Zig Ziglar famously said, “People often say motivation doesn’t last. Well, neither does bathing that’s why we recommend it daily.” Most people are desperately searching for their motivation. For some folks, they’ve been driving hard and are starting to feel the first signs of burnout. For others, well their motivation left around the first day of summer. Now they’re trying to regroup and get motivated to achieve their goals this year.

As a leader, your team has people who fall into each of these groups. Why does it matter? The more motivated they are, the more dedicated they’ll be to grow their businesses. The more they build and grow their businesses, the more people you’ll be able to reach.

Although you understand this at your core, you may be having trouble finding your own motivation. How can you motivate people if you’re not feeling so motivated yourself? After all, you’re trying to reach the goals you’ve set for 2019. If you’ve fallen off-track, you may be feeling overwhelmed as well. The good news is, you can still motivate your team if you’re not quite there yourself; in fact, the process of motivating your team may even help you get motivated.

Provide motivation for your team

Stay in touch

One of the reasons people lose motivation is they feel untethered from their teams. A team provides more than motivation; it also provides accountability and great ideas as well. However, over time, it’s so easy to lose touch with your team and teammates. Sure, you say you’ll reach out tomorrow. Then tomorrow hits with all of its last-minute demands and tomorrow turns into next week, and then next month. Before long, you realize you haven’t checked in in ages. (Then you begin to wonder if it’ll be super awkward to reach out now. Guess what, it’s not, so if you’re worried about that right now, pause your reading and get in touch!)

Staying in touch helps you gauge where your team’s heads are at. Although you’ll begin the conversation asking how they’ve been, ask open-ended questions to pry out more. 

Open-ended questions to ask

• What have been their successes?
• What are their major struggles and challenges?
• Do they wish they had more training in a particular area of their businesses?
• Are they on track to reach their goals? If not, why not? 
• What do they expect you to do to help them with their struggles and challenges?

The last question will give you insight into what you can do to help them. Some people just want a sounding board to share their struggles and frustrations to; they’re not necessarily seeking advice or help. Others want that help and some tips, but they may or may not ask for it. They may brush it off and say, “Oh, no, I can figure it out.” Just because they haven’t specifically asked for your help, it doesn’t mean they don’t want it. If you’re unsure, ask. A simple, “Do you want me to help you with that?” or “Do you want me to share what I did in that same situation?” is often enough to gauge whether or not they want your help.

Checking in also allows you to show your support for their businesses and offer encouragement to keep them on track. They know you’re there for them and are available to help if they need it. Plus, they may feel more accountable to their goals when they know that they have someone checking up on them.

Pro tips: Use Teamzy to help you remember to check in with your team regularly.

Look for ways to help and serve

Many business owners won’t admit when they’re struggling. To be fair, many don’t realize they are until someone points it out to them. We all feel like the superheroes of our own stories. The reality is, sometimes even Batman needs a break or at least a nap.

Running a business is hard, especially if there are challenges or frustrations at home. Perhaps your team is feeling overwhelmed by family commitments due to the new school year. It’s tough to get back in the flow of school, carpool, activities, sports, etc. when you’ve been away from it. Maybe they’ve experienced a family emergency and their heads aren’t in their businesses right now.

Pro tip: Look for ways to help and serve your team as well. It’ll strengthen your relationships with them and help you build an even stronger business. 

This is an opportunity for you to help them manage their time or connect them with someone you know. If they’re strapped for time and are complaining of a messy home, connect them with a house cleaning service. Then they don’t have to worry about a clean house on top of everything else. It’s a small gesture, but it’s one that shows you care. Most importantly, it shows you walk the talk and are willing to serve the people you care about the most.

Which brings us to…

Model the behavior you expect

In many ways, your team is a reflection of you and your business. If you want your team to thrive and work relationally, it’s important to model the behavior you expect from them. SHOW them how relationship marketing can help them grow their businesses and HOW to do it and do it well. 

It’s all well and good to preach to your team the benefits of relationship marketing. However, for many people, they have to SEE it in action in order to fully understand it. Once they truly understand it, they can absorb it and practice it on their own customers, prospects, and distributors. 

Walk the talk

By modeling the behavior, you can help them practice it themselves in their businesses. You can ask them what parts of the relationship marketing system they find easy and which ones are their biggest challenges. Then, from there, you can focus on modeling those behaviors with them.

For example, if they say, “You know, I’m really struggling with following up. I don’t know when to do it, and when I do I just feel so awkward and like I’m bugging them.” This is such a common sentiment, especially if their network consists of people who have been burned by traditional marketing methods in the past. This is the perfect opportunity for you to sharpen your own skills by practicing them on the members of your team. Then, you can take that a step further and talk about the process with the members who are struggling with it. Explain what you did and share your own struggles or challenges and how you overcame them. This makes you more relatable. Additionally, your team may be more receptive to your advice if they know that you’ve also struggled with the same things they have and have come out on top. 

Pro tip: Not feeling like a good role model? It happens – however, use it as an opportunity to be a better team leader and don’t be afraid to share your own struggles with your team. They’ll appreciate that you truly understand where they’re coming from. 

Training to boost your team’s skills and motivation

It’s almost time for the next Elite Business Bootcamp! We only open registration four times a year so if you’ve been thinking of signing up, this is your chance. During the 12-week training, you’ll gain the knowledge you need to thrive in your business and help your team thrive in theirs. Additionally, you’ll learn from experienced business leaders as well as from one another to share accountability and achieve more than you’ve imagined. What’s more, when you encourage your team to sign up you’ll share the concept, language, and tools required to succeed in relationship marketing and continuously grow your network. What are you waiting for? Click here to get on the list to register.