How to
thrive with drive: The secrets of the highly motivated motivators: You need a spark, not a push.
There is a huge
misunderstanding that motivation has to do
with the carrot or the stick. Bonuses and threats are not motivators. They are
external forces that can at most MOVE you but not really MOTIVATE you. There
was a farmer in the Western Cape who once said: ”I have a five point plan for
motivating people – and it works like this …” – and he showed his fist and open
hand as if he wanted to slap you in the face.
The people moved when he was near – but the problem was – when he was
not there his farmworkers didn’t work. When
he sent his son to university, the son failed miserably because dad, the source
of fear that forced him to study was many miles away. The problem is: Fear and bonus can move you,
but not permanently motivate you. When the source of fear is gone, or the bonus
gained, then the ‘motivation’ is gone.
Leaders and parents must realize: Motivation is not about pushing
or pulling a wheelbarrow – it is about turning wheelbarrows into self-driven
vehicles.
A former CEO of Sasol in Secunda, mr Bram de Klerk told me once: “I
don’t want my people in my plant to be cogs in a well- oiled machine. I want
them all to be little engines – engines the can drive themselves and the
company to new heights.” He knew the secret of lasting motivation namely that his
people and his company will thrive with drive – the internal
drive of igniting their internal combustion engines. It was a great insight from the man who once manufactured most of the petrol used by motor vehicles in
South Africa. (Through the Sasol Coal-to-Liquid [CTL] process in Secunda).
He also knew that the task of a leader, a CEO or even a
motivational speaker, is not to push or pull people, to threaten (rule by fear)
or only to incentivise people, but rather to serve as an engine starter and a spark plug. Leaders and motivational
speakers must ignite the inner
engine: your passion, purpose and your
spirit. It is not about kicking butt. Bob Wilson said: "You get the
best effort from others not by lighting a fire beneath them, but by building a
fire within."
Let’s recap: External temporary motivation such as:
(i)
Fear: I want to avoid …(e.g. poverty, etc.)…
(ii)
Bonus: I want to
achieve/get/have .....(e.g. a nice
house/car, etc.)....
can move you.
Bonus and fear motivation combined with a bit of passion (the
inner drive of emotion) may turn you into a go-getter and even take you to some
heights - even the peak of success or
the top of the Maslow triangle of self-actualization (overcoming the fear of
hunger, insecurity, loneliness, anonymity and the fear of not using all your
potential). But that is as far as it can take you.
Inspiration motivation, on the other hand, will take you beyond
the summit of success, to significance. It will turn you from a go-getter into
a go-giver:
To ignite your inner engine of passion, purpose and spirit you need
to activate your permanent internal (even eternal) motivation: Leaders and
inspirational speakers must facilitate processes to ignite the following: :
(i)
The Motive (the WHY?) of your existence: Why do you get up in the morning? What do you
live for? What will you sacrifice for? What are the important relations you are
living for? What will you give your time and your life for willingly?
(ii)
The Purpose: Why on earth am I on earth? You find your purpose in your
design. You have talents that must be connected to a specific need in the
world. There-in lies you purpose. You
are demotivated when you live against your grain, but you are in ‘flow’ and
motivation comes easy when you are doing what you are designed (even destined) to
do.
(iii)
Dan Pink said the profit
motive must never be divorced from the purpose motive. But he added two more
things to purpose: Autonomy &
Mastery: What is it that thing, if I have autonomy, I would like to master?
E.g.: playing the guitar. Doing my own thing which I instinctively feel is true
to myself! Dan Pink even pointed out that bonus motivation demotivates people
if used for complex tasks!
(iv)
E-motion: Can I manage my emotions well and get the inner energy of
emotions to work for me? Emotion is energy that, if managed correctly can drive
you to great heights. It doesn’t matter if it is intense emotions of joy or
sadness – the energy can be harvested and channelled to achieve/create great
things. One person said: To be a great poet, you must be miserable or in love. The ability needed to harvest any emotion for
your own gain, is the ability to focus on the opportunity in all situations and
not on the threat.
(v)
En-thusiasm & In-spiration: All of
us admire and enjoy inspired and enthusiastic people. How is it possible that they
are always motivated? Did you know that the word ‘inspiration” comes from the
two Latin words: “in” + “spiritus” = ‘the spirit inside’. And did you know that
the word ‘enthusiasm’ comes from the two Greek words: ‘ev” + “theos” . [ev = in and theos = god.]
Enthusiasm has to do with “God inside”. Enthusiastic and inspired people
discovered the secret of being connected to the source! Do you expect an electric light to shine that
is not plugged in? Now why do you expect your people to shine without being
connected to the source – the source of life? I like to give recognition to the fact that I
got life as a gift – a gift from God – the creator and source of life. I can do my work as a motivational and
inspirational speaker because I am connected to the source – the source of life
and love. My belief, my chosen truth, is that God is love. Because I am inspired by his Spirit I don’t
have to do it out of my own energy. Therefore I am always motivated – yes,
sometimes physically tired, but always motivated. It is to be a channel, a pipeline, a
fountain of energy. I am not the source of energy – merely the channel – but because
of that you can never be depleted. .
It is almost like St Francis of Assisi of old
who said: “
.. make me an instrument of your peace; where there is hatred, let me sow love;
…; where there is doubt, faith; where there is despair, hope; where there is
darkness, light; and where there is sadness, joy. Grant that I may not so much
seek to be consoled as to console; to be understood, as to understand, to be
loved as to love; for it is in giving that we receive, …”.
When speakers/leaders/helpers/psychologists
think they are the source – that is when
and why they burn out – because they try to do it in their own strength – and
they are depleted before they even realize.
The need for “Motive
cleansing”: But there is one more thing. The world is not
just a great place full of good things. No, there are also many negative forces
at work, stemming from the worst inner drives you can imagine. That is why all of us must also do “Motive
cleansing”:
The strongest motivation comes from inner drive. But be
careful: There are two kinds of inner
drive: The positive drive of love, and the negative or neorotic drive of hatred
and deficiency. Hatred for the enemy can
drive a suicide bomber to give his life and take as many people with him – in
the hope of gaining some sort of bonus at the expense of others. Love, on the
other hand, can drive you to give your life to save others.
The neorotic drive to compensate for a deficiency can consume
people, get them to work themselves to death, and turn them into obsessive
compulsive seekers. They have an emptiness inside that can never be filled: that re-actively want to fill a gap, instead of
pro-actively living from the core of their being and talents. They are the VDP’s:
The Very Draining People. Time for them to do 'motive cleansing' otherwise they will always be stuck in losers motivation.
Losers motivation is about hatred and gaining at the expense of
others. It is a neorotic drive to gain fame and possessions and throw it in the
bottomless pit of deficiency. The only conclusion there is Mick Jagger’s: “I
can’t get no satisfaction”!
Winners motivation is fountain motivation. It is about giving love
(loving your neighbour and the enemy) because you are connected to the source
of love. It is the only motivation that can take you beyond yourself and your
own needs, beyond the summit of success, to significance. They are the VIP’s.
Not the very Important people but the Very Inspirational People. They are the true
motivators that help you to ignite this spirit in you.
Bad motivational speakers create a surge of emotion for people to
clap hands and cheer. I call them them the cheerleaders, the feel-good
speakers.
Great motivational speakers on the other hand ignite the fire. Adlai
Stevenson related once that in classical times when Cicero had finished
speaking, the people said, 'How well he spoke,' but when Demosthenes had
finished speaking, the people said, 'Let us march.' "
The elusive secret of lasting life-long motivation is after all not
that big a secret. It is just to ignite the inner engine: your passion, purpose and your spirit. It is
to thrive with drive.
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Dr Gustav Gous is an International Motivational Speaker and
Executive Life Coach with experience on 5 continents. In the past he
was the in-house counselor for the petro-chemical company Sasol
for 9 years. He facilitated in numerous Trauma counselling sessions
after industrial accidents. He is known for his Transformational leadership
programmes on Robben Island, titled the “Short Walk to Freedom”.
He is a Certified Speaking Professional (CSP) and past President
of the Professional Speakers Association of Southern Africa and a
member of the APSS (Asia Professional Speakers Singapore).
Currently he is heading up the Diversity Intelligence Institute,
specializing in rolling out Diversity Intelligence interventions for
Follow him on Twitter: @GustavGous or on Facebook and LinkedIn .
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