Let us begin by asking ourselves how we like to be treated. 

If your friend who loves football keeps taking you to football matches, even though you prefer watching tennis and have told them so, how does that make you feel? Do you like it? How much do you appreciate the effort they put in to get these tickets?

Now let’s presume they went out of their way to get tickets for Wimbledon. How do you feel now?  What has changed?

By treating you the way you like to be treated, they have achieved double appreciation: for the effort they made and for the fact that they chose something that you like.

The secret of motivating people lurks in finding out what motivates them and then delivering it back.

What do you need to do to find out?

You need to ask them the right questions and then listen to their answers. This sounds simple, doesn’t it? Isn’t that what we do every day, all day, anyway?

Some of us do and some of us don’t.  And even for most of us who do, the results might vary.  It all depends on how you listen and whether you are asking the right questions, in the right way.  It might, therefore, pay off to investigate these two areas and look at how you can improve your questions and your listening skills – but that’s for a different blog. (https://haywoodmann.co.uk/the-why-of-what-how-where-when-who-which/)

The answer to motivating other people is not ‘treat them like you want to be treated’.  We need to be motivated ourselves to motivate others and each person knows best what motivates them.  Therefore, start with finding out more about them and what motivates them or doesn’t.

How ready are you to embark on those conversations? 

Do not unto others as you would have them do unto you – their tastes might be different.          

George Bernard Shaw