How Do We Motivate Others?
Motivation comes from within. The premise of motivation, or what drives it, is what we believe about life. Motivation begins with a life purpose driven by what we believe. Hence, in order to motivate others, they must be driven by a belief and purpose that motivates them and has successfully motivated them in the present and past. This must be the motivator’s experience as well; we can’t lead others where we have never been. Motivation that is not grounded in an ideology about life will not be a sustained motivation. When we motivate people, we want it to be a sustained motivation.
A good framework to articulate motivation is Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs. In fact, it is often presented as a motivational model (McLeod, 2023). The model is a theory of universal needs. The needs are split into deficiency needs and growth needs. These needs are then prioritized from base needs to individual growth needs. An important aspect of Malsow’s theory is individualism (Looti, 2022). The individualism aspect is very important because goals for self-actualization (growth needs) are going to be unique instead of a one size fits all approach.
Maslow’s hierarchy is usually prioritized and illustrated in the form of a pyramid. Basic needs are physiological and are at the bottom of the pyramid. If one is starving to death, little else is relevant. However, it is not uncommon for humanity to attempt to motivate people through the base of Maslow’s pyramid. Governments can attempt to do this by gaining complete control of basic resources, and then motivating people by threatening to take basic resources away. This is motivating people through fear. In modern society, this can be accomplished by offering people a generous salary, and once a person has taken the bait, they can be motivated by fear. In a corporate context this type of motivation can be cost effective in the long term because an employee can be motivated to do the work of two or three people for the price of one. The person is motivated by the fear of losing a generous income, which translates into money needed to supply basic physiological needs for themselves and their family. Usually, motivating people through fear is not sustainable for a long period of time.
The next two levels of Maslow’s hierarchy can also be used to motivate people in misguided ways because they are closely related to the basic physiological needs. Income is closely related to safety and security. Those who control your access to these basic elements will be tempted to motivate others through fear. However, most people have a low tolerance for abuse and anger can motivate people to take bold action and perhaps irrational actions. The Love and Belonging level on Maslow’s pyramid can also be used as a negative motivator. Love and belonging should be a natural outcome of proper respect and value of others, and not used as a threat to withhold a basic human need. Ostracization is a tool to motivate people through fear. It is the fear of being rejected.
Therefore, we should always ask ourselves why we want to motivate people. Is it for our own benefit or is it for the benefit of the person and others?
Self-esteem is the pivotal level, or the pivotal priority in motivating others. People must be motivated through their view of self. This necessarily begins with an ideology of individualism. According to the logical conclusions of Maslow’s theory, which is also a human development model (Kurt, 2020), the individual’s wellbeing is going to depend on self-actualization. This is becoming all that one can become. This is going to be different for everyone.
Therefore, a person is in competition with themselves and not burdened by competing with others. Life goals are also well defined. As a person strives to be all they can be, they experience a feeling of accomplishment and self-esteem that is based on truthful assessment. This ideology is also predicated on the ability of the individual—individuals are able. Most people are capable of accomplishing great things. However, according to Maslow’s theory, even if an individual is not capable of achieving some sort of greatness, they can still aspire to be the best they can be, and this will lead to self-actualization and subsequent personal wellbeing.
The contrary ideology of individualism is collectivism (Looti, 2022). Collectivists are impossible to motivate. They have been convinced that their self-actualization is defined by having their basic needs met. In addition, their morality will sometimes be defined by altruism leading to a refusal to invest in themselves. This lack of self-investment will hinder them from being able to help or invest in others. Generally, they are unhappy and unmotivated malcontents.
So, the key to motivating people is through their self-esteem leading to self-actualization. This means focusing on what they bring to the table and judging them according to that. People don’t necessarily understand philosophy and historic presuppositions about mankind, in fact, most don’t, but they have been raised according to individualism or collectivism. Hence, they function according to one or the other without knowing why in many cases. What people believe about themselves and their life purpose is going to determine their ability to be motivated.
People are motivated when you focus on their strengths and instill confidence in them based on truth. The only thing that motivates people, that is, a sustained motivation as opposed to a temporary motivation, is motivating them towards self-actualization through what they believe about themselves. This starts with a truthful self-esteem that is earned through accomplishment. Emphasizing strengths is the truth; while emphasizing weakness destroys self-confidence.
In conclusion, the ability to motivate someone is going to depend on their presuppositions about mankind. Secondly, you motivate people by properly assessing their abilities and encouraging them to fully exploit those abilities. Thirdly, they are the best judge of what their abilities are; the motivator primarily reinforces what they are in the process of discovering about themselves. Fourthly, criticism should be constructive, and rare, and not done in a way that hinders self-confidence. People will only try to do what they think they can do. Criticism has a minimal role in sustained motivation. Besides, people criticize others as a shortcut to their own self-esteem. Rather than earning their own self-esteem, they criticize others so they can stay where they are in life while feeling like they are better than others. Rather than doing the work of moving up, they attempt to move others down. Additionally, exercises in self-criticism are of minimal help in endeavoring towards self-actualization. Focusing on positive action will eliminate negative actions; you can’t do both at the same time. Introspection needs to be done in a way that does not hinder self-confidence.
Fifthly, motivating through fear will always be a temporary motivation. Motivation based on acquiring basic needs will also be temporary. Basic needs being met should be the natural result of self-actualization. Maslow placed basic needs at the bottom of the pyramid as a functional practical matter for achieving self-actualization, not the primary motivator. In other words, basic needs are merely a means to the end or the primary goal.
Lastly, others cannot be the judge of what someone’s self-actualization looks like. Others should only motivate the individual to do so for purposes of sustained, long-term motivation. This means a focus on what the individual brings to the table, and motivating that person towards upward mobility.
References
Dr. Kurt S. (2020, February 6). Maslow’s hierarchy of needs in education. Education
Library. https://educationlibrary.org/maslows-hierarchy-of-needs-in-education/
Dr. looti M. (2022, November 19). Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. Psychological Scales.
Dr. Mcleod S. (2023, July 26). Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. Simple Psychology.
Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs
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