Extrinsic Motivation is primarily driven by a logical justification. In performance it is reward and for a buyer this translates to how much does it cost, what is the technical specification, how long will it last, what happens if something goes wrong, etc? Intrinsic Motivation is much more influenced by an emotional rationale. Again in performance the parallel is recognition, and so for a buyer this equates will it make me feel good, do I trust the salesperson, what will others think about it, do I like the look of it, etc?

Let’s consider purchasing a car which for most is quite a considerable monetary investment. You will be influenced by the price, make, size, safety, and perhaps service capabilities – often information you can access online before even entering a dealership. These are all very important things to know but alone these will not finalize your decision. Then you walk into a dealership and everything changes. Suddenly some of the rational thinking is superseded by the demeanor of the salesperson and how they make you feel. You will also be thinking, what does this vehicle say about me (successful or not), what will my friends think, does it feel good when you sit inside and then experience the drive? Though the extrinsic component is important and perhaps initiates the process, the intrinsic is essentially in terms of the final, and hugely critical, decision making piece.

Many would argue we justify logically but we actually make decisions on emotion. So as you consider your role as a salesperson selling a product or a manger selling an idea, consider the intrinsic or emotional strings that need to be pulled in order to gain a commitment from the other person. It will help close that deal.

©2012 New England Coaching. All Rights Reserved.

From Repetitive to Creative

Whether its automation or outsourcing, the traditional blue collar work is in decline. In a recent USA Today article it was reported that 80% of new jobs in the US are now created in white collar positions. Even within this work category the traditional financial and analytical jobs are also leaving our shores. What’s left is a melting pot for innovation and having an ability to be continuously improving and looking for the next generation product. We have truly transitioned from the physical (repetitive) to the intellectual (creative).

From Directive to Autonomous

Primarily driven by this “new” type of work, leadership styles and how business operates from a people perspective has had to change. A repetitive, mass production environment might be more conducive to a directive style of management but when you are trying to motivate and manage creativity it just does not work like that. The new approach is based on supporting the autonomy of the individual in executing the task but ensuring that they are still accountable for results.

From Tactical to Strategic

Work is also becoming ever more complex. To support the creative mind and autonomous worker there is also a greater need to understand the bigger picture. Even though individuality is valued it must be in the context of a greater purpose; one that connects with the strategic intent of the business. Organizations need to provide appropriate training, develop open communications and engage employees like never before in order to optimize performance and retain their key people.

Quite apart from the social implications of all this what does it mean for the employee of today? Certainly they have to be more adaptable and flexible in their working arrangements. Interestingly what can be quite a challenge for the boomers (48 years+) is an expectation of the Gen X (less than 25 years) people. The later are growing up in this “changing” landscape and will clearly ensure its continuity and sustainability.

©2012 New England Coaching. All Rights Reserved.

From Repetitive to Creative

People producing identical widgets as part of a mass production process have been replaced by undocumented processes where employees have to use their creative capabilities to complete multiple tasks and outputs. Solutions are not obvious and therefore people require analytical, problem solving and communication skills to achieve desired results.

 From Directed to Autonomous

Leadership has had to adjust from being the driver of making things happen to becoming the facilitator of desired results. Of course people still need to understand expectations and receive feedback, but also want the freedom to execute the tasks necessary to achieve required outputs.

From Physical Labor to Intellectual Labor

80% of all new jobs created in the US today are for work involving one’s intellectual capacity. Much of the traditional labor has either been outsourced or automated so developed countries have had to re-invent themselves to create an economy driven by brain power. Consequently people are more educated and come with much higher levels of expectation.

From Local to Global

Accessibility to the internet and other technologies has created markets that are now based on a much broader global model with even greater transparency. We now live with global accessibility for even the most routine of services. If you want an electrician, you can go online and easily find hundreds within a 50 mile radius, so nobody is exempt.

All of these changes dramatically affect, not only the qualifications of people hired, but also what motivates them. What do you think motivates this new workforce most?

a) The extrinsic factors such as money and rewards or,

b) The intrinsic drivers such as challenge, autonomy and recognition.

©2012 New England Coaching. All Rights Reserved.

In the past these extrinsic motivators were thought to revolve around the “carrot and stick”. Today the notion that rewards motivate people has been replaced with the realization that rewards only motivate people to seek the rewards (at any cost sometimes). This of course only promotes short term thinking such as what happened in many of the failed financial institutions to the catastrophic detriment of what is most important in the long run. Businesses that run from quarter to quarter are compromising the long term viability of their organization and that is exactly what most “carrot and stick” systems do.

However through work by people such as Daniel Pink, he is putting a new face on what really are the true motivators. He contends that the following are the key universal drivers of motivation and if employees can have these fundamental needs met, it augers very well for the organization.

o Purpose: the ability to do something that is in service of something bigger than yourself

o Mastery: the opportunity to continue to grow and be better at something important

o Autonomy: the desire the be free to do what you want

These in turn feed the universal drivers of engagement which are:

o Praise: the degree to which we praise our organization to others

o Persist: the degree to which we persist in the face of adversity

o Perform: the degree to which we perform freely in excess of expectations

Organizations need their staff to be fully engaged. When this is happening it reduces turnover, boosts innovation, increases productivity and attracts top talent. Motivation is the linchpin to making this happen.

©2012 New England Coaching. All Rights Reserved.

Once these surveys are undertaken and organizations wish to elevate their engagement score, three areas where significant developmental opportunities exist are:

Emotionally Intelligent Leaders

Do qualities such as being responsive, empowering, resilient, expansive, empathetic, authentic and present best describe people worth following? Emotionally intelligent leaders clearly understand that their approach is less about them and more about, through these qualities, supporting and coaching the people who make it happen. This very much compares to what Jim Collins in “Good to Great” described as Level 5 Leaders; those having Personal Humility and Professional Resolve.

Highly Motivated Employees

Employee motivation is influenced by a number of factors namely your job role, your boss, the team you associate with and the organization (and culture) you are part of. Based on these criteria, it is important to ensure that the motivational need of the individual compares favorably to what is available to them; there is a fit. By focusing on developing these areas, employees are provided with a greater sense of belonging and desire to make a more meaningful contribution.

Use of Coaching Skills

The very essence of coaching involves supporting other people’s success. The skills are rooted in connecting through listening, questioning, acknowledging and validating and genuinely supporting the other person. However there is also a clear focus on action but one that can be agreed upon, acted on and recognized when complete. Coaching is used to provide people with the resources, knowledge and skills to make positive decisions/actions that can advance the individual and their organization.

©2012 New England Coaching. All Rights Reserved.

The following are some key categories and associated questions that one should consider in terms of what might be right for you.

1. Knowledge – Is your area of specialization something that could drive your own business or fit in better as part of an organization? How might your knowledge and experience be most fully leveraged?

2. Motivation – Are you a self starter or do you need others to motivate and acknowledge your efforts? Can you hold yourself personally accountable or do you need somebody else to hold your feet to the fire?

3. Change – How receptive are you to change? Can you handle change initiated by somebody else or would you prefer to dictate your own pace of change?

4. Independence – How important is developing your own plans, executing upon them and/or creating your own schedule? Do you like flying it alone or would you prefer to be part of a team and have a boss?

5. Risk/Reward – Can you handle all the risk personally or are you better sharing the risk with a team? On the other side of risk, what are the potential and associated rewards and is it worth it?

So however you may answer these questions hopefully it helps provide some insight into where you truly want to be. If you are in that transition phase consider working with a coach to help bring some clarity to your next move. Good luck!

©2012 New England Coaching. All Rights Reserved.

Learn from the Past (Knowledge)

We cannot drive looking through the rear view mirror. However we can grow from our mistakes and build on our successes. In other words, past experiences do not guarantee success but the knowledge we gain can have a huge impact.

• What significant lessons have you learned from your mistakes and those of others?
• What has worked well and been successful for you?

Live in the Present (Energy)

The current moment is where you can derive the mental fortitude to continue working hard whether it’s through the taste of success, the fun of competing or simply the exhilaration of being part of something bigger. In addition viewing things with optimism will ensure that the energy is present to be that driving force.

• Where do you add the greatest value to the business?
• What about your work positively energizes you?

Plan for the Future (Outcome)

Though we cannot guarantee what might happen in the future we can do many things to influence the outcome. Here’s where it all comes together because, learning from the past and truly living in the present, are the key ingredients to effectively planning for the future.

• What is your vision?
• What are the associated goals to start to realize this vision?
• When are the associated actions and timelines to realize these goals?

In other words the “Outcome” desired comes from your “Knowledge” gained plus the “Energy” put in (O = KE).

©2012 New England Coaching. All Rights Reserved.

So what are a few key tips to consider when running your small business?

1. Plan - many consider this painful primarily because they do not know how to do it or simply see it as unnecessary. This process can be as simple as you want to make it and some of the fundamentals involved are:

• Identify your time based goals (typically monthly and annually).
• List the activities associated with achieving those goals.
• Create a monthly scorecard to track performance to those goals.
• Review the scorecard and feel good about your successes.
• If necessary, amend goals and/or change associated actions.

2. Delegate – identify the things you are good at and like to do that add value to your business. Whatever is left, pay somebody else to do it. You can easily and quite reasonably contract out web design, monthly accounts, marketing, etc.

3. Continue to Learn – what is it about your business you do not fully understand? Go to classes or hire a coach and learn about finance, sales, strategy or whatever else you feel that your knowledge of could accelerate the growth and success of your business.

4. Time Management – spend your time wisely. Ensure that what you do is always adding value. Make time for thinking (about your business) and for resting (so that you are at your best when working).

5. Discipline – create a system, whether it’s a “To Do” list or planner that allows you to stay focused on what needs to get done. Feel free to prioritize these activities also to ensure that the important things are getting done. Finally stop doing anything that is not adding value.

If most entrepreneurs were to follow these few simple tips on a regular and consistent basis, their likelihood of success and personal / professional fulfillment would be greatly enhanced.

©2012 New England Coaching. All Rights Reserved.

This is pretty scary and you might rightfully wonder how are you going to even find that 10%, let alone the 3% who want your product? The answer lies in you ability to communicate your message in such a compelling way that even those within the 90% become interested in what you have to sell, thus making your likelihood of success far greater.

Here are 5 key tips to increasing your probability of success.

• Get their attention initially by telling them something that wows them. This could be a personal success and it normally gets a response like “wow, I didn’t know that.
• Place the focus on what they need and not what you sell. Through your research try to find out what is important to them and demonstrate that you understand their needs. This could be through insightful questioning of the individual, speaking to others or doing some independent research.
• Offer something of value to them. This could be in the form of some information or insights that would be useful to them
• Provide some consequences for inaction. Holmes argues that bad news sells and gets people attention far quicker the good news – even when selling. This could be around poor choices, unhealthy lifestyles, economy, etc.
• Be ready to clearly demonstrate how you can help them. At this point you will have created sufficient interest and intrigue they’ll want to know how you can help.

If you can prepare accordingly, you will feel a lot more confident and compelling. Consequently, your probability of success will be far greater.

©2012 New England Coaching. All Rights Reserved.

In a recent paper by Ruth Donde and David Rock of Result Coaching Systems, they highlighted how one can measure the effectiveness of training internal coaches. The four parameters under which they assessed the initiative were as follows:

Reaction

Through a series of pre and post evaluations they assessed participants’ reaction to the training in terms of such things as:

• Perceived value by the organization
• Levels of stress experienced.

Learning

For this participants were asked questions that assessed their level of confidence in helping others. Examples of questions asked included how they helped others:

• Manage time and priorities
• Grow and develop

Behavior

Through the pre and post evaluations, measures were created that assessed participants ability to demonstrate communication skills and also rate their communication acumen.

Business Impact

The more tangible ROI impact to the business was assessed by reviewing key business metrics around revenue growth, cost control, employee retention, and general productivity of the people directly supported by coaching.

From this it is apparent that the impact of developing internal coaches can have far reaching impact to the organization, both quantitatively and qualitatively.

©2012 New England Coaching. All Rights Reserved.