4 Types of Motivation
And how to use them in a tough market
Chris Ritson
•
29 Sept 2023
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3 mins
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Let’s be real for a hot second.
We’re all human and we all go through dips in motivation from time to time.
But it makes it 100x harder when you’re in a tough market. Meetings are harder to book which means calling is harder to do and so on.
Trust me, I get it, I have low days at the best of times when it comes to motivation.
One day it’s easy to start work. The next it’s so much harder. Just remember this is normal human behavior.
The key is understanding what drives our motivations. And if we lead people; what drives theirs?
Think of it this way. If you don’t know where the accelerator is on your car. How do you make it start in the morning? How can you make it go faster?
If you don’t know what motivates you how can you get going? If you don’t know what motivates your team members how can you get them going?
In this newsletter, I’ll introduce 4 types of motivation and how you can apply them to yourself and others around you so you can get more (even in a tough market).
Let’s dive in.
The Four Types of Motivation:
1. External Motivation
Your goals are heavily guided by external circumstances and would not take place without some kind of reward or to prevent a negative outcome.
For example, an individual who clocks extra hours in their day job purely to receive a bigger paycheck.
But why do they want a bigger paycheck? Your job as a leader is to KNOW THAT! Only then can you use motivators like this to get better results?
For example when I wanted to buy a house I was saving like mad. My boss used to motivate me with cash incentives for overperformance.
It wasn’t about the cash. It was ALL about the goal of buying a house.
2. Introjected Motivation
Goals are characterized by self-image or ego-based motivation, reflecting the need to keep a certain self-image alive.
For example, they stay longer in the office so that they are perceived as a ‘hard worker’ by their manager and co-workers.
Why do they want to be perceived this way? Too LOOK good!
Most people call it politics but actually, a lot of people work in fear. The fear of not looking good and impressing their boss.
Watch out for these folks in your team. Usually, they are ‘‘political geniuses’’ they are just terrified to look bad and get fired. Aka their bigger goal is to keep their jobs.
3. Identified Motivation
The actions needed to accomplish the goal are perceived as personally important and meaningful, and personal values are the main drivers of goal pursuit.
For example, the worker puts in extra hours because their personal values align with the objective of the project they are working on.
Ever wondered why charity workers do things for FREE? Yep, me too. Because their values align with the mission of the charity.
How can you apply this? Have a mission for your team. My mission was that ‘we will be a world-class revenue generating SDR team’. I told my SDRs this on EVERY Monday morning call. It became our identified motivation.
4. Intrinsic Motivation
When a behavior is guided by intrinsic motivation, the individual strives for this goal because of the enjoyment or stimulation that this goal provides. While there may be many good reasons for pursuing the goal, the primary reason is simply the interest in the experience of goal pursuit itself.
For example, a worker spends more time at their job because they enjoy and are energized by using their skills in creativity and problem-solving.
If someone on your team likes calling more than email. Let them do more of it. Success can really be as simple as that at the rep level.
Quick Summary:
Now you know more about where motivation comes from I hope it’s easier for you to channel it.
Goals that are defined by either identified or intrinsic motivation can be considered ‘‘self-concordant’’.
A self-concordant goal is personally valued, or the process towards the goal is enjoyable and aligns with interests.
Self-concordant goals are associated with higher levels of well-being, enhanced positive mood, and higher levels of life satisfaction compared to non-self-concordant goals.
Simply put - it’s why money can’t buy happiness but you can’t motivate someone with it for a short period of time (use it wisely).
This Week’s Action Step:
Have a 1:1 with YOURSELF. Write down what motivates you in each of the 4 areas. Then pick the number 1 and share that with your manager.
If this is helpful, share it with your team!
Good luck!!
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Leader Spotlight:
Buzzed to introduce all of you to Tom Skidmore, SDR Leader @Brightpearl.
His Journey into SDR Leadership:
Tom was a Senior SDR in his previous role and constantly bugged his manager for opportunities to lead, mentor others, and take ownership of projects. He was pretty he wanted leadership and little by little gained the confidence to give it a go himself. He took a role as an SDR Leader and 18 months later has hired a high-performing team and led them through an acquisition by Sage. Not a bad baptism to life as a leader!
3 ways he motivates his reps:
Celebrate EVERY win and loss. Sunshine what works and also what doesn’t in equal measure. You’ll be shocked at how much your reps keep trying to work things out when they aren’t scared of failure.
Find out what gets your reps up in the morning. Literally, find that information out!! Is it making a difference, making money etc? What actually motivates them? Isolate individual objectives and goals and work with them on achieving them.
Establish realistic but optimistic goals for each rep. The job is to push them to their maximum potential. Not over, not below, exactly at the maximum!
Thanks, Tom. You legend.
PS. If you want to connect on Linkedin with Tom, please do!
Weekly Send-Off:
Naturally, I hope you all have an incredible weekend.
Until next Friday at 1.05pm, au revoir from me, Bridge, and Isaac 🙂
PS. My number is +447814904622. If you need me, Whatsapp me.