Belief 3: Satisfaction . . .”The things I get from my job are satisfying.”

Here’s a quick-review glance at the three conditions for motivation and performance:

1. Belief-1—Confidence—“I believe I can do what is expected of me.”
2. Belief-2—Trust—“I believe my manager will give what my performance deserves.”
3. Belief-3—Satisfaction—“I believe the things I get from my job will be satisfying.”

If all of these beliefs are not solidly held, motivation and performance will suffer.

People are pursuing payoffs. Payoffs are satisfying. This is a satisfaction issue that can be a tough one.

Not clearly knowing what is satisfying to each person you lead is a problem. Not knowing is understandable. What is satisfying varies    from one person to another.

Why?  Because everybody is different.

One of our clients said, “As a leader I’ve always believed in fairness. I thought that if I didn’t treat everybody the same, they would think I was being unfair.”

Then she says, “Now you’re telling me everybody is different, which I understand. So how do I respond to individual differences and at the same time be fair to everyone?”

Good question. The two are not mutually exclusive.

Consider this example. You challenge one person openly in a meeting. She likes it because she finds this kind of sparring to be intellectual stimulating.

Another person on your team cringes at the thought of being challenged in front of others. With this person you gently raise questions and explore options, preferably in a meeting with just the two of you.

Now, will these two people say you treated them differently? Yes.

Will either of them feel you have treated them unfairly?  Absolutely not.

And why…because you gave each what they wanted, what was satisfying to them.

When you give people what they want, they’ll give you want you want—more engagement, more effort and better business results.

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