The Four Laws Of Leadership (Part Two)
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Summary: The best leadership is motivational. But the author
contends that most leaders misunderstand motivation. Here are
four laws of motivation that will help you be a better
motivational leader. In this second of two parts, the author
expands on the laws he described in Part One.
The Four Laws Of Leadership. (Part Two) by Brent Filson
In Part One, I described the laws of motivation. In Part Two,
I'll examine the laws in more detail.
Law 1. Motivation is physical action. Motivation isn't about
what people think or feel but about what they physically do. In
leadership, you should understand the difference between
inspiration and motivation.
The word "inspiration" comes from the ancient Greeks and the
oracle of Delphi. The oracle would sit in front of a fissure in
the earth and breath in (inspire) earth vapors and in a
half-drugged state, make her pronouncements. For instance, when
she told the Greeks only a "wall of wood" would save them from
being annihilated by the Persians, it was the Greeks themselves
who had to take action and build up a great navy that ultimately
defeated the Persians at the Battle of Salamis.
Motivation, on the other hand, comes from a complex of words
beginning with "mo." Motion, motor, momentum, etc. all denote
physical action.
Getting people to not simply be inspired but motivated to take
physical action may seem like a simple, even simplistic,
approach to leadership. However, once you begin to see your
leadership interactions in terms of physical action, you'll see
your leadership, and the way you get results, in fresh ways.
For instance, in my seminars, participants develop Action Plans
designed to achieve measurable and continual results back on the
job. I have them challenge the cause leaders they enlist to take
physical action by asking them, "What three or four leadership
actions, PHYSICAL ACTIONS, will you take to achieve the results
we need?" The difference between people simply saying they will
execute their part of the Plan and their committing to specific
physical actions leads to a significant difference in results.
Remember, people who simply take some action are useless to the
organization. The useful ones are those who take action for
results. For the end of all action in an organization is
results. Therefore, the best action is freely chosen action
directed toward specific results.
Law 2. Motivation is their choice. When you face a particularly
tough challenge, avoid meeting that challenge by ordering
people; instead, have people make the choices to meet the
challenges.
An effective way to have them make the right choices is to ask
them questions.
Here is a tip that you can start using immediately to become a
more effective leader. Put question marks, not periods, at the
end of your sentences. That's one of the best ways of developing
an environment in which people are making the choices for
results.
Some of the most powerful questions a leader can ask are: "What
is our challenge here? Why is it worth tackling? How do we feel
about it? Do we have the facts we need? Are we asking the right
questions? What results are we really seeking? What's the worse
thing that can happen? Why are we having this problem? Can you
explain that further? What if we do nothing? Have we explored
creative approaches? What do you propose? And what can I do to
help?"
Law 3. Emotion drives motivation. The words "emotion" and
"motivation" come from the same Latin root meaning to move. When
you want to move people to take action, you must engage their
emotions. I'm not talking about getting people emotional. I'm
talking about having people make strong emotional commitments to
what you're challenging them to achieve.
The best way to make that emotional connection is with
Leadership Talks.
My experience working with thousands of leaders world wide for
the past two decades teaches me that most leaders are screwing
up their careers. On a daily basis, these leaders are getting
the wrong results or the right results in the wrong ways.
Interestingly, they themselves are choosing to fail. They're
actively sabotaging their own careers.
Leaders commit this sabotage for a simple reason: They make the
fatal mistake of choosing to communicate with presentations and
speeches -- not leadership talks.
In terms of boosting one's career, the difference between the
two methods of leadership communication is the difference
between lightning and the lightning bug.
Speeches/presentations primarily communicate information.
Leadership talks, on the other hand, not only communicate
information, they do more: They establish a deep, human
emotional connection with the audience. For more on the
Leadership Talk, click on my website in the resource box.
Law 4. Face-to-face speech is generally the best way to motivate
people (i.e., have those people choose to be motivated.) A
middle-manager told me, "Where is our new CEO? We call
him