Motivate your team by building momentum

Last week, we looked at how a leader can effectively communicate and connect with team members who have different personalities. This week we tackle another aspect of leadership which motivation. 

Most leaders will agree that at some stage of the leadership journey, one must deal with the challenge of creating change and this often calls for using tactics for the change process to go smoothly. I believe this is when energising and motivating the team becomes very crucial.

As we discuss strategies that as leaders, we can use to create momentum which then motivates the team to achieve desired results, we will again use the Maxwell Method of DISC to discuss how to motivate the different personalities on the teams we lead.

What is certain is that when it comes to building momentum, the buck will always start and end with the leader. In the book The 21 Most Powerful Minutes in a Leader’s Day, John Maxwell writes that, “What is that key that makes it possible for an organisation to keep the momentum going? The answer is not what but who: the leader. It takes a leader to sustain momentum.” 

I recall having a conversation with a leader and they told how when they took over leadership of a certain organisation that was doing well but the board wanted them to take the organisation to the next level, they started by taking all the staff to lunch in groups of 10. 

During the lunch, they asked everyone to answer the question where will you be professionally in the next five years? 

This question helped the leader ascertain who they could count on to build the momentum they wanted to create. I believe knowing that a time of transition from one leader to another is the most critical time for continuing momentum, this leader not only wanted to sustain the momentum but to increase it.

Now let us briefly look at how to motivate team members who display the different personalities of DISC before we conclude with some strategies for building and sustaining momentum. 

For team members who display the D personality, it is recommended that we offer them challenges and problems to solve. Given their ambitious nature and the fact that they tend to be driven, they will deliver results. Another motivator for them is offering them positions of authority and allowing them to take some risks. 

On the other hand, team members who display the I personality, will be motivated with some praise and providing them with a friendly environment where they can engage with other people.

When it comes to team members with the S personality, they will be motivated when they are recognised for their loyalty and dependability. Also offer them security as they work.

Finally, the team members who display the C personality, tend to be motivated when they are allowed to work on detailed tasks and given the limited social interaction they crave.

As we conclude, it may be argued that for a leader to motivate the team and sustain momentum in an organisation, they must remember that whether the demotivation of the team was created by them or their predecessor, if they sit in the leadership seat, it will always be their duty to raise the morale of the team.

To do this, one can ensure that they build a team with the various skills needed to motivate different personalities so that together they can steer momentum in the direction in which the leader wants it to go. 

Finally, a team will be motivated when they observe the momentum of the leader. In the words of Eleanor Doon, “You cannot kindle a fire in any other heart until it is burning in your own.” 

To this end, a question for us to reflect on this week is, what am I currently doing to build the momentum in my team? Next week we will spend some time reflecting on the practical actions we can take to build the momentum in our teams.

Rosette Wamambe is a transformational leadership coach with the Maxwell Certified Leadership Team    [email protected]