Thoughts on motivation and early steps to remarkable work

What do you do and why do you do it?

You have worked out your elevator pitch, right? So you can tell me what you do in a few words. Great! Though why do you do it?

Tell me why and I will ‘get’ your passion and then ‘we’ can do some amazing work together. Without you’re ‘why’ we’re merely transacting, it may be very good though it’s probably boring. So what do you love about what you do? The why is your motivation

 

Here’s my what and why

I coach executive teams to deliver remarkable results

 

I love it that my customers achieve remarkable business results

I love the challenge – it’s wickedly complex

I love seeing people in front of me come together

I love hearing about their progress and achievements

I love getting their feedback when it’s worked and they have made a difference

I love it that I have to be at my very best every time

I love it that I have a process that works

I love learning and growing and making my process even better

I love giving people space and time to think and plan – together

I love it that I have lots of time to think and create without corporate constraints

I love it that I can take the long view and make an immediate impact

I love it that I can research and write and I love my writing

I love it that I connect with people, being on the same wavelength

I love it that I see people grow in front of my eyes

I love it that they come in confused and frazzled and leave clear and more confident – every time

I love working with my team and getting their energy and wisdom

I love it that I am still in service to the UK construction industry 40 years on

I love it that I can take a complex concept and simplify it so it connects

I love it when I inspire people

I love it that I widen people’s perspective so they have more choices

I love sharing what works

I love it when we all laugh out loud

I love it when I get them and they get me

I love it that I get paid for doing what I love doing

I love it that I can do this forever

 

Some early steps to remarkable work

Of course, when I am talking about ‘we’ doing some amazing work together I am really talking about you and your team or you and the JV board, or the project leadership team or even you and your customer or suppliers. When you share and align your motivations, why you do what you do, then the magic happens. It’s remarkable.

So, the first step, if you haven’t already done it, honestly work out what you love about what you do. Your list will be different to mine, though I hope mine is a useful prompt.

And then what? How about rather than trying to motivate your people, you find out what motivates them – what do they love about what they do?