How Great Leaders & Sales Pros
Tap Into Intrinsic Motivation,

PAGE 2

In page 1 of this intrinsic motivation, Activate Your Greatness, article we covered Five Statements that represent strength in this area.  I also stated that this is something all great Leaders and Sales Pros know about and cultivate in their lives.

In this next exercise you'll be begin to see this type of motivation and this Habit in action.

What High Intrinsic Motivation  Looks and Acts Like At Work:  The Column One/Column Two Exercise...

This exercise will take less than 5 minutes. It gives you an excellent real-world grasp of the power of high intrinsic motivation and why Activating Your Greatness is one of the Wake Up Eager Habits.

I want you to get out a piece of paper or open a Word Doc on your computer. Make two columns.

• Column One Heading is: HIGH Intrinsic Motivation
• Column Two Heading is: LOW Intrinsic Motivation

Now, I want you to think back through all the years you've been working.  Recall everyone. All the different Leaders and Sales Pros you've worked with. As you think of them decide if they were/are more in Column One or in Column Two.

• For Column One: These are the people you've worked with who seem to you to be: mostly self aware, motivated and inspired at work. They're effective communicators, and were able to give and receive feedback with ease.
• For Column Two: This are the people you've worked with who did not seem self aware, motivated or inspired at work. Their communication skills were often lacking and they not know how to give helpful feedback, or how to receive it.

Did you create your lists?  It probably didn't take you long to discover the same thing I did - that the people in Column One were (or became) the most successful Leaders and Sales Pros. The most effective, influential and the more happy and content people.

Column One, Column Two, All Decent People But...

Most all of the people on my lists in both Column One and Column Two were/are talented and decent business people.  And, I assume that all of them aspired to be great Leaders and Sales Pros.

But on my lists of hundreds of people (as a Professional Facilitator I get to interact with a lot of different people) the people I placed in Column One actually ARE seen as great by others, and carried strong influence.

The Problem With Column Two -
Low Intrinsic Motivation Professionals

Here's what I've observed and heard about people who you rated low on the five statements first shared on Page 1:

• They're perceived to be arrogant.
• Their style involves "pushing" people, demanding performance.
• They focus more on themselves and their needs, than on the needs of other people and are perceived by others as 'takers'.
• Their actions repel people or cause others to dig in their heels.This results in low trust on their teams.
• Their team, peers and clients tell them "yes" to their face, and "no" behind their back.
• They suffer a lot of stress, tension and frustration.

Why the Column One - High Intrinsic Motivation
Professionals Excel...

Here's what I've observed and heard about people who are rated high on the five statements on page 1:

• They're perceived by others to be open, helpful and accessible.
• Their style involves "pulling" people together through listening and inviting input.
• They give more than they take through listening and seeing the best in others.
• They are able to influence and inspire others to take action.
• They report positive relationships both personally and professionally.
• Their teams, peers and clients tend to say "yes" and also discuss WITH differing opinions and ideas, resulting in higher performance and stronger outcomes.

Mindset: Old-School (Column Two - LOW)
Versus. New-School (Column One - HIGH)

The "old-school" way of Leaders and Sales Pros has not been effective for a long time.

Old-School Mindset:

• "If you don’t like it, leave."
• "You should be grateful to have a job."
• "Anyone off the street could do your job."
• (Give notice) "Don’t let the door hit you on the way out."
• "It’s not personal, it’s business."
• "Career development's the employee’s responsibility-there's no time to train."
• "If they don't buy our products THEY must be dumb or something..."

Watch for these attitudes in the rush of your day. If they are there...you're demonstrating low intrinsic motivation, and you might want to review some of the Activate Your Greatness Assessments & Programs.

The "new-school" way of Leaders and Sales Pros is effective and has always worked. When a person has strong intrinsic motivation, they tend to look at situation this way.

New School Mindset:

• "If you don’t like it here---why?"
• "Thank you - your contribution matters."
• "Only you will do!"
• (Give notice)"If you must leave us, we hope you will stay in touch and tell us why you’re leaving."
• "It’s all personal."
• "Career development is the responsibility of the organization and employee- we invest in training."
• "If I can't help you with what you need, I'll find someone who will."

A New-school mindset requires self aware professionals who focus on mastering themselves as much as they focus on trying to 'master' their team, peers and clients.

Improving Intrinsic Motivation

Review these statements that represent beliefs and behaviors of professionals who are strong in this area.  If any of these statements is NOT true for you, click in the link to find resources to help you make the statement true for you:

• I can easily list my top ten strengths and values, as well as my weaknesses and blind spots.
• My job rewards my most important values and allows me to fulfill my goals in terms of personal growth, achievement, income and stability.
• A day on the job leaves me feeling energized, not burned out.
• I quickly correct misunderstandings and mis-communications when they occur.
• When others provide feedback about my performance I am not defensive.