Motivation Isn’t One-Size-Fits-All

What motivates you might not motivate your team—and a recent fifth-grade coin drive made that clearer than ever. In this week’s Two-Minute Tip, I share a quick story from my daughter’s school and why she was suddenly so motivated to give.

As leaders, we often assume people are motivated the same way we are. But when someone’s needs or drivers differ from ours, it’s easy to unintentionally overlook what matters most to them.

This short video is a reminder to pay attention, stay curious, and adjust your approach so you can support people in the way they actually need.

P.S. Want to take a deeper dive into this? Check out my free guide for using the Languages of Appreciation with your team.

• Read the video transcript

  Well, recently, my daughter's elementary school was doing a coin drive to raise money to support local families at the school, which is pretty awesome.

  And of course, they also turned this coin drive into a competition. So each classroom was competing against all the other classrooms to see who could raise the most money. And of course, we're first and foremost focused on building her heart of generosity, a heart that desires to serve and support. So we've had lots of conversations around that. But I noticed as the clock was ticking down, as the coin drive was coming to an end and her class wasn't in the lead, she was bringing more and more of her own money in to contribute. And was she bringing it in because she wanted to serve and support? Kind of, but mostly to be honest, it was to win the competition.

  And it reminded me that oftentimes in leadership, we, we expect others to be motivated in the same way that we're motivated and, and what happens then is if we have employees who are motivated in a different way than us, we struggle to actually provide what they need.

  I saw this recently with a leader who had somebody on her team who really craved words of affirmation -- like he needed to be built up. And she was not the same way. She really didn't love to get a lot of attention. She kind of didn't need to be in the spotlight, didn't need those words of affirmation. And so she wasn't pouring them out on her team because she just assumed that they were the same -- wired the same way.

  And so I want to encourage you that if you are in a leadership position or just on any team, to be in tune with how are the others around you really motivated? And are you intentionally adjusting your style and your approach with them to speak to what they need? Because with my daughter, I know if we bring competition into it, her motivation factor is going to go up off the charts, right? But if we try other approaches, it's not going to be as effective.

  Think about what is going to be most effective with your employees, with your team members, and speak their language.