How to motivate employees

1. Quotable quote

"Good managers don't motivate others. Motivation comes from within the individual. It is not something that one person does to another. What a manager must do is to find ways to enhance and reinforce the motivating forces within their employees. Employees who hear their bosses talking about motivating them may worry about being manipulated rather than motivated."

2. It's a fact

President Lincoln, when told that General Ulysses S. Grant had a drinking problem, and well aware that Grant was his only winning general, replied: ‘If I knew his brand, I’d send a barrel to the other generals.’

According to Peter Drucker, each of us is abundantly endowed with failings and weaknesses.

‘The effective executive is as hidebound as everyone else,’ says Drucker. ‘He differs, though, in that he is willing to ignore individual weaknesses, including his own, and focus instead on bringing out people’s strengths. He concentrates on what they can do, not what they can’t, as his criterion.’

Which is why, if you want to get the most out of your staff, you’ll need to know what motivates people.

3. Don't forget

The Five-Is of motivation