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Mission: Fuel Team Motivation Now

You need to motivate your team members - but you can’t afford to!

It’s a tough one.

You’ve got fantastic employees. You want to keep them happy so they’ll keep giving you stellar work. But your budget doesn’t let you go the conventional route - raising their salaries.

Luckily, there’s another way. You CAN keep employees happy and committed without spending funds you don’t have.

How? By giving them a role to play in your story.

There’s a reason you pour your heart into your organization every day (and night!)

There’s Torah to be spread. Young minds to be molded. Neshamos to be kindled.

And then there’s YOU.

Your work builds Torah. Builds generations. Builds eternity.

It’s an epic story. And you’re the hero. (see this past post)

Want to boost your team-members’ motivation?

Invite them to become heroes as well.

Sure, they’re already aware that what they’re doing is important. But that awareness often gets obscured by the humdrum. It’s hard to feel passion that’s buried under reams of emails to answer, paperwork to fill out, bills to pay.

When you offer your staffers a role in your story, you rekindle their fire. You revitalize their sense of mission.

Even more – you empower them to take proactive steps in furthering that mission. Without any prompting from you.

So, how to do it?

Here’s the formula:

“[Employee’s name], we’re on a mission to _______. If we do accomplish it, [Y wonderful thing] will happen. If we don’t accomplish this mission, [X important thing] won’t happen. We need YOU to _______ so we can accomplish our mission.”

Simple.

Clarify your mission.

Paint a clear picture of success.

Demonstrate what’s at stake if your mission doesn’t succeed.

And show your team members that they are needed to make it happen.

For example, let's say you have a team member named Sarah who's responsible for coordinating the travel logistics for your project. You might say to her,

"Sarah, we're on a mission to send public school kids to Israel for a gap year in yeshiva and seminary.

When we succeed, we ensure their lifelong involvement in Torah and mitzvos, and thereby strengthen the Jewish people.

And if we don't, a generation of young Jewish people will be lost to their heritage.

When YOU manage and streamline the travel logistics, it means we can provide a smooth and stress-free experience for our students, which enables these kids to come.

Your caring and patient approach makes their journey a successful one. You're so crucial to us in the achieving of our mission."

Next time you want to motivate a team member, sit them down and clarify:

  1. Your mission
  2. The gain of succeeding in it
  3. The cost of failing to accomplish it
  4. The specific role they play in that success

There you have it. Four simple steps to rekindle their fire.

Want to see it burn even brighter?

Take one more step and concretize your story.

How? By telling a story of someone who embodies it.

Create a verbal picture of one such individual. Then plug this character into your formula:

For example, you might say to Sarah...

"Sarah, remember David from this past summer, the one from a xyz public school.

He wants to come back for the full year to Israel!

If not for your efforts paying attention to his needs, he may not have come on that first trip. And you can imagine what that would have meant for his Jewish life moving forward.

Now, through you and the team's caring efforts, David will spend a transformative year in Israel, building a lifelong relationship with Torah and mitzvos.

Sarah, your role in arranging all the travel logistics has been crucial in helping David and all the others like him on their journey."

You’re no longer speaking ideas. You’re making your employee’s contribution real.

Everyone on your staff can use an injection of passion. Use this exercise with all your team members – even the ones you’re paying “enough.”

You’ll see a sharp uptick in motivation – without the slightest dip in your bottom line.

Have a great fundraising week.

Avraham

 

© Avraham Lewis & Co.