Congratulations - Your Performance Motivator is Boundary Balancer!
As a Boundary Balancer…
- You enjoy working and bringing value/impact to a place where it is appreciated and needed.
- You probably enjoy being surrounded by people and places that are interesting and add a richness to your life.
- You’re very fulfilled having the responsibilities of a job with a good company.
- You also know that in this season of your life, even though your job is very important to you, it is not your top priority. Either based on your personal circumstances or your personal decisions, the responsibilities you have outside of work are far greater than the ones you have at work. This necessity of balance is critical to you.
- When a company has someone like you, they are likely to be appreciative of what you bring to the table and are very happy to accommodate your other personal needs outside of work. The benefits you bring far outweigh the accommodations that need to be made by having you on the team. It’s a win-win for all.
This means that when all things are equal, you will always lean toward choosing the place that fills this Performance Motivator© for you. This likely also means that when you have this motivator met, you are loyal and, therefore, unlikely to be lured away easily (even when things start to become less equal or just different). When it comes down to it, if Company A will pay you a little bit more but is unwilling to accommodate your personal priority needs outside of work, it’s not going to be the choice you make– when Company B is fulfilling what you care about most but possibly cannot pay quite as much. Your ‘WHY’ is far bigger than money and it’s a deal breaker for you, no further discussion needed, you cannot be convinced otherwise.
Words of Caution:
As with any blessing we have in life, it can also be a curse for us. While this has been a habit that has proven successful for you in many ways, it can also limit your growth and progress too. As the seasons of your life change and your priorities change, these habits can get in the way of creating what you want next. It’s easy to fall into the habits that have always worked, even though they are not the ones that are really serving you toward your next level of goals. Being very clear about your priorities in each season of your life is critical in your decision making as you now understand that you have a Performance Motivator© that will play into it for you.
It may be challenging for you to maneuver through at times. Guilt may play a factor for you in the decisions you make. Depending on your background of position and expertise, it may be challenging for you to honor the decisions and priorities you are making, knowing what you are giving up on the professional side of things meanwhile. Guilt on the other side is an important consideration as well – leaving your personal life to fulfill yourself in a career has its own guilt bag attached. Being aware of the lines and priorities will be critical to this success.
Additionally, business needs and plans change. When they do, leadership may need to make different decisions about what they need and how they need to go about achieving their business plans. That may not include you being a part of that, yet none of us really has any guarantee anyway. It will be up to you to recognize that it doesn’t mean anything about you- or them. You will need to decide whether to view it with the facts in mind; or to allow it to drive you toward making emotional decisions that don’t lead you down the path you really want to achieve. In other words, becoming frustrated, disappointed, or angry over a change in direction or a decision that is different than what has been allowed in the past might drive you to operating in ways that don’t serve you after that- from how you are acting toward others, how you are showing up, or even making decisions to quit or change jobs as a result. None of these decisions would have been made from your best place and best fuel- which usually means you could regret them later. These flags are there for a reason and serve for you to pay attention and ask questions… but then it is up to you to operate yourself in a state of Emotional Leadership© before acting. This is how you will make decisions that you will truly be proud of as they will be aligned with what’s most important to you.
It will be important for you to see that while you now know what motivates you, it will not always apply to others. Assuming that others operate the same way you do, will cause you to be disconnected from your peers and direct reports. It’s important to recognize that Boundary Balancer is just 1 of 6 Performance Motivators© so that means that you are only in 17% of the whole pie. If you attempt to manage and motivate others the same way, you are not connecting with the other 83% of people. Most of us relate to and speak to others the way we want to be treated and spoken to. That is how we are designed… but this is an opportunity for you to know others better, learn about them and how they are motivated differently. Awareness is key!
Your challenge now will be to learn more about all 6 Performance Motivators© and get to know the members of your team better! Once we see that we are each driven by a Performance Motivator that must be met, we will have so much opportunity to speak to, motivate, retain, and create workplaces and cultures that serve both the people and the company’s needs best. It’s Never About the Money© is the concept to become mindful of as we work through this process.
Learn more about the 6 Performance Motivators© and the Emotional Leadership Concept here!
Finally- Performance Motivators© are defined as emotional needs and desires that must be satisfied. This is the best news for you. If you want to question these emotional needs and desires, it is available to you. You can change your Performance Motivator© if you wish. You can fuel yourself toward any goal or achievement and still be 100% in control of deliberately determining your Performance Motivator©. As I mentioned earlier, these are habits that have been built over many years. And if you decide, you can change them too. They are just habits. They have served you well… but they can limit you too. So, at any time, you have the power to use it when you want and change it when you don’t. What an incredible place to be!
There are no good or bad, or right or wrong motivators. They are just emotional drives that we all have, and always will. There are positives and negatives to each of them. This is an awareness tool for you (and others) to use when building relationships and motivating people in ways you – and they – care about most for a long-term success approach in Hiring and Retention of talent verses quick band-aids that are just a short-term fix. This is an opportunity for Leaders to lead their teams with improved insight and for companies to best serve their teams in more cost-effective ways.
Want to share the Performance Motivators Quiz© with your team?