5 Ways Great Leaders Motivate Their Teams

It was 7PM on a Thursday, a few months ago. A part of me wanted to leave – to get back home, eat a nice dinner, play with my kids, talk to my wife, and lounge on my soft couch. Long hours, team members counting on you, and an increasing pressure to increase revenue will do that to you.

A tiny voice inside me was egging me on, “why not take a breather, chill and get some rest?” I started to agree. We already had come so far in a short amount of time. We were adding true value to our clients; built a mobile learning platform to align to the modern organization and their learners; and created Microlearning content to improve professional skills that got results.

But there was a competing voice that reminded me how far we still had to go. One that pointed out our competition's long client list; had first hand knowledge of our talent gaps; and stored vivid images of our revenue numbers against growth goals. It was a voice that shouted a quote that was engrained within me:

“Success seems to be connected with action. Successful men keep moving. They make mistakes but they don’t quit.” – Conrad Hilton

I knew that in order to ultimately be successful, it wasn’t just about me. It was about about motivating a team and getting each individual to hear the same motivating voice inside their head that I did in mine.

Here are 5 ways you can motivate your team everyday: 

1. Communicate the Vision. In order to be motivated at all, people have to know where they going. The vision has to be something they buy into and are driven to reach every day. Whether you’re running a Fortune 500 or a small team, communicating the vision, daily, through verbal or visual cues is paramount to increasing motivation.
   
   
2. Set Attainable Goals… Together. Goals can’t be monetary. Money is a by-product of the process. People aren't motivated to achieve 15% revenue growth year over year. They get motivated by hitting goals they help set. Goals that help them feel fulfilled by their job. Goals like customer satisfaction results or brand new client logos as a result of their personal work. Then tie money or commission to the results of team or individual goals.
   
   
3. Take Them “Out of Their Comfort Zone”. Naturally, when you take people out of their comfort zone it provides a challenge. It’s easy for individuals to get discouraged if your not there to encourage and help them in challenging environments. Once team members know they are going to be challenged to achieve more than they did the day before, intrinsic motivation will follow.
   
   
4. Invest in Them. One of the easiest ways to motivate people is to invest both time and money into their development. People take note and care when leaders show genuine interest (time) and provide skill development opportunities (invest). When team members feel this way something magical happens… they give back two-fold.
   
   
5. Give Authority. Delegating authority, not tasks, is a powerful way to motivate. Authority is much different than tasks and can come in many different forms. Take for example when a football or basketball coach names team captains. The coach is not only giving some authority to the captains, but also motivating others on the team to one day become the captain. By giving authority to team members, you're showing you believe in them and their ability to make sound decisions. The result is instant motivation.

Try putting these 5 motivational techniques in place to give your team motivation that won't quit.