Motivation workbook

Motivation
Wales Quality Centre

Motivation Workshop
Workbook

Lawrence Hallett

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tiva
Mo

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Motivation

Motivation
Motivation is a psychological feature that arouses an organism to act towards a desired
goal and elicits,controls, and sustains certain goal-directed behaviors. It can be considered
a driving force; a psychological one that compels or reinforces an action toward a desired
goal. For example, hunger is a motivation that elicits a desire to eat. Motivation is the
purpose or psychological cause of an action.
Motivation has been shown to have roots in physiological, behavioral, cognitive, and social
areas. Motivation may be rooted in a basic impulse to optimize well-being, minimize
physical pain and maximize pleasure. It can also originate from speciﬁc physical needs
such as eating, sleeping or resting, and sex.
Motivation is an inner drive to behave or act in a certain manner. "It's the difference
between waking up before dawn to pound the pavement and lazing around the house all
day."These inner conditions such as wishes, desires, goals, activate to move in a
particular direction in behavior.

What sort of manger would you like to be managed by?

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Motivation

Motivation - Exercise
You have been assigned a project by your managing director to create a proposal to
enable higher motivation levels within your business. Prepare a 2 minute presentation
outlining what you believe to be the key factors in the execution of your proposal
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Motivation

De-motivation - Exercise
Imagine you are a manager with a staff of 20. Productivity and morale are at an all time
high. Your objective is to interfere with productivity and morale by ruining employees’
motivation within one week. Describe what you could say and do to frustrate people, lower
morale and productivity, get poor performance, and encourage self-defeating, neurotic
behavior. Prepare a 2 mins presentation
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Motivation

WHAT IT IS TO BE MOTIVATED
Motivation is an internal state. so recall an experience in which you were highly motivated-excited, intensely involved in an endeavor etc. Record adjectives that describe your
experiences in that highly motivated state.
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Motivation

Previous examples of phrases generated
Positive

Negative

Reward

Anger

Involved

Revenge

Challenged

Social pressure

Interested

Stress

Making someone happy

Conﬂict

Encouraged

Jealousy

Emotional

Saving face

Purpose

Competing

Appreciated

Fear of failure

Increasing prestige

Fear

Respected

Bored

Gaining Insight

Resentment

Accomplishment

Envy

Completion

Hate

Doing it

No choice

SEEKING

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AVOIDANCE

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Motivation

Types of theories and models
motivational theories A class of theories about why people do things seeks to reduce the
number of factors down to one and explain all behaviour through that one factor. For
example, economics has been criticized for using self-interest as a mono-motivational
theory. Mono-motivational theories are often criticized for being too reductive or too
abstract.
Conscious and unconscious motivations
A number of motivational theories emphasize the distinction between conscious and
unconscious motivations. In evolutionary psychology, the "ultimate", unconscious
motivation may be a cold evolutionary calculation, the conscious motivation could be more
benign or even positive emotions. For example, while it may be in the best interest of a
male's genes to have multiple partners and thus break up with or divorce one before
moving onto the next, the conscious rationalization could be, "I loved her at the time".
Freud is associated with the idea that human beings have many unconscious motivations
that cause them to make important decisions because of these unconscious forces, such
as choosing a partner.
Non-psychological theories
Platonic theory of motivation
In The Republic, Plato advances a tri-partite theory of the soul, which consists of three
parts: reason, spirit and appetite. All parts of the soul have desires, however not all desires
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Motivation

are the same. Desires take many different forms and have many different responses or
results.
Machiavellianism
Machiavellism argues that human beings are motivated to seek power and status above
all. Modern research argues that people who are high in this trait do indeed seek power
and money, and are willing to use others as instruments towards that end.
Psychological theories and models
Rational motivations
The idea that human beings are rational and human behaviour is guided by reason is an
old one. However, recent research (on Satisficing for example) has significantly
undermined the idea of homo economicus or of perfect rationality in favour of a more
bounded rationality. The field of behavioural economics is particularly concerned with the
limits of rationality in economic agents.
Intrinsic and extrinsic motivation
Motivation can be divided into two types: intrinsic (internal) motivation and extrinsic
(external) motivation.

Intrinsic motivation
Intrinsic motivation refers to motivation that is driven by an interest or enjoyment in the
task itself, and exists within the individual rather than relying on external pressures or a
desire for reward. Intrinsic motivation has been studied since the early 1970s.The
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Motivation

phenomenon of intrinsic motivation was first acknowledged within experimental studies of
animal behavior. In these studies, it was evident that the organisms would engage in
playful and curiosity driven behaviors in the absence of reward. Intrinsic motivation is a
natural motivational tendency and is a critical element in cognitive, social, and physical
development. Students who are intrinsically motivated are more likely to engage in the
task willingly as well as work to improve their skills, which will increase their
capabilities.Students are likely to be intrinsically motivated if they:
•

attribute their educational results to factors under their own control, also known as
autonomy
•
believe they have the skills to be effective agents in reaching their desired goals,
also known as self-efficacy beliefs
•
are interested in mastering a topic, not just in achieving good grades
Extrinsic motivation
Extrinsic motivation refers to the performance of an activity in order to attain an outcome,
whether or not that activity is also intrinsically motivated. Extrinsic motivation comes from
outside of the individual. Common extrinsic motivations are rewards (for example money
or grades) for showing the desired behavior, and the threat of punishment following
misbehavior. Competition is in an extrinsic motivator because it encourages the performer
to win and to beat others, not simply to enjoy the intrinsic rewards of the activity. A
cheering crowd and the desire to win a trophy are also extrinsic incentives.
Comparison of intrinsic and extrinsic motivation
Social psychological research has indicated that extrinsic rewards can lead to
overjustification and a subsequent reduction in intrinsic motivation. In one study
demonstrating this effect, children who expected to be (and were) rewarded with a ribbon
and a gold star for drawing pictures spent less time playing with the drawing materials in
subsequent observations than children who were assigned to an unexpected reward
condition. While the provision of extrinsic rewards might reduce the desirability of an
activity, the use of extrinsic constraints, such as the threat of punishment, against
performing an activity has actually been found to increase one's intrinsic interest in that
activity. In one study, when children were given mild threats against playing with an
attractive toy, it was found that the threat actually served to increase the child's interest in
the toy, which was previously undesirable to the child in the absence of threat.
For those children who received no extrinsic reward, self-determination theory proposes
that extrinsic motivation can be internalized by the individual if the task fits with their values
and beliefs and therefore helps to fulfill their basic psychological needs.
Operant conditioning
Operant conditioning a term coined by B.F. Skinner, is a method of learning that occurs
through rewards and punishments for behaviour. Skinner believed that internal thoughts
and motivations could not be used to explain behaviour; instead to look at external,
observable causes of human behaviour. His theory explained how we acquire the range of
learned behaviors we exhibit each and every day.
Push and pull
This model is usually used when discussing motivation within the context of tourism. Push
factors determine the desire to go on holiday, whereas pull factors determine the choice of
destination. Push motives are connected with internal forces, for example the need for
relaxation or escapism, while pull factors are the external factors, such as landscape,
cultural image or the climate of a destination, that induce a traveller to visit a certain
location.[citation needed] Push factors can be stimulated by external and situational
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Motivation

aspects of motivation in the shape of pull factors. Then again pull factors are issues that
can arise from a location itself and therefore ‘push’ an individual to choose to experience it.
Since then, a large number of theories have been developed over the years in many
studies there is no single theory that illustrates all motivational aspects of travelling. Many
researchers have highlighted that because several motives may occur at the same time it
should not be assumed that only one motive drives an individual to perform an action, as
was presumed in previous studies. On the other hand, since people are not able to satisfy
all their needs at once, they usually seek to satisfy some or a few of them.[citation needed]
Self-control
The self-control aspect of motivation is increasingly considered to be a subset of emotional
intelligence; it is suggested that although a person may be classed as highly intelligent (as
measured by many traditional intelligence tests), they may remain unmotivated to pursue
intellectual endeavours. Vroom's "expectancy theory" provides an account of when people
may decide to exert self-control in pursuit of a particular goal.
Drives
Main article: Drive theory
A drive or desire can be described as a deﬁciency or need that activates behavior that is
aimed at a goal or an incentive.These drives are thought to originate within the individual
and may not require external stimuli to encourage the behavior. Basic drives could be
sparked by deﬁciencies such as hunger, which motivates a person to seek food whereas
more subtle drives might be the desire for praise and approval, which motivates a person
to behave in a manner pleasing to others. Another basic drive is the sexual drive which like
food motivates us because it is essential to our survival.The desire for sex is wired deep
into the brain of all human beings as glands secrete hormones that travel through the
blood to the brain and stimulates the onset of sexual desire. The hormone involved in the
initial onset of sexual desire is called dihydroepiandosterone (DHEA). The hormonal basis
of both men and women's sex drives is testosterone.
By contrast, the role of extrinsic rewards and stimuli can be seen in the example of training
animals by giving them treats when they perform a trick correctly. The treat motivates the
animals to perform the trick
consistently, even later
when the treat is removed
from the process.
Incentive theory
A reward, tangible or
intangible, is presented after
the occurrence of an action
(i.e. behavior) with the
intention of causing the
behavior to occur again.
This is done by associating
positive meaning to the
behavior. Studies show that
if the person receives the
reward immediately, the
effect is greater, and decreases as delay lengthens. Repetitive action-reward combination
can cause the action to become habit. Motivation comes from two sources: oneself, and

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Motivation

other people. These two sources are called intrinsic motivation and extrinsic motivation,
respectively.
Reinforcers and reinforcement principles of behavior differ from the hypothetical construct
of reward. A reinforcer is any stimulus change following a response that increases the
future frequency or magnitude of that response, therefore the cognitive approach is
certainly the way forward as in 1973 Maslow described it as being the golden pineapple.
Positive reinforcement is demonstrated by an increase in the future frequency or
magnitude of a response due to in the past being followed contingently by a reinforcing
stimulus. Negative reinforcement involves stimulus change consisting of the removal of an
aversive stimulus following a response. Positive reinforcement involves a stimulus change
consisting of the presentation or magnification of a positive stimulus following a response.
From this perspective, motivation is mediated by environmental events, and the concept of
distinguishing between intrinsic and extrinsic forces is irrelevant.
Applying proper motivational techniques can be much harder than it seems. Steven Kerr
notes that when creating a reward system, it can be easy to reward A, while hoping for B,
and in the process, reap harmful effects that can jeopardize your goals.
Incentive theory in psychology treats motivation and behavior of the individual as they are
influenced by beliefs, such as engaging in activities that are expected to be profitable.
Incentive theory is promoted by behavioral psychologists, such as B.F. Skinner and
literalized by behaviorists, especially by Skinner in his philosophy of Radical behaviorism,
to mean that a person's actions always have social ramifications: and if actions are
positively received people are more likely to act in this manner, or if negatively received
people are less likely to act in this manner.
Incentive theory distinguishes itself from other motivation theories, such as drive theory, in
the direction of the motivation. In incentive theory, stimuli "attract", to use the term above,
a person towards them, as opposed to the body seeking to reestablish homeostasis and
pushing towards the stimulus. In terms of behaviorism, incentive theory involves positive
reinforcement: the reinforcing stimulus has been conditioned to make the person happier.
For instance, a person knows that eating food, drinking water, or gaining social capital will
make them happier. As opposed to in drive theory, which involves negative reinforcement:
a stimulus has been associated with the removal of the punishment—the lack of
homeostasis in the body. For example, a person has come to know that if they eat when
hungry, it will eliminate that negative feeling of hunger, or if they drink when thirsty, it will
eliminate that negative feeling of thirst.
Escape-seeking dichotomy model
Escapism and seeking are major factors influencing decision making. Escapism is a need
to breakaway from a daily life routine, turning on the television and watching an adventure
film, whereas seeking is described as the desire to learn, turning on the television to watch
a documentary. Both motivations have some interpersonal and personal facets for
example individuals would like to escape from family problems (personal) or from
problems with work colleagues (interpersonal). This model can also be easily adapted with
regard to different studies.
Drive-reduction theory
There are a number of drive theories. The Drive Reduction Theory grows out of the
concept that people have certain biological drives, such as hunger. As time passes the
strength of the drive increases if it is not satisfied (in this case by eating). Upon satisfying a
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Motivation

drive the drive's strength is reduced. The theory is based on diverse ideas from the
theories of Freud to the ideas of feedback control systems, such as a thermostat.
Drive theory has some intuitive or folk validity. For instance when preparing food, the drive
model appears to be compatible with sensations of rising hunger as the food is prepared,
and, after the food has been consumed, a decrease in subjective hunger. There are
several problems, however, that leave the validity of drive reduction open for debate. The
first problem is that it does not explain how secondary reinforcers reduce drive. For
example, money satisfies no biological or psychological needs, but a pay check appears to
reduce drive through second-order conditioning. Secondly, a drive, such as hunger, is
viewed as having a "desire" to eat, making the drive a homuncular being—a feature
criticized as simply moving the fundamental problem behind this "small man" and his
desires.
Drive reduction theory cannot be a complete theory of behavior, or a hungry human could
not prepare a meal without eating the food before he finished cooking it. The ability of drive
theory to cope with all kinds of behavior, from not satisfying a drive (by adding on other
traits such as restraint), or adding additional drives for "tasty" food, which combine with
drives for food in order to explain cooking render it hard to test.
Cognitive dissonance theory
Suggested by Leon Festinger, cognitive dissonance occurs when an individual
experiences some degree of discomfort resulting from an inconsistency between two
cognitions: their views on the world around them, and their own personal feelings and
actions. For example, a consumer may seek to reassure themselves regarding a
purchase, feeling in retrospect that another decision may have been preferable. Their
feeling that another purchase would have been preferable is inconsistent with their action
of purchasing the item. The difference between their feelings and beliefs causes
dissonance, so they seek to
reassure themselves.
While not a theory of
motivation, per se, the theory
of cognitive dissonance
proposes that people have a
motivational drive to reduce
dissonance. The cognitive
miser perspective makes
people want to justify things in
a simple way in order to
reduce the effort they put into
cognition. They do this by
changing their attitudes,
beliefs, or actions, rather than
facing the inconsistencies,
because dissonance is a
mental strain. Dissonance is
also reduced by justifying, blaming, and denying. It is one of the most influential and
extensively studied theories in social psychology.

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Motivation

Need theories
Motivation, as defined by Pritchard and Ashwood, is the process used to allocate energy
to maximize the satisfaction of needs.
Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs
Content theory of human motivation includes both Abraham Maslow's hierarchy of needs
and Herzberg's two-factor theory. Maslow's theory is one of the most widely discussed
theories of motivation.
The American motivation psychologist Abraham H. Maslow developed the hierarchy of
needs consisting of five hierarchic classes. According to Maslow, people are motivated by
unsatisfied needs. The needs, listed from basic (lowest-earliest) to most complex (highestlatest) are as follows:
•
Physiology (hunger, thirst, sleep, etc.)
•
Safety/Security/Shelter/Health
•
Belongingness/Love/Friendship
•
Self-esteem/Recognition/Achievement
•
Self actualization
The basic requirements build upon the first step in the pyramid: physiology. If there are
deficits on this level, all behavior will be oriented to satisfy this deficit. Essentially, if you
have not slept or eaten adequately, you won't be interested in your self-esteem desires.
Subsequently we have the second level, which awakens a need for security. After securing
those two levels, the motives shift to the social sphere, the third level. Psychological
requirements comprise the fourth level,
while the top of the hierarchy consists of
self-realization and self-actualization.
Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs theory
•

Human beings have wants
behavior. Only unsatisfied
needs do not.

can be summarized as follows:
and desires which influence their
needs influence behavior, satisfied

•Needs are arranged in order of
importance to human life, from
the basic to the complex.
•The person advances to
the next level of needs
only after the lower level
need is at least
minimally satisfied.
•The further the
progress up the
hierarchy, the
more individuality,
humanness and psychological health a person will show.
Herzberg's two-factor theory
Main article: Two-factor theory
Frederick Herzberg's two-factor theory, a.k.a. intrinsic/extrinsic motivation, concludes that
certain factors in the workplace result in job satisfaction, but if absent, they don't lead to
dissatisfaction but no satisfaction. The factors that motivate people can change over their
lifetime, but "respect for me as a person" is one of the top motivating factors at any stage
of life.
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Motivation

He distinguished between:
•

Motivators; (e.g. challenging work, recognition, responsibility) which give positive
satisfaction, and
•
Hygiene factors; (e.g. status, job security, salary and fringe benefits) that do not
motivate if present, but, if absent, result in demotivation.
The name hygiene factors is used because, like hygiene, the presence will not improve
health, but absence can cause health deterioration.
Herzberg's theory has found application in such occupational fields as information systems
and in studies of user satisfaction such as computer user satisfaction.

Alderfer's ERG theory
Alderfer, expanding on Maslow's hierarchy of needs, created the ERG theory. This theory
posits that there are three groups of core needs — existence, relatedness, and growth,
hence the label: ERG theory. The existence group is concerned with providing our basic
material existence requirements. They include the items that Maslow considered to be
physiological and safety needs. The second group of needs are those of relatedness- the
desire we have for maintaining important personal relationships. These social and status
desires require interaction with others if they are to be satisfied, and they align with
Maslow's social need and the external component of Maslow's esteem classification.
Finally, Alderfer isolates growth needs as an intrinsic desire for personal development.
These include the intrinsic component from Maslow's esteem category and the
characteristics included under self-actualization.
Self-determination theory
Edward L. Deci and Richard M. Ryan, during the early nineties, proposed the theory of
self-determination; focusing on the degree to which an individual’s behaviour is selfmotivated and self-determined. According to Deci and Ryan, the three psychological
needs motivate the self to initiate specific behaviour and mental nutriments that are
essential for psychological health and well-being for an individual. These needs are said to
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Motivation

be universal, innate and psychological and include the need for competence, autonomy,
and psychological relatedness. When these needs are satisfied, there are positive
consequence (e.g. well being and growth), we're motivated, productive and happy. When
they’re thwarted, our motivation, productivity and happiness plummet. Deci and
Vansteenkiste claim that there are three essential elements to the theory: 1. Humans are
inherently proactive with their potential and mastering their inner forces (such as drive and
emotions). 2. Humans have an inherent tendency towards growth, development and
integrated functioning. 3. Optimal development and actions are inherent in humans but
they don’t happen automatically. Whether this aspect of our humanity emerges in our lives
depends on whether the conditions around us support it. The main mechanisms of
Motivation 2.0 are more stifling than supportive. Of course these are necessary, as stated
earlier, but the less salient they are made, the better. Instead, we should focus our efforts
on creating environments (at our workplace, schools, home) for our innate psychological
needs to flourish. Other researchers also reach the same conclusion, i.e. human beings
have an innate drive to be autonomous, self-determined yet connected to one another.
When these conditions are met, internal drive is liberated and people achieve more and
live richer lives.
Temporal motivation theory
The latest approach in developing a broad, integrative theory of motivation is Temporal
Motivation Theory. Introduced in a 2006 Academy of Management Review article, it
synthesizes into a single formulation the primary aspects of several other major
motivational theories, including Incentive Theory, Drive Theory, Need Theory, Self-Efficacy
and Goal Setting. It simplifies the field of motivation and allows findings from one theory to
be translated into terms of another. Another journal article that helped to develop the
Temporal Motivation Theory, "The Nature of Procrastination," received American
Psychological Association's George A. Miller award for outstanding contribution to general
science.
Achievement motivation[edit]
Achievement motivation is an integrative perspective based on the premise that
performance motivation results from the way broad components of personality are directed
towards performance. As a result, it includes a range of dimensions that are relevant to
success at work but which are not conventionally regarded as being part of performance
motivation. The emphasis on performance seeks to integrate formerly separate
approaches as Need for Achievement with, for example, social motives like dominance.
Personality is intimately tied to performance and achievement motivation, including such
characteristics as tolerance for risk, fear of failure, and others.The Achievement Motivation
Inventory is based on this theory and assesses three factors (in 17 separated scales)
relevant to vocational and professional success. This motivation has repeatedly been
linked with adaptive motivational patterns, including working hard, a willingness to pick
learning tasks with much difficulty, and contributing success to effort.
Achievement motivation was studied intensively by David C. McClelland, John W. Atkinson
and their colleagues since the early 1950s.[25] Their research showed that business
managers who were successful demonstrated a high need to achieve no matter the
culture. There are three major characteristics of people who have a great need to achieve
according to McClelland’s research.
1.
2.

They would prefer a work environment in which they are able to assume
responsibility for solving problems.
They would take calculated risk and establish moderate, attainable goals.

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Motivation

3.

They want to hear continuous recognition, as well as feedback, in order for them to
know how well they are doing.
Cognitive theories
Goal-setting theory
Goal-setting theory is based on the notion that individuals sometimes have a drive to reach
a clearly defined end state. Often, this end state is a reward in itself. A goal's efficiency is
affected by three features: proximity, difficulty and specificity. Good goal setting
incorporates the SMART criteria, in which goals are: specific, measurable, accurate,
realistic, and timely. An ideal goal should present a situation where the time between the
initiation of behavior and the end state is close. This explains why some children are more
motivated to learn how to ride a bike than to master algebra. A goal should be moderate,
not too hard or too easy to complete. In both cases, most people are not optimally
motivated, as many want a challenge (which assumes some kind of insecurity of success).
At the same time people want to feel that there is a substantial probability that they will
succeed. Specificity concerns the description of the goal in their class. The goal should be
objectively defined and intelligible for the individual. A classic example of a poorly specified
goal is to get the highest possible grade. Most children have no idea how much effort they
need to reach that goal.
Models of behavior change
Social-cognitive models of behavior change include the constructs of motivation and
volition. Motivation is seen as a process that leads to the forming of behavioral intentions.
Volition is seen as a process that leads from intention to actual behavior. In other words,
motivation and volition refer to goal setting and goal pursuit, respectively. Both processes
require self-regulatory efforts. Several self-regulatory constructs are needed to operate in
orchestration to attain goals. An example of such a motivational and volitional construct is
perceived self-efficacy. Self-efficacy is supposed to facilitate the forming of behavioral
intentions, the development of action plans, and the initiation of action. It can support the
translation of intentions into action.
John W. Atkinson, David Birch and their colleagues developed the theory of "Dynamics of
Action" to mathematically model change in behavior as a consequence of the interaction of
motivation and associated tendencies toward specific actions. The theory posits that
change in behavior occurs when the tendency for a new, unexpressed behavior becomes
dominant over the tendency currently motivating action. In the theory, the strength of
tendencies rises and falls as a consequence of internal and external stimuli (sources of
instigation), inhibitory factors, and consummatory in factors such as performing an action.
In this theory, there are three causes responsible for behavior and change in behavior:
1.
2.

Instigation (Ts) - increases tendency when an activity has intrinsic ability to satisfy;
Inhibition (Taf) - decreases tendency when there are obstacles to performing an
activity; and
3. Consummation - decreases a tendency as it is performed.
Conscious motivation
This is a kind of motivation that people are aware of.
Unconscious motivation
Some psychologists believe that a significant portion of human behavior is energized and
directed by unconscious motives. According to Maslow, "Psychoanalysis has often
demonstrated that the relationship between a conscious desire and the ultimate
unconscious aim that underlies it need not be at all direct."
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Motivation

Thematic Appreception Test
Psychologists David C. McClelland and John W. Atkinson argued that motivation should be
unconscious. They refined measures of motivation by means of content analysis of
imaginative thought using, for example, the Thematic Apperception Test.'
Intrinsic motivation and the 16 basic desires theory
Starting from studies involving more than 6,000 people, Professor Steven Reiss has
proposed a theory that found 16 basic desires that guide nearly all human behavior. The
16 basic desires that motivate our actions and define our personalities are:
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•

Acceptance, the need for approval
Curiosity, the need to learn
Eating, the need for food
Family, the need to raise children
Honor, the need to be loyal to the traditional values of one's clan/ethnic group
Idealism, the need for social justice
Independence, the need for individuality
Order, the need for organized, stable,
predictable environments
•
Physical activity, the need for exercise
•
Power, the need for influence of will
•
Romance, the need for sex and for
beauty
•
Saving, the need to collect
•
Social contact, the need for friends (peer
relationships)
•
Social status, the need for social
standing/importance
•
Tranquility, the need to be safe
•
Vengeance, the need to strike back and
to compete
Attribution Theory
The attribution theory is a theory developed by
psychologist, Fritz Heider that describes the processes by which individuals explain the
causes of their behavior and events. A form of attribution theory developed by
psychologist, Bernard Weiner describes an individual’s beliefs about how the causes of
success or failure affect their emotions and motivations. Bernard Weiner’s theory can be
defined into two perspectives: intrapersonal or interpersonal. The intrapersonal
perspective includes self-directed thoughts and emotions that are attributed to the self.
The interpersonal perspective includes beliefs about the responsibility of others and other
directed affects of emotions; the individual would place the blame on another individual.
Individuals formulate explanatory attributions to understand the events they experience
and to seek reasons for their failures. When individuals seek positive feedback from their
failures, they use the feedback as motivation to show improved performances. For
example, using the intrapersonal perspective, a student who failed a test may attribute
their failure for not studying enough and would use their emotion of shame or
embarrassment as motivation to study harder for the next test. A student who blames their
test failure on the teacher would be using the interpersonal perspective, and would use

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their feeling of disappointment as motivation to rely on a different study source other than
the teacher for the next test.
Approach versus avoidance
Approach motivation is a motivation to experience a positive outcome. In contrast,
avoidance motivation is a motivation not to experience a negative outcome.[ Research
suggests that, all else being equal, avoidance motivations tend to be more powerful than
approach motivations. Because people expect losses to have more powerful emotional
consequences than equal-size gains, they will take more risks to avoid a loss than to
achieve a gain.
Practical applications
The control of motivation is only understood to a limited extent. There are many different
approaches of motivation training, but many of these are considered pseudoscientiﬁc by
critics. To understand how to control motivation it is ﬁrst necessary to understand
why many people lack motivation.
Exercise
Consider an individual in your organisation who is less than fully motivated. List the
perceived reasons for their de-motivation
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Motivation

What would you do!!
At Smart High School, there are different levels of math classes and Ms. Write teaches an remedial
section.Ms. Write has had a student for the past year who she has become more concerned with,
Kelly.
Kelly is very withdrawn and indifferent. She seems to just get by. The students in the class perform
well below grade level, but Kelly seems to have the most difficulty. Ms. Write is concerned with the
fact that Kelly never speaks in class and that she does not interact with classmates. Kelly is a
teenage girl but acts more like a younger isolated child. Kelly is also the only girl in the class but
Ms. Write believes that Kelly is a teenager so interacting with male students should not be a
concern.
While teaching a one day, Ms. Write tried to included everyone in the class, however, whenever she
called upon Kelly, Kelly just stared blankly. There would be a delay and the class was being
affected by Kelly's attitudes and actions. If Kelly did speak she would speak only one or two words
softly. Ms.Write would have to repeat everything Kelly would say, so the whole class could hear.
Again another setback because of Kelly.
When the students are asked to work in groups Kelly never initiates conversation and she never
works with others unless forced to.The delays and the special attention Ms. Write has to give Kelly,
just to get Kelly to speak a few words,was having a negative impact on her students. The students
were having a hard enough time paying attention and often Ms. Write lost the students. She found
herself repeating lesson plans.
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Motivation

We have to be motivated to motivate
It is impossible to motivate another person if you yourself are not motivated.
What sort of manager do you want to be managed by? The manager who
arrives at work before anybody else, who is enthusiastic, positive, always has a
bit of good news to pass on, is loyal and leads by example? A manager who
has a purpose – in other words, a MOTIVATED MANAGER?
Many managers who demand and expect that their employees
should be more motivated, yet in looking at these managers themselves it is
absolutely apparent why they are not getting what they hope for.
At a recent conference for some two hundred senior managers of a major UK
public company. It became apparent that this was their second conference at
attempting to launch a new management style and strategy. Not only was the
new system not fully understood but it had not been enthusiastically
embraced by the senior executives. It came to light that one of the root
causes for the lack of enthusiasm and motivation to change lay on the
shoulders of one person. They key manager responsible for the roll-out of the
programme had been made redundant shortly before the first conference and
was then invited back for a six-month contract just to communicate and
implement the strategy. What an odd management decision!

If you want to
motivate another
person you have to
be motivated
yourself

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Motivation

9 Self Motivating Tips

No one can motivate anyone to do anything. All a person can do for another is
provide them with incentives to motivate themselves. Here are ten very effective
strategies to help you get up and get moving toward actualizing your enormous,
untapped potential. - Record their relevance to you with examples
1.* Be willing to leave your comfort zone. The greatest barrier to achieving your
potential is your comfort zone. Great things happen when you make friends with your
discomfort zone.
2.* Don’t be afraid to make mistakes. Wisdom helps us avoid making mistakes and comes
from making a million of them.
3.* Don’t indulge in self-limiting thinking. Think empowering, expansive thoughts.
4.*Choose to be happy. Happy people are easily motivated. Happiness is your
birthright so don’t settle for anything else.
5.* Spend at least one hour a day in self-development. Read good books or listen to
inspiring tapes. Driving to and from work provides an excellent opportunity to listen to selfimprovement tapes.
6.* Train yourself to ﬁnish what you start. So many of us become scattered as we
try to accomplish a task. Finish one task before you begin another.
7.* Live fully in the present moment. When you live in the past or the future you
aren’t able to make things happen in the present.
8.* Never quit when you experience a setback or frustration. Success could be just
around the corner.
9.* Dare to dream big dreams. If there is anything to the law of expectation then we are
moving in the direction of our dreams, goals and expectations.
The real tragedy in life is not in how much we suffer, but rather in how much we
miss, so don’t miss a thing.
Charles Dubois once said, “We must be prepared, at any moment, to sacriﬁce who we are
for who we are capable of becoming.”

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Motivation

Dealing with Motivation drains
Finding a sales reps “motivation drain” is a skill every sales manager should sharpen. It is
needed when specific sales activity slows or stops. I was working with a client and his
motivation and activity to making new appointment calls had stopped. He had excuses and
reasons for not calling which in many cases will frustrate a sales manager and lead to a
quick “pump them up” or “shake them down”. Rather than do that, invest a little time, build
trust, educate and increase motivation by helping your rep find their “motivation drain”.
In order to do this you need to understand the activity chain related to the problem. This is
the activity chain that leads to making new appointments for my client.
1.
2.
3.
4.

Develop a list of people to call for one-on-one appointment meetings you feel
good about
Schedule a time to call for appointments
Make the calls
Schedule appointments

To identify the drain, search for the activity they still have motivation for and work on the
step just above it. In this case he did not feel motivated about any activity, so we needed to
focus on step one, the list.
I asked if he felt 100% comfortable
that each person on the list was the
type of client he would like to meet
with and his answer was no. Every
time he looked at the list all he could
see were the names he did not want
to call. This was the motivation
drain.
His assignment was to trim the list
down to only people he was
motivated to call. His list went from
50 down to 11. He started making
calls again and scheduling new
appointments. The total amount of
time invested in this exercise for me
as his manager was 5-10 minutes.
He now understands how to find this
drain next time. I did not need to
pump him up, or chew him out. My
job as a manager was to identify the drain, plug it and let him get back to business.
When you have clearly defined sales processes it will make it easier to find and review
activity chains. You can then more easily identify motivation drains and help your reps sell
more products and services.

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Motivation

How to Change Your Limiting Beliefs – The Ultimate Guide

The following article was extracted from http://vladdolezal.com/blog/2010/limiting-beliefs/ .
This acts as a template to enable us recognize and remove those self limiting beliefs that
hold our coaches back.
Elephant keepers in India have an interesting way of keeping their elephants from running
away. They tie them to a wooden peg with a rope.
It doesn’t make sense on the surface, since a rope like that has no hope of holding a
grown elephant. But ask any elephant keeper and he will chuckle and explain:
When a baby elephant is born, the herder ties it to a peg with a rope. At this
point, the rope is strong enough to hold the elephant.
The baby elephant quickly learns that trying to escape the rope is futile. And
he keeps that learning with him, even as he grows up and the rope becomes
far too weak to hold him.
And like that rope, we often form beliefs that might be useful at ﬁrst, but then hold us back
in life, long after the original reasons are gone.
What is a belief, exactly?
•

there is no “true” or “false” with beliefs, only useful and detrimental

•

a belief is just the best available explanation of the evidence you observe

Think of a belief as a tabletop. The legs are the supporting evidence. And sometimes the
legs are even superglued to the ﬂoor of your mind with emotions.
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Motivation

And to break a limiting belief, you will ﬁrst need to get rid of the superglue, then get rid of
the evidence, and only then can you change it.
Here’s the step-by-step process:
Changing your limiting beliefs
This will work best if you pick a limiting belief, and go through this process with that in
mind.
1. Identify a limiting belief
Take a few moments to think about beliefs you hold that might be holding you back.
It can be in the form “I am …” or just about the world in general. As long as you think it
might be holding you back, that will work.
Remember, there is no true or false with beliefs. Only useful and detrimental. Don’t
worry about “truth”, and instead decide if it’s useful to you, or if a different belief would be
more useful.
For example, you might believe that “The recession is a bad time to start a business”. That
would deﬁnitely be more limiting than “There will always be demand for exceptional
products and services.”
Take a few moments to pick a limiting belief. You can still carry on reading if you can’t think
of anything, but it would be really helpful if you do.
2. Choose a belief you would like to have instead
This will become important later (when we dislodge the evidence for your old, limiting
belief and replace it with evidence for the new one).
Here are two examples:
old: “I am unattractive.”
new: “I can attract just the right partner for me.”
old: “I will never earn over $30,000 a year.”
new: “I can earn as much as I want for my ideal life.”

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Motivation

3. Get rid of the emotional superglue
Very often, beliefs have an emotional charge attached to them.
Once you’ve identiﬁed your limiting belief, think about the emotional payoff it gives you.

For example, thinking you suck at maths might give you:
•

commiserating with friends who also claim to suck at maths

•

giving up responsibility for your maths grade

•

avoiding being called a “geek”

•

and many others…

The emotional payoff you get is unique to you.
Once you’ve ﬁgured out what it gives you, it’s time for the all-important question: Is the
emotional payoff worth holding on to this belief?
Take a good few moments to answer this. Because you know what? Sometimes the
answer is “yes”. In which case you can stop right there, because no technique (except
advanced psychotherapy) will help you change something you don’t want to change.
But let’s say you decide the emotional payoff isn’t really worth the limitation. You decide
you want to change!
At this point, you’ve already begun dissolving the emotional superglue. There’s still some
left, but every time you remind yourself that you really want to change, it gets weaker.

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Motivation

4. Re-frame the evidence
Remember how a belief is just the best available explanation for the evidence?
Well, you decide what is the “best” explanation for the evidence! You can easily choose an
alternate explanation that doesn’t limit you. And once you do, this new way of thinking
about the evidence often makes more sense than the old one!
Let’s go with the tabletop, and re-frame the evidence so it no longer supports “I suck
at maths”:

Evidence 1:
I failed the last two tests
Alternate explanation:
I haven’t studied properly for them. I used the wrong studying methods.
Evidence 2:
I got an answer wrong in class
I was tired
or
Even the best students sometimes get it wrong. Getting an answer wrong is not an
indication of maths skills.
or
I have become better at maths by stepping up and getting the chance to fail and get
feedback.
Evidence 3:
My mother said it’s her genes
Robert has parents who claim they suck at maths, yet he’s a maths genius.
Notice how the evidence no longer supports “I suck at maths”?
Some evidence might take a bit of skill to re-frame. But with a bit of practice, you can
easily dislodge most evidence for your negative beliefs quickly.
Take a moment now to re-frame the evidence for you own limiting belief. (You’re carrying
one in mind as we go along, right?)
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Motivation

Also, sometimes you will ﬁnd it hard, or even impossible to reframe all of the evidence.
That’s ok. As long as you take away as many supporting legs as possible, you will be able
to shift the belief with this next step:
5. Find evidence for your new belief
Beliefs have a funny way of operating.
They focus your mind on certain things… so you completely miss things that are
inconsistent with those beliefs.
If you believe you’re unattractive, you will notice all the snide remarks and dirty looks – yet
completely miss the smiles, greetings and compliments, or just discount them as
irrelevant.
Because of this, beliefs automatically snowball. Once a belief gains certain weight, it
will start to tack on more and more legs of evidence, and ignore any contrary
evidence. So deep-seated beliefs might take several sessions like this, over several days,
to get rid of. But the process still works.
In this step, you will actively ﬁnd all the evidence you can think of to support your
new belief!

Think back to all the things that happened in your life, no matter how small or irrelevant
they seem, that support it.
The goal here is to establish as many legs as possible. If you get enough evidence, this
new belief will blow the old one right out.

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Motivation

And once the new belief become entrenched in your mind, it will start to accumulate even
more evidence for itself! Suddenly, the snowballing effect works in your favour!
So take a few moments to remember all the evidence from your life that supports your new
belief.
Summary and next actions
To summarize:
1. Identify a limiting belief
2. Pick a belief you would like to hold instead
3. Get rid of the emotional superglue
4. Cut off the table legs of evidence by reframing them
5. Gather as much evidence as possible for your new empowering belief
And as you practice this method, it will become ever easier and more effective. You might
even start noticing limiting beliefs that your friends hold.
And even though the effect might be small at ﬁrst… it builds up over time.

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Exercise

Motivation

Pair up with someone from the course and use the information from the limiting belief
article and try the methodology out on your test partner
To enable this activity to work you will need to plan how you work through the steps of the
methodology –try it out on yourself ﬁrst – We are not looking for perfect performance but
we are looking for a desire to learn a technique that will improve your capacity to help with
both your own and colleagues low motivation levels.

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Motivation

Motivation requires a goal
Motivation is at best difﬁcult for individuals, groups, teams etc if you don’t have a goal
Without a goal there is no purpose - motivation becomes an intent rather than a reality.
We all need hope and a reason to strive to achieve. Goals are central to motivation
We must be looking forward to something so goals and objectives must be set

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Motivation

The health Warning - Why Setting Goals Can Do More Harm Than Good

Goal Setting
Before you set out to make and keep a list of new year’s resolutions for you and your
company, consider this: Researchers from four top business schools have shown that
goals often do more harm than good. Sean Silverthorne interviews HBS Professor Max
Bazerman about the findings in this this Q&A, which first appeared on the HBS Working
Knowledge website.
It’s the rare manager who doesn’t partake in quarterly or annual goal-setting exercises.
And woe to those who don’t make their goals SMART (Specific, Measurable, Attainable,
Realistic, Timely).
But do these goals really work? Researchers from four top business schools have
collaborated to show that in many cases goals do more harm than good. Worse, they can
cause real damage to organizations and individuals using them.
“We argue that the beneficial effects of goal setting have been overstated and that
systematic harm caused by goal setting has been largely ignored,” the researchers
conclude. Bad “side effects” produced by goal-setting programs include a rise in unethical
behavior, over-focus on one area while neglecting other parts of the business, distorted
risk preferences, corrosion of organizational culture, and reduced intrinsic motivation.
One example: the explosive Ford Pinto. Presented with a goal to build a car “under 2,000
pounds and under $2,000″ by 1970, employees overlooked safety testing and designed a
car where the gas tank was vulnerable to explosion from rear-end collisions. Fifty-three
people died as a result.
Used wisely, goals can inspire employees and improve performance, the authors agree.
But goal setting must be prescribed in doses, not as a standard remedy to increase
productivity. They even offer a warning label and list 10 questions managers should ask
themselves before starting goal setting.
The working paper, “Goals Gone Wild: The Systematic Side Effects of Over-Prescribing
Goals Setting,” was authored by Lisa D. Ordóñez, Eller College of Management, University
of Arizona; Maurice E. Schweitzer, Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania; Adam D.
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Motivation

Galinsky, Kellogg School of Management, Northwestern University; and Max Bazerman,
Harvard Business School.
We asked Professor Bazerman to explore in more depth some of the paper’s findings.
Sean Silverthorne: So, are you against incentives and goals?
Max Bazerman: No, my coauthors and I are not against incentives. We believe in
incentives. And each of us has found goals useful in limited domains. But we are
concerned about the simple specification of stretch goals that permeates the goal setting
and management by objectives literature.
Q: How can goal setting go wrong?
A: When people focus on a specific stretch goal, and fail to perform other valued activities
that are needed by the organization, goals are failing. This is what Staw and Boettger
found many years ago.
When employees care exclusively about reaching a goal, and bad things can happen if
they fail, cheating goes up. This is the most important result in the goal setting literature—
found by my coauthors Lisa Ordóñez and Maurice Schweitzer.
Q: Are goals by themselves a problem, or is it the way we use them?
A: When we can so easily predict the dysfunctional behavior that will ensue, I would argue
that it is the goals themselves. Far too often, people want to blame the individual. But
when organizations and governments create dysfunctional systems that can be predicted
to lead to bad behaviors, I see the problem starting with the dysfunctional system. And I
see the creating of optimal systems as a key leadership function.
Q: Specifically, what is wrong with managers designing stretch goals for employees
to expand their knowledge or capabilities?
A: If you know the exact specific behaviors you want, stretch goals may be just fine. But, if
you want employees to engage in other pro-social behaviors (e.g., helping others in the
organization) and/or to act ethically, you need to be a lot more careful than simply
providing a stretch goal.
Additionally, there is a growing set of research that shows “learning or mastery” goals have
much more positive effects on performance and internal motivation than “performance”
goals.
Q: Your paper is rife with examples of goals gone wild, everything from overcharging by
Sears auto mechanics, to disappearing New York cab drivers, to Enron. Do you see goals
as a contributor to our current economic collapse?
A: There are lots of culprits, which certainly include dysfunctional reward systems. And I
am sure that goals played a role. But I certainly do not mean to blame the crisis on a set of
specific goals.

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Motivation

Q: One side effect of goal setting that your team identified is a rise in unethical behavior.
Example: Your paper mentions that Bausch & Lomb employees falsified financial
statements to meet earnings goals. I know bounded ethicality is an area of study for you,
so could you explain a little more the correlation between goals and unethical behavior?
A: Sure! The majority of my recent work is on bounded ethicality, or the ways in which
even ethical people engage in unethical behavior without their own awareness. Thus,
many good people engage in sexist behavior without knowing that they are doing so. Or
they claim credit based on the false belief that their role on the team was more important
than reality would dictate. And they are affected by conflicts of interest without knowing

that conflicts of interest affect them.
Similarly, good people can focus so much on reaching the stretch goal that they fail to
realize how this has dumped other work on their co-workers, led the company to accept
mortgages that are too risky, etc. This behavior prompted by stretch goals is leading to
unethical behavior, without the knowledge of the protagonists of the unethical action—or
what we call bounded ethicality. Also, Adam Barsky theorizes that focusing on goals
actually distorts our perception of what is unethical behavior so that we are less likely to
consider the ethical implications of our actions.
Q: If goal setting is so pernicious, how did it become such an embedded, accepted (and
for publishers, profitable) practice?
A: It is easy to implement. It is easy to measure. It is easy to document successes. And in
laboratory experiments, it has been shown to be extremely successful at improving the
measured behavior. Lisa, Maurice, Adam, and I simply argue that goals have gone wild in
terms of their impact on other unmeasured outcomes. When we factor in the consistent
findings that stretch and specific goals both narrow focus on a limited set of behaviors
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Motivation

while increasing risk-taking and unethical behavior, their simple implementation can
become a vice.
Q: When are goals appropriate, and what ingredients should be included?
A: Goals are appropriate when you know exactly what behaviors you want, you aren’t
concerned about secondary behaviors, and unethical behavior is not a big risk. In other
cases, you still might want to use goals, but we recommend doing so with caution, and our
paper discusses the needed steps to take (e.g., strong leaders who model appropriate
behavior, oversight to prevent unethical behavior, etc.).
Q: One of the most famous stretch goals was delivered by President John F. Kennedy: “I
believe that this nation should commit itself to achieving the goal, before this decade is
out, of landing a man on the moon and returning him safely to the earth.” Good goal?
A: It was excellent for motivating behavior. It was a stretch goal that got us going. And as a
side effect, it increased training and funding in the sciences. It may have also increased
the degree to which the United States and the Soviet Union spent limited funds on
mutually unhelpful defense expenditures. So, I think the answer is in the eyes of the
beholder. Personally, I think society might have better spent the extra funds that went to
NASA.
Q: If not goals, what?
A: Creating environments where people want to achieve, where they want to help the
organization, and where they want to do so in an ethical manner. Research shows that an
even stronger effect than goals is intrinsic motivation, having individuals do an activity
because they ﬁnd the work rewarding in and of itself. Given that goals can undermine this
intrinsic value of work, sometimes the best solution is no speciﬁc stretch goal at all or at
the very least mastery or learning goals.
I do not need someone to set a stretch goal for me. I am happy to help make HBS,
Harvard, and the broader society a better place. And if I do not want externally imposed
stretch goals, and believe that I do not need them, I think there are many others out there
in the same condition.

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Motivation

Goal setting model within a coaching approach
The GROW model
The GROW model was developed in the United Kingdom and was used extensively in the
corporate coaching market in the late 1980s and 1990s.
There have been many claims to authorship of GROW as a way of achieving goals and
solving problems. While no one person can be clearly identified as the originator Graham
Alexander, Alan Fine, Sir John Whitmore,who are well known in the world of coaching,
made significant contributions. Max Landsberg also describes GROW in his book The Tao
of Coaching[
GROW is very well known in the business arena but it also has many applications in
everyday life. The particular value of GROW is that it provides an effective, structured
methodology which both helps set goals effectively and is a problem solving process.
It can be used by anyone without special training. The value of GROW is that it is easily
understood, straightforward to apply and very thorough. In addition it is possible to apply it
to a large variety of issues in a very effective way.
G Goal This is the end point, where the client wants to be. The goal has to be defined in
such a way that it is very clear to the client when they have achieved it.
R Reality This is how far the client is away from their goal. If the client were to look at all
the steps they need to take in order to achieve the goal, the Reality would be the number
of those steps they have completed so far.
O Obstacles There will be Obstacles stopping the client getting from where they are now
to where they want to go. If there were no Obstacles the client would already have
reached their goal.
Options Once Obstacles have been identified, the client needs to find ways of dealing with
them if they are to make progress. These are the Options.
W Way Forward The Options then need to be converted into action steps which will take
the client to their goal. These are the Way Forward.

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Motivation

Example
This is a very simple example of using the GROW model to achieve a goal. This example
deals with weight loss. The client wants: ‘To bring my weight down to 120 pounds in three
months and keep it down’. That is their Goal.
The GROW approach would then be to establish the Reality by stating what their weight is
now. The coach would then ask awareness questions to deepen understanding of what is
happening when the client tries to lose weight, thus identifying the Obstacles. These
questions could include:
•

When you have been able to lose weight – what made the difference?

•

What is the difference between the times you are able to keep weight off and the
times when you put it on again?

•

What would have to change for you to be sure you could lose the weight and keep it
off?

If the client genuinely answers these questions they will discover new information about
what works and does not work for them in terms of weight loss, and create some potential
for change. It then becomes possible to
create some strategies or Options
which get around the Obstacles. These
could include looking at which diets or
exercise regimes work best, or ﬁnding a
speciﬁc type of support. Once the client
knows the strategies that are likely to
work they can establish a Way Forward
which involves taking action steps. This
is where they commit to what they will
do in the short term to put the
strategies into effect. For instance, one
action might be asking a particular
person for support, and another might
be to buy a different selection of foods.

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Motivation

Try it out – Exercise
Individually - Construct a CV - containing your planned achievements for the forthcoming
year
In pairs - Coach using 1 of the coaching models, working on the assumption that you are
meeting in 1 month
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Motivation

Everybody Has a Motivational Fuse
This law says that everybody can be motivated. They may have the
fuse but we don’t know at what point it will ignite. Sometimes it is
just not cost effective to continue trying to spark a person into
activity or greater performance.
Every one of us does have a fuse, and an
effective motivational manager will try
many ways to spark somebody into a
more motivated mode of behaviour. When
one tries and fails, the manager in many
cases blames himself; and for any
manager one of the most unpleasant
duties is to ﬁre an employee. But
sometimes this can be the best course of
action because, as we have already said,
it may be the environment that is not
conducive to effective performance. On
the other hand, it could be the attitude of
the individual that is determinedly unwilling
to change; the individual that perpetually
points the ﬁnger and says: ‘It’s not my
fault, it’s everybody else’s. It’s the
company, the product, the paperwork. It’s
the manager. In fact, my job is a lousy job.
Isn’t it extraordinary how jobs don’t care about people? It is what
people care about the job that makes the difference. One person can
quite emphatically state and believe it is the worst job humanity has
ever created. Yet another taking on that same job, with a different
attitude, will say and believe it is the greatest job ever created and
how fortunate they are to have it.

So in handling this law, as a motivator, you must understand that
everybody does have a fuse and they can be sparked into life. Equally
you must accept that sometimes the effort and time involved just
might not be cost effective.

You must understand that everybody does
have a fuse and they can be sparked into life.

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Motivation

Consider a Colleague
Think of a number of your colleagues and try to identify what you believe their motivational
fuse would be ignited by:
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Motivation

Once established Motivation never lasts
This law stems from a common
management mis-judgement. I
attend many conferences every year
and one of the main objectives
of company conferences is to get
everybody together, impart
information on past performance, tell
them the news and set out the
goals and plans for the future. The
overall objective is to send the
participants and delegates back
home with their batteries recharged
and highly motivated. And most
conferences do achieve that
objective. But that motivation and
warm feeling does not last. It is a
bit like blowing up a balloon – if you
don’t tie a knot in the inlet, the
air will come back out again.
Motivation should and must be an
ongoing process. It is not a once a year booster.
Some organisations have a yearly appraisal where each member of
staff meets for private discussion with their superior and where their
performance is appraised. This, of course, can be a motivational
exercise as well as a demotivational one. But the purpose of
appraisal, if it is conducted correctly, is motivational – where one
discusses strengths and weaknesses and draws up plans of action
and self-improvement for the future.
But in some organisations this is the only time a person’s
performance is discussed with a superior – just once a year.
Therefore, accepting that appraisals can be motivational, apart from
the essential requirement of correcting unproductive performance or
behaviour, it makes sense to have a more regular, perhaps quarterly,
schedule of mini-appraisals as well.
That is only one example of on-going motivation, but please do
accept that just because an individual might be motivated today, it
doesn’t mean they will be motivated tomorrow.
A person can be motivated at their workplace and be demotivated in
their home environment and vice versa. That alone is a good enough
reason why every individual should understand the power of
motivation, understand themselves, how they feel and why they
react; what causes them to be happy or unhappy and what inspires
them to do just that little bit more.
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Motivation

We must all understand what really demotivates us and
then take steps to prevent
it happening as frequently as possible.
I can be demotivated by a motor car that won’t go or a letter on a
Saturday morning from my bank manager. I have since taken the
steps necessary to prevent or eliminate those causes of
demotivation. Regular care and maintenance of the vehicle is
certainly extremely effective. As far as the bank is concerned, when I
have either changed banks or my manager has changed, we have an
interview and I explain the terms upon which my account will be
conducted and if ever a letter arrives on a Saturday morning, the
account will be removed!
Redesign the appraisal process
Appraisals are often used as the medium to praise aide and improve motivation levels despite the overwhelming purpose of an appraisal being motivational unfortunately these
events can often have the opposite effect I.e. de-motivational. You have been assigned
the task of making the appraisal process in your organisation more motivational. Howe
would you change the appraisal process
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41

Motivation

Motivation requires recognition
This is such a powerful law. Continue to break it and you will never have around you
people who are truly motivated.Recognition comes in so many different forms: from the
Peerage to the ‘thank you’ letter; from the way you introduce somebody to the admiring of
a vase of ﬂowers at home.
People will strive harder for recognition than for almost any other single thing in life.
Recognition can be a compliment. If you are a parent you no doubt have experienced your
child returning home from school with some work. It may be a picture he or she has
painted, and you as a parent admire that picture, show it to other members of the family
and pin it up on the wall. The result will be, as I am sure you have noticed, not only a
motivated child but also more pictures.
Genuine compliments are a form of recognition and it takes a ‘big thinking’ person to give
another a compliment. Small minded people are unable ever to recognise the
achievements of others.
In business, companies give recognition at conferences where they thank members of
staff for performance, achievement and loyalty, etc. It is a golden rule that when giving
recognition, nobody should
be forgotten.
At one particular conference I attended, the chairman was awarding bottles of champagne
to star performers and these bottles had been earned by sales volume achieved. As he
ﬁnished handing out the last bottle, he asked the audience whether he had left anybody
out. One poor individual raised his hand in the air. A dumfounded expression
appeared on the chairman’s face and he was overheard to say to the assistant on the
platform. ‘Who the bloody hell is that?’ Fortunately, the assistant knew the salesperson’s
name. They both peered into a
bundle of record forms and in due
course the chairman announced
that, yes, the individual was right.
They had made a mistake but,
luckily, they had a spare bottle and
the poor fellow came to get his
reward. An otherwise successful
recognition event had been
devalued.

It takes a ‘big
thinking’ person to
give another
a compliment

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Motivation

The motivation Video
Watch the video and record any relevant conclusions regarding the content related to
recognition
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Motivation

Participation Motivates
There has been an enormous trend, starting in the mid-1980s, of company management
buy-outs, and in many cases what previously were fairly unproﬁtable companies were
turned round to become enormous successes. In many of these schemes there was
greater share ownership with the employees demonstrating that participation does
motivate.
People are often more motivated by how they are used in a job than by how they are
treated. Where people feel they are part of an experiment or part of a project they will
show a much higher level of
motivation.
So by getting people involved you will create a more motivated individual or group of
people.
Many managers do not share their plans, goals and objectives. They do not let people
experience a pioneering spirit. In January 1993, I was running a two-day sales course.
Having arrived at the hotel, I met up with some of the delegates and discovered a
demotivated. and demoralised group. I discovered, by asking a lot of questions,
that there had been a senior management change. The sales team now felt that they were
being dictated to, that their opinions were no longer sought or valued and that they were
not involved in decision making. Here was a situation I had to resolve. Next morning, I met
with the new manager and we spent two hours successfully sorting out the various
viewpoints. The new manager had not been communicating at all prior to our meeting.

Sell your ideas. Don’t just tell them. Get your people to embrace them.

November 201!

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Motivation

Seeing Ourselves Progressing Motivates Us
This is another law that you must understand fully. When we see ourselves progressing,
moving forward and achieving, we will always be more motivated. When we see ourselves
going backwards, we will be demotivated
In the early 1990s, the UK experienced a period of dramatic demotivation. This was in part
caused by the rapid decrease in property values in the late 1980s. Due to world economic
problems and various other factors, house and land prices fell from anything up to 50 per
cent in certain parts of Britain.People saw themselves as less wealthy, albeit paper wealth,
and the resulting response was a dramatic loss of confidence, uncertainty, demotivation, a
feeling of being out of control and very little unnecessary expenditure. Money was
channelled to the essentials rather than the luxuries.
Also during this time there was a tremendous demotivation amongst the property owning
fraternity as they saw houses rapidly losing value and mortgages exceeded their new net
worth. The nation and its people were in recession and they saw no proverbial light at the
end of the tunnel – so there was massive demotivation. This is an example of demotivation
caused by circumstances outside the majority of people’s control. This, in turn, led to
massive under-confidence. The importance of this example is understanding why or how
one feels. This knowledge will help people’s action to become motivated and, in turn, they
will find and develop ways of progressing.
I have met many people who find tremendous peace of mind after bankruptcy. The
devastating period of desperation and worry is removed once the bankruptcy takes place.
From then on, one can only go back up again.

It’s the fear of wondering what else can go wrong or can
happen that causes the demotivated feeling.
It is a human characteristic that when we see ourselves progressing in whatever form that
may be, we are definitely more motivated. Whether in our private or business life, our
hobbies, sports and interests, when we see ourselves moving forward, we just want to go
further. This law has to be used, worked on, managed and planned in order to maintain a
high level of motivation

November 201!

45

Motivation

Challenge Only Motivates If You Can Win
A challenge will only motivate a person if they think they have a chance of success.
I have seen too many contests and competitions organised by sales managers with the
object of inspiring people to greater sales results.They have not understood this law and
then wondered why only one or two people were motivated by the contest to raise their
performance, grasp the challenge and reap the reward.
Contests, competitions and challenges are extremely effective and most certainly do
inspire people to greater activity. But those who should be participating must believe that
they have a chance to win.
I have seen an instance where a company provided a two-week holiday for two in the
Bahamas as a prize. It was open to all members of a forty strong sales force. The prize
was to be awarded to the person who got the most sales in a three-month period. Three
people out of the sales team of forty set out on the challenge. These three had the biggest
area by territory, had the biggest volume of customers and enquiries all ready to handle.
They had also consistently been in the top three for the previous two years. The
remainder of the sales force were in actual fact demotivated by this challenge as they
knew they had little or no chance of
success. The difference between them
was so vast that it was near enough
impossible to make up the
ground.Challenge does motivate. People
will rise to the occasion. Challenge them
to get something worthwhile done and
nine times out of ten they will do it.
More and more managers are ﬁnding that
work in itself can be a motivator. Not just
work as a drudgery but other aspects of
work such as responsibility, challenge
and a feeling of doing something
worthwhile.
One can make a person’s work more
challenging by giving them the biggest
job he or she can handle - and with the
responsibility must, of course, come the
credit of achievement.

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Motivation

Motivation - Exercise
You have been assigned a project by your managing director to create a proposal to
enable higher motivation levels within your business. Prepare a 2 minute presentation
outlining what you believe to be the key factors in the execution of your proposal
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Those who should be participating must
believe that they have a chance to win

November 201!

47

Motivation workbook

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