How to Motivate People and It’s Not What You Think (part 1)

When people hear the term “motivation” images flood their minds of “magically” getting people to do things they would never do; or a slick over-marketed term that describes 80% of the public speakers in existence or a term that has run it’s course.  While this may be the case it is not the focus of this article.  For our purposes we are going to look at how people are motivated and when you discover how entrepreneurs/ solopreneurs can gain leverage in a business setting. Or put another way, when you figure out what motivates a person you can cater to that person’s needs far more effectively than your competition.

In the late 1920 Eduard Spranger identified six ways people are motivated.  Gordon Alport and Philip Vernon conducted additional research and further refined Spranger’s model.  In a nutshell people are motivated six ways:

• Economic
• Aesthetic
• Power and Authority
• Social
• Doctrine
• Conceptual

As you read this article keep in mind the motivators are neutral and that people tend to be motivated by a two of the motivators.  For the majority, people tend to have one main motivator (driver) and a secondary motivator that plays a lesser role (read: tempers) to the primary motivator. Last, if you do not use the proper motivator on someone you could actually de-motivate someone. 

Let’s take a look at the first motivator - economic.  When someone is influenced by the economic motivator they are primarily interested in gain.  They thrive on usefulness, utility, ROI and practicality.  While most people think money is the sole way to influence them it is important to keep in mind that getting returns of time, money and non-monetary investment can influence them as well.  They are utilitarian, very transactional minded, pragmatic and very matter of fact.  Negotiating with them can be difficult  since time, energy and money are all viewed as investments.  Therefore your best bet on motivating them is to show them how to save money or how to make money.

The next motivator we will examine is the aesthetic motivator.  People who are aesthetically motivated have a high appreciation for visual and emotional awareness and respond strongly to form, symmetry, beauty, balance and color.  You can usually recognize these people since they are the ones who decorate their desks- lavishly!  They love to brighten up bland environments.  You can also recognize them since they love harmony of all kinds- including relationships.  This motivator can run so deep it impacts how productive one can be in a harmonius environment.

In the next article we will examine the Power and Authority and Social motivators.