Motivation and Manipulation – Let’s begin by distinguishing motivation from manipulation from a management perspective. From a very simplistic perspective, manipulation is about getting somebody to do something because you want them to do it. In contrast, motivation is about getting someone to do something because they want to do it. That’s the difference.
A great friend of mine once said: ‘It’s the difference that makes the difference.’ Since the beginning of time, corporate management has operated under a manipulative regime, which has resulted in poor – and in many cases busy – management in nations around the globe. Managers in the British government stopped talking to their employees and only communicated with unions for a period of time. My experience as a business consultant and trainer has not included an instance in which the union was the cause of the problem.
An ineffective, untrained board cascaded conflict to management because of ineffective, untrained directors. They did it that way if the management style was to hide behind closed doors if the management style was not to communicate well if the management style was to impose. Although I have already mentioned that our world is a people’s world, many organizations still promote people to management or leadership roles because of their skills in another area. Managing others is a skill very few people are trained in.
It is assumed that they are automatically capable of motivating, communicating with, and managing others, by some God-given right since they were good or effective in some other role. In this way, the cycle continues to repeat itself since many managers emulate their predecessors’ manipulative styles. Manipulation works, for sure. The problem is that it does not last and creates mistrust, resulting in a ‘them and us’ situation.
People management based on manipulation does not create an environment where managers and their staff work together toward shared goals. Inviting self-motivated people to interviews but expecting them to respond kindly to manipulation in the workplace is rather naive. Getting someone motivated is getting them to do something because they want to.
It also applies to you and me – if we are really motivated, we will be more motivated; if we are not motivated, we will lack self-motivation. Therefore, throughout this article, we will explore methodologies, principles, and techniques for both motivating yourself, as well as motivating others with whom you interact. Understanding and accepting the pain and pleasure principle is probably helpful.
In the same way as other animals, we will do our best to avoid pain. Instinctively, people want to avoid experiencing physical pain whenever possible. We are also naturally inclined to avoid mental discomfort. A common example of this instinct occurs when we are faced with unpleasant tasks like difficult phone calls, household chores, confrontational meetings, opening bills, exercising, and quitting smoking.
Those of us who seek pleasure, or perceive pleasure, will go to great lengths in search of it, which may be short-lived – overeating, overdrinking. As we will see when we examine goal achievement in more detail, the desire for pleasure is important to success.
It is the achievers of this world who manage to maintain the balance between pain and pleasure. Self-discipline and self-management are two different words, but we should experience limited ‘pain’ from time to time. He encourages others to use his BANJO mnemonic technique, which was developed by my good friend Steve Bennett, a successful entrepreneur and founder and builder of Jungle.com “Bang A Nasty Job Off”
Putting off doing an important or unpleasant task is often a way for non-achievers to put off doing it; in many cases, they do not expose themselves to situations where pain might be possible because they are unprepared to do so. The ‘banjo’ technique is Steve’s first approach when confronted with unpleasant, difficult, nasty, or confrontational situations.
I recommend doing the unpleasant task first and then rewarding yourself with the enjoyable task if you have two tasks to do. It has always been a successful approach for me. As we both know, people with little or no self-management will behave in the opposite way.
We must also distinguish between attitude motivation and incentive motivation when putting motivation into perspective. Our society is familiar with the ‘carrot and stick’ method of motivating employees. We will examine the difference between the two different kinds of motivation since this is the view that many people still hold about motivation.
Motivation is based on attitude
How people feel and think is what motivates their attitude. Whether they are positive or negative, it’s their attitude to life, their self-confidence, and their belief in themselves. Their feelings about the future and their reactions to the past determine how they behave. It is important to have the right attitude from time to time – but more on that later.
Motivation through incentives
Basically, incentive motivation is when someone or a team is rewarded for doing something. As a summary, we can say: ‘You do this, you get that’. It has been discussed in detail what motivates people: the kinds of awards and prizes that motivate them to strive for more. When both kinds of motivation are present at work, both are at their most effective. It is extremely important to understand the difference between both types of motivation.
