The Power of Mastery and Progress

In this newsletter, we look at the role of progress and mastery in motivating others!

Hey 👋

Do you want to help someone feel motivated? Here's one thing that plays big role in that: a sense of progress and mastery. This newsletter has a few tips how to apply that in concrete ways.

Enjoy!

Maik

3 ways to use motivate people with mastery and progress

Let's assume you want to help someone in your team stay motivated on a piece of work you have given them.Granted: both Manager AND employee have a role to play here to make work fulfilling and motivating. In the case of this newsletter, we focus on what the Manager/Leader can do.

Here is one thing that we assume as applies to virtually every person: they want to get better at what they do.

Don't be fooled if people seem 'stagnant', reluctant or satiated in their area. This likely means that they show up this way in relation to their current work or their current Manager. Everyone is motivated when things move and develop in ways they prefer. It's quite a universal motivator. Let's make use of that in a productive way.

Here are 3 ways how we can help someone build motivation through progress and mastery.

1️⃣ Design Quick Wins

When defining goals and assigning tasks, help the other person break down the work in a way that meaningful milestones are within their reach.

Firstly, this can be something you can 'design' for them. If a new area seems difficult, help them achieve something that is meaningful quickly. Small successes create positive momentum. It can set off a positive virtuous cycle.

Secondly, you can also co-develop this with your team member in a coach-like manner:

"Given this goal in 1 month, what will be the concrete first milestone from your point of view?"

"I know this project is big. What is the first concrete deliverable? What is the first low-hanging fruit to start with?"

Using a coach-like (=inquiry) approach will help the team member feel ownership.

2️⃣ Instil a Sense of Progress

When we reach a goal, it is a great thing to celebrate. However, the motivating effect of goal achievement can be quite fleeting.

To counter that, we can celebrate progress, instead of just achievement. We build awareness and talk about what is improving. Surprisingly, what matters here is not necessarily the amount of progress, but that people feel that there IS progress in the first place.

Firstly, as a Leader, don't be silent...share small or big positive movements that you see that affect your team. "This week, we made the following small, but meaningful steps in the project preparation.."

Secondly, invite them to become more aware of what they have achieved and what can count as a sign of progress. Again, let's use a coach-like inquiry approach:

"What do you notice is better since the last time we met in terms of your collaboration with Finance?"

"How would you know by end of next week that you made progress on this project milestone?"

3️⃣ Assign 'goldilocks' tasks

Two types of progress motivate and help your team members' inner drive:

(1) There's meaningful progress in the work itself

(2) They grow their capabilities

For the latter, we can do our part by assigning tasks to our team members that are neither too difficult, nor too easy. The ideal is to fit tasks to people's capabilities, but also stretch them meaningfully, to inspire their growth.

A coach-like approach can also be used to co-develop this.

It will also help you to learn a lot about your team members this way.

Here's how this could sound:

"What part of this task will be easiest for you and which might be more challenging?"

"And what makes this particular thing challenging for you?"

"And how would you approach this challenge?"

"What support might you need?"

✔️SUMMARY

When we assign goals and tasks to team members, there are many opportunities for us to instil a sense of progress at the same time. It is very motivating for most people to 'sense' real growth and movement around AND within them. This is often a missed opportunity. Growth happens and no one speaks about it.

I shared in this newsletter how we can motivate by designing quick wins, maintaining awareness on progress and by assigning 'goldilocks' tasks that are neither too easy, nor too stretchy.

Now my question to you is: How would YOU notice that YOU made progress in motivating your own team?

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A final note before we go 🚶🏽

"No matter how many mistakes you make or how slow you progress, you ares still way ahead of everyone who isn't trying"

- Tony Robbins

Food for thought:

In what area of your life do you want to switch from NOT TRYING to at least MAKING SLOW PROGRESS?

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