Motivating People

Motivating People How to Deal With People Who Refuse To Do Your Bidding Without Question

Chapter Outline • The three main methods of motivating people in general • Motivating your employees • Motivating your teammates • Motivating your boss

Motivating Method #1: Bribes • As the old saying goes, “The difference between principled people and unprincipled people is that principled people can’t be bought cheap” • By far the simplest motivator • Cash will work as a bribe for 98% of the people you will encounter • For the other 2%, it’s either retirement plans or global supremacy • If you can offer the latter, you probably don’t need to worry about bribing people

Motivating Method #1: Bribes • PROS • Quick and dirty • Almost universally successful • Both the briber and bribee go away happy: everybody wins! • CONS • If used a lot, bribes can get very expensive • A bribe basically means giving nice things to people that you hate

Motivating Method #2: Blackmail • Over the years, blackmail has received a lot of bad press • It doesn’t have to be something sinister • Find some baby photos of the guy you’re trying to motivate, or ask his relatives for embarrassing anecdotes from his childhood • Tell the guy that you will post these photos/anedotes to the company forum unless he does what you say • This is also known as “Negative Reinforcement”

Motivating Method #2: Blackmail • PROS • Most people are embarrassed about some aspect of their childhood, so it works on a lot of different people • Much cheaper than bribes • CONS • This technique doesn’t work on people with no shame

Motivating Method #3: Subliminal • If you can’t break through, go under! • This method allows you to influence anybody, given enough time • It is so subtle that it won’t be picked up by the person in question, or anyone else • You can even use it on your boss to get raises • For details, buy our latest book, “Sophisticated Subliminal Psychology for Dummies” • It’s a “steal” at only $500

Motivating Method #3: Subliminal • PROS • Works on anybody • Free • Allows you to ask for anything • CONS • Requires time and patience • You have to pay us $500 to learn how it works

Motivating Your Employees • Nothing simpler! • They’re your employees, so they have to do what you say • Just make sure not to pressure them too much or too often • They might quit, or even worse, form a union against you • Then where would you be? • So try to limit your requests to things that matter, like dangerous work or precedence in the lineup for Tim Horton’s

Motivating Your Teammates • The big thing here is to make sure the other teammates don’t realize you’re manipulating someone • See the Semester One chapter on teamwork for details on how to minimize your workload in a group situation

Motivating Your Boss • In a case like this, you want to be careful • We recommend either bribes or subliminal methods – blackmail is too dangerous here • Also, be aware that your boss will sometimes try to motivate YOU! • If he pressures you too much or too often then threaten to quit, or even better, form a union against him • Then where will he be?

Chapter Summary • You’ve learned how to motivate a wide variety of business people • You’ve learned a wide variety of motivational tactics • You’re wishing that you had $500 to buy our Subliminal Messaging book • Hey, we have to make money somewhere if we’re going to stay competitive! • Consider it a bribe

Motivating People