff parties, team builds, award evenings, civvies and wellness days, balloons and birthday cakes.
They were not bad things to do, but it was expensive and they exhausted us…their impact was short- lived …it often didn’t last…so we changed only the word.
We now call it ENGAGEMENT…and we are spending more money and effort on ..Employee ENGAGEMENT…to remedy it’s opposite…that awful reality of employee DISENGAGEMENT.
DISENGAGED employees are people who bring little or no energy to work…perhaps some even bring negative energy, which they use destructively. And the most recent studies and employee engagement surveys suggest that 90% of all employees are DISENGAGED!
Of course not in every business…maybe not so high in some, especially smaller ones…but getting worse! And not only in business…schools, universities, employees of the State, even in Churches and Communities!
That is what we have to fix! Urgently! Change that dreary picture and performance rockets! Because high energy is the key to being able to THINK and THINK TOGETHER..? And that in turn creates the chance to thrive in a world of huge risks, but equally exciting opportunities
So how are we tackling it ? With the same old faulty mindset….that as your manager, I must, I can, I ought to motivate you? That is high on my ” to do ” list! That is the first myth!
The second myth is that making the workplace a “happy ” place is all that matters….never mind what is happening in the rest of their lives.. their home lives…their private lives ..their dreams…how they relax ..how they recreate.
Those are the two dangerous myths. They create the trap…the big black hole into which we have poured billions with very little return.
The hard reality is that only I can MOTIVATE myself. Only I can ENGAGE with my own energy. Only I can find balance in my life…at work…at home …and at play. Only I can put a smile on my face… pull up my own socks! Take control of my own life….all aspects of it and sustain it.
You can surely help me, mentor me, guide me, encourage me…even coach me or teach me… but you can’t do it for me! Only I can!
Some people surely have it…they often don’t know why..they seem to have unlimited energy to share . They don’t need to be motivated. They never did! But most people don’t have it.
Do the people who work for you have it ? Or are most of them disengaged and struggling? Do you know how to help them find it? Are you helping them ?
The famous Irish Poet and writer Oscar Wilde stirred us with this line many years ago:-
” To live is the rarest thing in the world…most people just exist.”
Steve and I get our energy from helping people and teams to really live….helping individuals and teams to manage, even master their own energy so that they live creatively and joyfully…day after day. At home…at play …and at work!
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