Once we understand that others’ needs provide buttons we can push to motivate them toward certain goals, we can progress in a somewhat calculated way designed to increase the odds of success.

Now, if that sounds negative, control of others, pushing buttons, et cetera, let’s be honest about what leadership is.  Our objective is to achieve a set of goals we have signed on to achieve and it is our job to help others achieve those goals when they have signed on to do the same. 

Also, in the end, we are not talking about control here.  We are talking about influence, and at that we are attempting to influence others in a way that benefits them as well as the rest of the team.

Realizing that individuals’ buttons keep moving around from day to day and to a lesser degree from hour to hour, it behooves us to get to know our people well.  The better we know them the better we understand their needs and the better we are in a position to influence their behavior (motivate them). 

Knowing the team members requires a lot of interaction and a lot of observation. 

Show me a leader who isn’t mentally very busy and I’ll show you a leader who is either dealing with a team of open books or one who isn’t being very successful at motivating the team members.  It takes a lot of mental work to observe, record (at least mentally), and analyze individual team members as they function throughout a day.  For many leaders it is an enjoyable experience, but a tiring one nevertheless. 

But it all begins with basic observation, and that is not really difficult.  If you are new to the game, just honing your skills at observation of team members’ behavior is a good place to begin.

__________

Some years ago I was responsible for advising a commanding officer on punishment of military offenders whose actions had not quite reached the level of court-martial.  One young gentleman was on his third round of infractions that got the commander’s attention, and one might assume that if it was at that level for the third time perhaps there were many other occasions where infractions had been handled at a lower level.  One might also wonder who, if anyone, was observing very closely and if anyone was providing any sort of motivation.      

When I reviewed the actions the commander had taken on the previous two occasions of his dealing with this individual I discovered that he had fined the young man, first a nominal amount, and then the maximum allowed under the rules.  This being Round Three, no increase in fine was possible, so I was looking for better alternatives.

Being fairly new to the organization, I did a little research and found that a very nice car in the barracks parking lot was his – much better, newer, and more expensive than mine.

The room in which he lived had a very expensive stereo system (this was in the days prior to the even more expensive devices of today) and his civilian clothes were of fine quality.

Hmm.  All this and he has only 2 stripes on his sleeve?

Perhaps the wrong buttons have been pushed in the past?  Was a fine really likely to cause a change of behavior?  Maybe a slight shortage of money wasn’t the best motivator because this young man had no need of it in the first place?

I wish I could tell you that we turned him around with my magic wand of motivation, but by this time he was far too much involved in things we would learn of shortly thereafter and he would end up in criminal court followed by a long term in the state prison with some pretty rough treatment by fellow inmates along the way.

And no, he hadn’t been selling drugs.  Unfortunately, the lawyer who unsuccessfully attempted to defend him in the criminal trial was his father — the same father who had been sending him $500 each month.  That was in the 1970’s, so you can imagine how much that would be worth now, and that was in addition to his military pay. 

Let’s flip now from taking money as punishment to giving money as a reward.

If you were dealing with a team member today and knew they were getting that much money from sources outside the company, would you try to motivate them by offering a cash incentive?

No?  Why not? 

It’s obvious! you say?

Well, it’s obvious only if you know something about the team member.  How many in that young man’s chain of command could have known more and chosen more appropriate motivational techniques before things went bad?  We will never know, and that is most unfortunate.  I know what happened in that prison because I visited him there, and it pains me that those responsible for observing and motivating him didn’t do it very well.

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A contrasting situation,
but one that also involves money again
in the motivation scheme

---

In the corporate world I was in a very dynamic environment.  At recurring meetings I always led off with a quick quiz.  Everyone (~20 people) found a small sticky-note sheet at their place when they arrived; the questions were easy enough that 80% of the people in the room should know all the answers.  The process was simple – I uncovered the chart of questions and they wrote the brief factual answers on the note sheet, turning it upside down when they were done.  First one done was Number One, second one done was Number Two, and so on.Grading was equally simple – Number One reads the answers, and if all are correct, we have a winner.  If any one answer is incorrect, move to Number Two, who must also have all correct answers.  First person in the sequence with all correct answers is the winner.  Knowledge is good; knowledge to a level that it is instinctive and therefore fast is better.  

Not exactly rocket science and not about to burn down the barn, but we all had fun at it.  Pencils were flying, and yellow note sheets were slapping down on the table all over the place as each person called out their number in sequence.  “I’m ONE!”  “I’m two!” …

What were they going for?  What was the reward that could ignite such a frenzy (and it was a frenzy!)?

Two dollars.

Yes, you read that correctly, it was two dollars –a single two dollar bill.

__________

There is a small twist to the tale, however, in that the two dollar bill wasn’t a loose one.  It was part of a sheet of such two dollar bills one can buy from the Bureau of Engraving and Printing, of our U.S. Treasury.

The winner was handed a pair of scissors and given the opportunity to cut their two dollar bill from the sheet, and that novelty was the real motivator.  It wasn’t the money, rather, it was the unique experience of being able to cut that two dollar bill from a sheet of such bills.  It wasn’t a money motivator (think Maslow’s physical needs), it was a social motivator.

We had fun with that little motivator for almost three years, and I knew it was being successful because when meeting attendees realized my questions seemed to come from notices of recent changes in process or procedure they began to pay a lot of attention to change notices; there was a lot of discussion of them buzzing around as members entered the meeting room. 

Not bad for two bucks, wouldn’t you say?

__________

Then the problem began.

No winner this meeting?  This is impossible!  Nobody has all correct answers?  I am shocked!  Surprised (unpleasantly so).  Rather disappointed.  No need for the scissors, no damage to the sheet, no two dollar bill going home with some proud team member.  Oh well, on with the meeting…

I left the meeting with a bit of a chill.  How could that have happened?  They are all better than that.  I have to figure out where I fit into this failure.

At the following meeting we had a winner.

As soon as I handed over the scissors to the winner the question came from all over the room, choir style, synchronized, in unison,  the setup:

        “Last meeting’s two-dollar bill rolls over, right?!”

I’d been had.  Exquisitely had.  And it felt wonderful. 

Someone had noticed that if you had two of those two dollar bills still uncut and attached one above the other as a single unit they would fit in a standard 8×10 picture frame rather nicely. 

So the plot was simple.  They hatched a plan to all miss at least one question at the next meeting and then it was all-go-for-it at the next meeting, knowing I would agree to the rollover of the “unspent” bill of the previous meeting.

The next day, as I walked around the area, there it was.  Up there on the wall was a pair of still attached two dollar bills in a frame for all to see.

That was teamwork and I could not have been more proud of them.  I’m smiling right now as I type this because I love good teamwork, especially when it is to a large degree self-motivated.  Good teamwork can move mountains, and the thought of that team moves me over fifteen years later.

__________

Motivation takes a lot of work.  Sometimes it takes more than you think you have time for or more than you think the payoff will be worth.

But you just never know, and you won’t find out until you try.

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Bureau of Engraving and Printing store. 
The sheets make neat gifts, too.