What happens when you have a team that is uninspired or unmotivated? Nothing gets done.
The same is true in the family.
If you’re not helping your team at work and your family at home to get and stay motivated, you will find things extremely difficult. You won’t see results. You won’t see things get done. And you won’t be able to feel proud of a job well done.
Thankfully, you can impact your family and workplace to get and stay motivated. While it’s not your job to do this, you play a critical role in helping them find their motivation to get things done.
So, what can be done to inspire and motivate your team and family?
You may wonder what it takes to inspire a team at work or your family at home. It’s a good thing to wonder. You have to have an idea of what you’re doing and what you’re getting into.
Try these tried and true tips for motivating both your team and your family.
Offer uplifting praise:
Praising the good works of your team or your family can dramatically change the way they work and act. Your positive words of affirmation can help people see themselves in a new light.
When someone does something great at the office, give them a pat on the back and a good job. At home? Let them know how much you appreciate them. Tell them the meal was great or that you appreciated them picking up the kids.
The more positive reinforcement you give, the more you’ll see your team and family acting in ways that align with what you desire.
Create clear goals and/or expectations:
Leaders get stuck in the squirrel syndrome. This is where they hop from one goal to another, never allowing themselves or others to accomplish a goal. This changing finish line frustrates those who are working toward a goal.
As a leader, you must set clear goals and create clear expectations. You also have to be willing to allow those goals to be chased without changing the goal.
Set clear goals, help your people understand where you want them to go, and then help them get there.
Listen to feedback:
Your team and family have thoughts about you. These thoughts may not always be positive. Be willing to listen to their feedback.
What your team and family tell you can radically impact your leadership. You may discover blind spots you’ve missed, covered up, or had others cover for you.
Listening and positively responding to feedback can be a motivator to those you lead. By listening, you show them that their input has value.
Allow them to make decisions:
Leaders can limit the decision-making power of their teams or family. By being the final say, your voice and presence can destroy the confidence someone has in their decision-making process.
Free your people to make decisions.
For the workplace, allow your team to spend a certain amount without question. Or let them start a new project without your permission. Give them the power to be empowered.
For your family, give your children ever-increasing power in their decision-making. Allow them to make small decisions that have small impacts on life. Show them how their decisions impact themselves and those around them. As they begin to understand, empower them with bigger and bigger decisions.
Lead by example:
I’ve never felt more discouraged or uninspired at work than when leadership didn’t lead by example. They’d place motivating quotes around the office or production floor and spout core values, but when it came time to live out the values espoused, they were found lacking.
The example you set as a leader in your organization or home matters. The people you lead and care for are watching you.
If you’re not being a positive example of what to do, you’re being a negative example. And people will follow.
