It s About to Get Complicated

We begin our journey into the land of multiple causes with a warning: It s about to get complicated. We also offer a promise: If you follow the best practices of those who routinely step up to crucial confrontations and handle them well, you too will succeed.

After hemming and hawing for a few seconds, Myra explains that she really didn t want to do the job and asks, What s the big deal? Is it really worth the effort? From this particular response, we ll conclude that she s not motivated. Other signs that a person isn t motivated include the following: I had more important things to do. It wasn t my idea to switch jobs. If you think I m going to work on something that isn t on my performance review, you re wrong. All point to underlying motive. All imply I chose not to do it.

How do we make it motivating for Myra? What do we do to get Myra to march to the beat of our drummer , not her own? How do you reach into other people s psyches regardless of their power or position or, better still, regardless of your power or position and motivate them to do what they promised to do?

Hint: Your power doesn t matter all that much. In fact, in many cases the more you think you need power to influence others motivation, the less likely you are to do it well. Stick with us and you ll see why.