“Motivation is when your dreams put on work clothes” – Benjamin Franklin
How can you and I possibly use this leadership quote?
Motivation is the desire to do things. It’s the difference between staying in bed and getting up in the morning. It’s the crucial part of setting and achieving goals.
As Ben Franklin implies in his famous leadership quote, dreams are not enough. You need to set forth your goals in line with your purpose and values. Then you must prepare for the work, set your stall out and begin. Persistence will require further and regular motivation. As Zig Ziglar says “People often say that motivation doesn’t last. Well, neither does bathing – that’s why we recommend it daily.” What a great way to express the fact that motivation will drift away if it is not reinforced regularly. These two great leadership quotes work hand in hand as we talk about motivation.
Influence your own motivation
You can influence your own motivation. In fact, the only true motivation comes from within. If you are in a position to motivate others then I suggest you accept that fact. You can provide the conditions for the motivation of others and the leadership to help them find a way but they must have the intrinsic spark, the desire, to move, to overcome the inertia of the status quo and change things.
Respect and trust
So, in my view, the famous Hawthorne experiments of Elton Mayo proved in the late 1920s showed that motivation comes from respecting people and trusting them. What the experiments also showed was that the factors affecting motivation in human beings are extremely complex. There are those who say “people are motivated only by money”. That is not a quote about leadership I would recommend. Indeed there are those who absolutely insist on that fact. Perhaps they are reflecting their own approach to motivation. I take a much wider view. There is no doubt that in some cases money is a factor. If you are not familiar with the “Hawthorne Effect” I suggest a read through the Wikipedia article which gives some excellent background and detail.
Know yourself, know others
In understanding the fundamentals of why people do things, Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs is a good grounding. The Wikipedia article will help with a basic grounding in that theory. You will find it helps you to understand your own motivation. Once you know yourself a little better, it becomes far easier to know others.
You can help your own motivation for yourself by reading the leadership quotes and articles on this site – and then you have to apply the learning from them!
So figure out what you want, push yourself through the pain and procrastination and start being who you want to be, living the life you want to live. Starting right now.
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Books on leadership for further reading:
The One Year Daily Insights with Zig Ziglar (One Year Signature Line) (Kindle Edition)
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Why We Do What We Do (Paperback)
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