| Legendary stories abound about locker room
oratory as 21st Century coaches channel Knute Rockne to rally the players before heading
out on the field for the Championship game.
Yet, if you ask many coaches and athletes what the pre-game
speech is like prior to most big games you would learn that the talk was rather subdued
and matter of fact.
The reason for this is athletes don't need to get motivated
for the championship game, they know what it means to get to that level of success, what
the stakes are, and how unlikely it is they will have the opportunity to play at that
level ever again.
Often, you find the real motivational talks take place at
key moments along the journey to the big game.
The best coaches know when to pull out the motivational
talk, when to let the team leaders speak, and when to trust the professionals they hired
to motivate themselves.
In 10-years of coaching business leaders it seems that this
is probably the number one area they struggle with most trying to maximize motivation from
their team of employees.
This leadership communication challenge hovers around what
I call the "3 T's of Leadership Motivational Communication:"
- Texture (what to say)
- Timing (when to say it), and most importantly,
- Tone (how to say it)
Even when the 3 T's are aligned properly, sometimes its
still not enough to deliver the desired results. This is due to other factors in the work
environment impacting motivation. Often, there are de-motivators sabotaging the best
motivational sessions.
Human motivation is a dicey, sometimes confusing, and
always a multi-faceted thing too, many organizational leaders ignore and just keep spewing
forth the Rocknesque oratory, with little to show for it in terms of results.
There are six different motivational theories that are
always at play in work environments that unless a business leader understands, the
confusion and frustration will continue. |
