Some very clever people teaching leadership have created this idea that a good manager motivates their team to do better, to reach higher and to achieve. A quick Google search on “How will a good leader motivate others” returns pages full of articles with tips on how to motivate your workforce with words like inspiration, appreciation, money, shared values and more. 

Now don’t get me wrong – all of these things are important and might feed into how somebody chooses to respond but at DISCsimple we argue that NO one can motivate someone else to do anything. Have you ever tried to get your children or other half to do something that they don’t want to do? Loads of money? A rousing speech? Nagging, bribery, punishment? While some of these might work some of the time, none work 100% of the time and with good reason – none of these “motivators” addresses the real source.  

Motivation comes from within. 

You can no more motivate someone to do anything anymore than you can change the colour of the sky and whatever your work environment is, YOU will not be able to motivate anyone into working harder or more productively.  

Then HOW do you get your team to do what you want/need them to? 

At DISCsimple we believe that what you can do is to create a workplace environment where it’s easy for people to find their own natural motivation. This means building an atmosphere that addresses employees’ basic needs and preferences so they can do their best work. It’s important to understand the nature of the environment you naturally create because it has a major impact on the motivation of the people you manage. 

When you are thinking about the environment that you are creating there is no one size fits all solution. 

We are all different and each has different things that get us out of bed in the morning.   

Each DISC style will have a different way of influencing a motivational work culture which will help get the most out of their teams. 

Doers, dominant or the D styles do well when their working environment allows independence and the opportunity to challenge themselves, D’s like to understand the bigger picture and to have some control and really work hard when there is the opportunity for some healthy competition. 

Influencers or I style thrive in collaborative circumstances that have positive energy and champion enthusiasm. An opportunity for self-expression and socialising is a great motivator for an I style. 

Supporter or S style team members also enjoy collaborative environments but really value structure and security. They like to be informed of any change in good time and need clarity of task. Avoid rushing an S style. You might also have to push them to share their ideas. 

C Styles have to be able to work independently and be given enough time to process the task and be able to give feedback to someone who will listen to their concerns. They like to use logic and define their quality standards and will hold others to it.  

Being aware of what motivates you is important, and being able to appreciate what motivates others allows for understanding, BUT the real gold comes when you learn how to adapt to others while keeping your needs in mind!  

If you would like to find out more about how the Management profile can transform how you work with your teams and how it can transform your organisation’s productivity, teamwork and communication you can download a sample report or a brochure, book a demo, buy a profile and create some people magic in your team. 

Keeping things simple in a complicated world.

To learn more about the DISC tool and how you can learn to identify different DISC styles. Come along to one of our free lunchtime sessions. They are full of powerful insight into the world of Everything DiSC® (part of the Wiley group) and in just 30 minutes you will learn something! We run a learning session every Monday and a Pro session for professionals already working with DISC every other Thursday.

If you are a people development expert, independent consultant or coach and would like to benefit from a like-minded and supportive network of people get in touch at discover@discsimple.com to find out how you can become a partner.