Change is happening, is my motivation?

Life is never ending change, and with so many life and work changes happening around me I am wondering if my motivation is changing?

To me motivation is that feeling inside that makes you want get up and go, some days that motivation is our jobs, however other days that motivation is a person, a loved one in need or the desire to see an old friend. I feel motivation changes for each situation we are in, but if we are not motivated to act we would never be satisfied with where we are.



In the Shah and Shah article the section on Types of motivation, really made me think about my current work environment. My current team in under new leadership and each team member has their own needs when it comes to motivation. Shah and Shah state "if you understand what motivates people, you have at your command the most powerful tool for dealing with them." (2007, p. 1). I think that our new leader is still figuring this out so the satisfaction of the team is not as high at it could be. However, this article also mentions how motivation is not just a downward flow, I completely agree with this idea. As a team we all have the opportunity to motivate each other as we partner across functions to meet the department goals. Motivation as a team can be powerful since satisfaction of the team will increase, interpersonal realtionships will develop, and productivity will be high. This is where our team was in mid 2008, under our past leadership.

The theories of motivation where very interesting to me. Because while I was reading the theories either a work or life situation came to mind about a persons motivation. The one theory that really jumped out at me was McClelland's Theory of Needs. This past week a situation arose, and I feel that reading our this theory has given me some insight to that co-worker and their motivations.

"David McClelland has developed a theory on three types of motivating needs:

1. Need for Power
2. Need for Affiliation
3. Need for Achievement

Basically people for high need for power are inclined towards influence and control". (Shah, 2007, p.6). I realized when reflecting on this theory that the need for power that this person has is their motivation and when power/ control is lost they lose their motivation and the project, outcomes suffer. So the plan moving forward is to make the effort to have this person feel in control of the project as we partner to achieve the intended goals.

I am hoping that having this new knowledge about motivation, I can make the needed situational and personality changes to work better as a group leader and with my direct team. We all are unique which gives each of us our own motivation. Shah and Shah's types of motivation will help me in assessing situations and understating how I work best with others in getting the desired results.

For me the following quotes from the end of the Shah and Shah article will motivate me along on this journey of education and professional development.

- "The man who makes no mistakes does not usually make anything"

- "To be a winner, all you need to give is all you have"

Reference

Shah, K. & Shah, P. (2008.) Motivation. Retrieved July 10, 2007, from http://www.laynetworks.com/Motivation.htm