Motivate with Recognition
Building connections with the work and people in an organization inspires team members to achieve the mission. In the book Switch: How to Change Things When Change is Hard, the Heath brothers explain this appeal to the emotional side of individuals is equivalent to motivating an elephant. A rider can tug on the reins of the six-ton creature for only so long before the effort fails, and the elephant needs more than force to keep going. A more effective approach to guiding behavior and building meaningful connections is to recognize individuals for displaying the characteristics and actions that will move the team to success. The elephant responds to positive recognition.