Reading People and Understanding What Motivates Them
As a career sales professional, I’ve always prided myself in quickly assessing what motivates people and understanding their decision making process. I think it has always helped me cut through politics and any other subversive undercurrents and get to the heart of things. Too often people get wrapped up in analyzing the minutia, details that don’t get to the heart of things. Whether this is a negotiation with a client, a conversation with your boss, a performance evaluation with an employee or a discussion with a peer, understanding where the other person is coming from, and more importantly, what they hope to get out of the conversation will help you achieve the best outcome.
In my opinion there are 6 things that motivate people in the work place. Of course, one can argue that these will change given certain circumstances, but generally, there is typically 1 driving force and probably a clear backup. During a person’s career, you can expect this primary motivator to change based on any number of factors: where he/she is in their career, pressure, family situation and priorities, health, etc.
As a manager, I always tried to assess what drove my employees to behave the way they did, and how I could work with them to achieve their goals. At the same time, by knowing what motivated them, I could also set goals and objectives in a way that also suited my needs. It never hurt to have their aspirations run in parallel with mine and the company’s.
The first Motivation is Money
This is the easiest motivator to identify, understand and manage toward, especially in a sales organization. It also comes, however, with a set of its own unique challenges. Financially motivated people are almost instinctively drawn toward sales, and most of the time, their personalities complement the choice. It’s important to set clear expectations (quotas) and metrics (compensation plans) for these people, the simpler the plan the better. Beware of those people, however, who try to take shortcuts or take advantage of the efforts of others to earn more income.
The Second Motivation is Praise
Employees who crave the acknowledgement that they did a good job and didn’t let you down were always some of my favorite people. As a manager it is important to identify these people quickly so as not to miss opportunities to give them their flowers. Handling their shortcomings can also be delicate as “praise-motivated” people tend to be sensitive. The best part, though, is that these people get so much joy out of you noticing that they are doing their job well and it doesn’t cost you anything.
The Third Motivation is Promotion
This is what drove me during my 20 years at HP/HPE. From Day 1 in 1988, I wanted to be a VP at HP. I asked a lot of questions, met a lot of people, tried to take advantage of 1:1 time with executives to position and align myself with the best-in-breed managers and executives, people that I could not only learn from but might also remember me on their way up. It never hurt to leave an impression with people that had a high ceilings and high goals too. I made it clear to my managers what my short and long term goals were, but that I would never compromise my current job for what “might be”. I think setting those ground rules early always kept me in good standing with every one of my managers, and ultimately gave them the confidence to advocate on my behalf when promotions came around.
The Fourth Motivation is Power
There are definitely people who crave power in a way to establish control, whether it’s a situation, their environment, a narrative or people. As much as there may be similarities to the quest for promotion, and power more often than not comes with power, they can be mutually exclusive. I have known people who chose to hide in the shadows, not assume the authority and weight of the title, but rather orchestrate behind the scenes. They enjoy many of the benefits of the seat of power, but without the spotlight and the responsibility that comes with it. Once identified, these people can be strong allies as well as feared enemies.
The Fifth Motivation is Fear
Fear was the hardest to manage for me because it created the most conflict, questionable behavior, distrust and decrease in productivity. Decisions made through fear are rarely positive and usually destructive. Once an employee is worried about their job, or concerned about their performance, fearful about how they stack up to their peers, it becomes all-consuming and ends up in paralysis. This fear leads them to start spending time making excuses for their work product, or worse, spending work hours looking for another job. It’s hard to manage through this fear because most of the time, it’s justified. People intuitively know they aren’t doing a good job or are over their heads, and are unwilling to either admit it or ask for help. If the employee is worth saving, you need to reassure them that you see how hard they are trying. You might suggest some other tactics, coaching or a mentor. Sometimes, their effort may simply need to be refocused in the right direction.
The Sixth Motivation is Education
I reserve this one for engineers who love certifications and going to classes. These are some technical staff who simply love being the smartest guys in the room, and quite literally need the diplomas to prove it.
Don’t get me wrong, in the end, we don’t work for free and everyone is motivated by money. We need a paycheck to live, but aside from the necessities, look under the hood and find out what really makes people tick and see if you can reach them at that level. Once you understand how to push their buttons and when to push, your ability to connect at a visceral level will increase.
