Power of Motivation

To motivate others is the most important of management tasks.  It comprises the abilities to communicate, to set an example, to challenge, to encourage, to obtain feedback, to involve, to delegate, to develop and train, to inform, to brief and to provide a just reward.

The word motivation seems to cause extraordinary emotional reactions amongst many people.  Motivation appears to be a general requirement.   Everybody wants more motivation, but they’re not quite sure what it is. The individual would say they would like to be more motivated. The manager or the leader would like to have a more motivated team or group, and the employer wishes to employ a motivated person. In fact, the employer’s demands are even greater in that the person they need should be self-motivated. If you understand what motivates people, you have at your command the most powerful tool for dealing with them.

Human beings are natural goal seekers and it seems that all the amazing achievements in the world come from highly motivated individuals.  We all live in a world of increasing complexity with incredible technology at our command.  The developments of computer technology, microchips, the internet and the progress in electronic data processing and creativity fields are mind blowing.

Yet the real world in which we all work is a people’s world.  Parents produce children, those children go through their educational years and then move on to develop their own career.  They in turn build relationships, get married and again children are produced.  And so the cycle perpetuates itself.

Motivation and power are so closely linked that one can say there is power in a motivated person.  There was an extraordinary story of a mother who had a terrible car accident with her baby son on board.  The car ended up on its side with the child trapped underneath.  The mother was fortunately thrown clear and unhurt.  When the rescue services arrived, they found the mother cradling her child in her arms, also unhurt.  They were taken to hospital for a complete check-up, where it was discovered that the vertebrae in the mother’s back had been crushed.  Apparently, what had happened was that she had lifted the car, removed the child with her feet and, in the process, damaged her back.  There was no known way under normal circumstances that the mother could have lifted the vehicle.  She did not have the physique, the strength or the muscle power.  But she have the power of motivation.

Inner motivation is and always has been the power behind mankind’s success and achievements.  In building or maintaining your own motivation, search for stories of success. Success depends very little on your age, colour, creed or circumstances.  The foundation of all motivation is Hope.  Hope is therefore a criterion for people to be motivated.  It is the cause for the effect — the fuel that drives the engine.  Without hope, no person could ever be motivated.  If you think you can, You can.

Motivation For Teachers

Authenticity
A good teacher communicates content.  A great teacher communicates character.  Your students will learn as much about you as they learn from you — maybe more!  How do you rise to that challenge?  Be yourself.  If you are honest, they’ll learn honesty.  If you are humble, they’ll learn humility.  If you are courageous, they’ll learn courage.  If you’re kind, they” learn kindness.

Even before you say,”Good morning,” you will be teaching.  Your lessons won’t just be displayed on an erasable board, an overhead, or a video; they’ll be displayed in your life as well.  Some of the most important lessons you will ever teach will be taught by your own classroom behaviour.

Be yourself, and the lesson will be a good one.  If you try to be something — or someone — you’re not, the lesson will have a negative effect.  Your students may not know how much about history, geography, or social studies as yet, but they already know human behaviour.

So drop the mask and smile your way into someone’s heart.  Your students will give you an “A” for authentic.

Be Yourself.

“What the teacher is, is more important that what one teaches.”  ~ Karl Menninger