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BY ARIELLE LAWSON | COMMUNICATIONS INTERN
Motivation is the desire or willingness of someone to do something. It’s the drive, ambition, and determination we need to work hard, especially when the going gets tough. However, it’s not always easy to remain motivated, especially after the year we're still recovering from.
We experience burnout, our work may not be producing the results we desire, or what once inspired us no longer does. Each of these can negatively impact our drive and thus our overall leadership abilities.
According to a 2018 Forbes article by Joseph Folkman, “research has shown that the ability to inspire and motivate others is the number one competency that differentiates poor from good leaders, and in predicting high employee engagement.”
But, it’s hard to motivate others when you’re not motivated yourself.
This is why we must take the time to ground ourselves and identify our strengths and motivations so we can continue being intentional leaders.
Being a leader is hard, but finding motivation doesn't have to be.
Below, we’ve identified six steps to help community leaders find motivation and continue to lead in effective and meaningful ways; keep reading to find out how!
#1 Find your leadership type
Every leader needs to know what their leadership style is. This will help you identify what matters most to you, what your strengths and weaknesses are, how you work with other leadership types, and the best ways to lead according to this information. You can take a sample Enneagram Personality Test to discover your leadership style and explore all 9 personality types.
#2 Address your setbacks
Once you have identified your enneagram type, it’s important to assess what behaviors contribute to stress based on your enneagram personality. Knowing and understanding our triggers will allow us to avoid them or manage them better when we encounter them.
#3 Celebrate your talents
Each enneagram type possesses special gifts or talents that are specific to that type. Identify, explore, and celebrate these qualities. After all, these skills are what make you the extraordinary and well-appreciated leader you are!
#4 Identify your growth points
Now that you are aware of your enneagram type as well as the strengths and weaknesses associated with your specific type, how can your type grow? It is important to identify how you can grow from your setbacks and create a positive environment for you to transform.
#5 Acknowledge your needs
As you work toward personal growth, be sure to listen to your heart, mind, and body. Never over or under work yourself. Acknowledge when you need rest and when you may crave more of a challenge. Establish healthy patterns for you to follow and don’t be afraid to switch them up to accommodate your needs.
#6 Hold yourself accountable
Create goals for yourself that cater to your specific enneagram type. Write these goals out and develop a plan to achieve them. Be sure to check in on your progress often!
We all experience a lack of motivation at some point. It is important for us to acknowledge this decrease in drive as normal and to avoid beating ourselves up for it. Using the tips above can help us discover the ambition we once had and allow us to continue encouraging those we lead in meaningful and intentional ways.
For your free download, you'll find all these tips as well as guided questions centered around purposeful leadership in the document below:
To continue your journey, check out some great reads on leadership development in the leadership book list we’ve created below:
Being a leader is hard, but finding motivation doesn't have to be.
This quick and easy guides and resources will help you assess where you're at in your leadership journey and support you as you continue to help your communities thrive.
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Thank you for being a part of our March Resource Space blog series. You can find all of the resources we’ve covered this month available to download and other helpful materials at www.stpeteunderground.com/resources.
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