In Daniel Pink’s recent book about motivation, Drive, he explains how there is a profound mismatch between what business does and what science knows. Here is your chance to understand this gap and apply as much as you can to your own life and business:

There are three types of motivation according to Pink:

Motivation 1.0 is Biological: hunger, thirst, sex

Motivation 2.0 consists of Rewards and Punishments (the carrot and stick). This is how the business world still mostly operates even though science has long found it to be a poor model (except for work that is consistently dull and repetitive).

Flaws of Motivation 2.0: It CAN sometimes:

a)    Kill intrinsic motivation (so don’t always give gifts for referrals – offering money can taint an altruistic act)

b)    Decrease performance

c)     Crush creativity

d)    Crowd out good behavior

e)    Encourage cheating, short cuts and unethical behavior (why did the markets crash in 2008?!)

f)      Become addictive

g)    Foster short-term thinking

Motivation 3.0 is Intrinsic – an innate desire to make a difference, enjoy autonomy, mastery and live one’s purpose.

a) Autonomy: Most people want self-directed, interesting work and they are less motivated by money than the business world thinks. Pink believes our ‘default’ setting is to be self-directed and that it is management and reimbursement practices that are outdated and push into a carrot and stick lifestyle.

The growing trend is the ROWE (Results Only Work Environment) which gives employees flexibility about what work they want to do, where they work (from home?), when they work (no schedule – just get the work done), how they work (more than one way to do something well) and with whom. A recent study at Cornell University found companies who offered this kind of freedom grew FOUR times faster and had one-third the turnover!

20% Time: Google offers this to its development teams. 20% of the time they can work on ANY project they choose. The only requirement is that they present their new ideas to their colleagues. Most of the company’s best ideas have come out of this open, creative exploration time.

How could you apply this to your business? Schedule an afternoon and ask yourself: what would be a fun project to start or explore?

b) Mastery: becoming one of the best in your field

This begins by being in a state of ‘flow’ – when the hours fly by because you are so engrossed in what you are doing. Signs you are not in flow are when you feel nervous, restless, tired or lacking focus. Pink goes so far as to state that this experience is the key to thriving in the 21^st century.

Mastery is a mindset: you must believe you can improve your skills significantly – do you? Mastery involves PAIN, frustration and usually years of deliberate practice yet it generally also remains alluring (sounds weird, I know). Only intrinsic drive will sustain you.  Pink quotes former basketball star Julius Irving:

Being a professional is doing the things you love to do on the days you don’t feel like doing them.

c) Purpose:

As people get older, they think more about and are increasingly motivated by living a life of significance and making a difference in the world. The 60 year-old baby boomer looks back at the past 25 years knowing how fast those years went and then looks ahead knowing the next 25 will go even faster.

Pink notes that while it sounds ‘touchy feely’, these conversations are happening on an unprecedented scale – and not just with the boomer generation. Are you talking more to your clients about this?

Until 2024, 100 boomers are now turning 60 every 30 minutes in the US. They are the wealthiest and best educated generation the world has ever known.

“Purpose is a motivator.”

What is yours?

And it’s not just boomers. Tom’s Shoes are a for-profit company with giving back at their core. Steve, a financial advisor client of mine in Texas, has his own brand of wine and for every litre sold, he provides a litre of drinking water to children in Africa. Kevin Smith, an insurance agent friend of mine in Chicago, set up a project last year to find enough work for a homeless person that he could live independently.

What are your goals for this year? Just chasing extrinsic ones around money and having things can easily lead to poor relationships and more stress. Who wants another year of that! Set some intrinsic goals such as mastery of a skill or a certain level of great health so you can be there for your family rather than losing 10 pounds for an upcoming holiday or wedding.

You were born to be active and engaged by the world. If you are not feeling charged now, figure out how to get a break in your schedule to recharge and come up with some great ideas. You owe it to everyone in your life.

Please forward this on.

Author: Matt Anderson, The Referral Authority, Author of Fearless Referrals

www.TheReferralAuthority.com

Last week I spoke at the NAIFA Iowa Sales Caravan for four days with Simon Reilly and John Nichols. John has a stunning life story. At 32 and enjoying a very successful career in the disability insurance business, he broke his neck in a water-skiing accident.

It is a gut-wrenching tale to hear how he went from thinking he had actually died to being revived and, upon regaining full consciousness, to being diagnosed as paralyzed from the neck down.

It is an inspiring tale to hear how he went from almost giving up on any rehab to feeling movement in his left toes and, 15 years later, running the Chicago Marathon in 2009. (Frankly it is inspiring to get to spend a week with John and soak up some of his drive to make a difference in the world.)

Here’s what I took away from John’s presentation that wove in his story with his subsequent personal and professional success:

“Each of you has the ability to overcome your paralysis, to overcome your adversity to lead a life from the inside out and reach your dreams and goals.”

John struggled for many years. And in this crazy busy world, it is so easy to skim over such a statement. At first he ignored his diagnosis and refused to talk to the hospital psychologist. His body demanded enormous amounts of sleep. He did everything any self-respecting personal development book preaches: he worked hard, asserted himself by asking for what he wanted (so he could rehab effectively), was patient and persistent, and he believed in himself.

The intended point here is for you to ask yourself:

1. What are my obstacles at the moment? Where do I feel stuck?
2. Say to yourself: “If he can do it, I can do it.”

You are not lying in a hospital bed with your neck in traction. Yet mentally sometimes we do put ourselves there.

3. Seek solutions. Who already has what you want? Find those people and do what they have done.

You’ve had confident times. What habits can you replicate from those times to reinforce your self-belief?

How John Has Applied this to his Business.

Notice how client-centric and not sales-centric the suggestions are (oh and by the way, beware dismissing it as too warm and fuzzy: John is a top of the table MDRT producer):

a)     Connect more deeply: Everyone has a story – find out about it. Understand what the goals and dreams of your clients are. Many people don’t know what they want; imagine the power you have to help them gain clarity.

b)     Educate yourself more: it helps your clients. The more you know, the more confident you become and the better you can help them

c)     Focus on a process not a product. John is a huge advocate for having a sales process and not asking questions oriented around selling a product (until it’s the absolute best fit). It starts with making sure you and your prospect are a good match and that you both want to work together. This communicates that you want what they want from a service provider: a long-term relationship not a transaction based on your neediness!

d) Dreams and goals discussions come before facts and figures

e)    Always honor the gatekeeper and those lower on the totem pole: it’s the right thing to do and will sometimes lead to great business you never expected. John tells the story of one big prospect who he could never get through to. He ended up inviting this prospect’s assistant out to lunch, asking her what her dreams and goals were, doing business with her and her husband (who was a physician at Rush Hospital) and ultimately opening business doors at that hospital AND with the big prospect.

f)     Measure the Human capital: help your clients recognize their own worth and potential outside of traditional financial assets.

Just because you may not have had a near-death experience, it does not give you permission to have little motivation! John would be the first to admit he holds no special powers. My advice is: dream big dreams to get the juices flowing and say to yourself: “If he can do it, I can do it.”

John, who will be running for NAIFA’s Executive Committee in September 2011 (so vote for him if you can!), concluded by saying; “Each of you have what you need – the talent, the capability and the courage – to live from the inside out.”

Now it’s time to believe it and do it.

Author: Matt Anderson, The Referral Authority, Author of Fearless Referrals

www.TheReferralAuthority.com

Another great advantage to attending this year’s NAIFA annual meeting was getting to hear Stephen Covey present twice for over four hours of content. His work has had an enormous impact on me over the past 15 years and it was exciting to finally see him live.

1.  “The key to leadership is moral authority.”

You don’t have to have a title to live by a high moral code: no one would question Gandhi as a revered leader yet he never served in government. Nelson Mandela acquired his leadership from 26 years in jail protesting apartheid.

Leadership is communicating people’s worth and potential so clearly that they are inspired to see it in themselves.

2.  Use the talking stick method as a means to communicate effectively

Members of the Iroquois nation taught several principles of democracy to the Founding Fathers which were later reflected in the Declaration of Independence. One of their communication tools then and now is the talking stick. To build trust, this stick is given to the other person first so that they feel understood. Goal number one is to listen empathically.

Only make your point after the other person’s point has been restated. The ultimate goal is the 3^rd Alternative. He jokes that there is the other person’s idea, your idea and the best idea.

3.  “The key to life is not accumulation; it’s contribution.”

Covey extolled the virtues of being a servant leader.

4.  Our choices determine our growth and happiness

We are the only species that has the ability to choose how we respond to any given situation. We should strive to expand the gap between stimulus and response. Letting others control our responses takes away a powerful freedom.

Animals react. The less we are reactive, the more control we have over our happiness.

5.  To succeed in the 21^st Century, we must be knowledge workers unleashing the talent of others

90% of hunter – gatherers were downsized when the agricultural age came along. 90% of farmers were downsized when the industrial age came along. Now 90% of industrial workers are being downsized as we move into the information age. We must be knowledge workers helping others be the same. Treat your team as partners who can make a unique contribution.

6.  Finding your voice means listening to four things: the needs of others; your passion; your talents and your conscience.

7.  Write a mission statement and spend time visualizing what you want in your future.

“Writing your mission statement imprints the subconscious mind. So does visualizing. It makes you free of your environment and genetic tendencies.”

If you have under-performing people on your team, check to see how much they buy into your company’s mission statement.

8.  Paradigm shifts often come when we learn from the best in other fields

London’s Great Ormond Street Children’s Hospital was concerned how safely patients were being transferred from surgery to intensive care. While watching a Formula One race on television during a break, one doctor had the wild idea to study how the Ferrari pit stop crew was able to do so much work on a car in so little time. What they learned and implemented has had a dramatically positive impact that has saved many lives.

Victor Frankl, the Austrian concentration camp survivor, learned under Nazi torture that the one freedom that could not be taken away was one’s freedom to choose one’s response under any circumstance.

In order to make significant change in your life, you have to change your paradigm – including your beliefs – about how you currently see yourself and what’s possible for you. When it comes to having your own dramatic paradigm shift to enable you to succeed, consider this: Frankl was a human being; you are a human being. If he could have a dramatic shift, you can too. You are perfectly capable of achieving great things.

9.  Improve your self-awareness by keeping a journal

“Light is the greatest disinfectant and growth agent.” Reflecting on what’s happening in your life and why you are getting the results you are getting can help one take more responsibility and handle situations proactively.

10.  Beware the vanity of the social mirror:

“When man found the mirror, he began to lose his soul.”

11.  Spend increasingly more time on things that are important but not urgent.

Financial planning and exercise are two great examples. Study his four quadrants of time management for more insights on applying this. Read his excellent book, First Things First.

12.  Honour the absent

I was startled at how many times Covey said: “Don’t criticize others behind their backs.” It is detrimental to us as moral leaders. They will sense that if you do it about others, you will do it about them when they are absent.

13.  Live life in crescendo

Covey mentioned that this is the title of one of 10 books that he is working on. The wonderful theme of the book is that your best work should always be ahead of you. “Never retire from making a significant contribution.”

There are good forms of pressure – eustress – that keep you on top of your game and keep you young. All those who live a very long life maintain a sense of purpose.

14.  Become a trim tab

This tab is the tiny part of a rudder that even changes the direction of huge cruise liners. Covey’s point was that one person can make a difference. Identify a need and then ask yourself: “How can I be a part of the solution?”

15.  There is no success in life if there is not success at home.

Nurture love at home and in your family.

Whether this serves purely as a reminder that you too can have profound paradigm shifts with enough self-belief, or you are asking: “How can I serve others better?” or you start keeping a journal again, Covey’s work continues to make a difference – and so can yours!

Thanks for reading this. Please forward it on.

Patrick Ireland was a junior at Columbine High School on April 20, 1999. He was behind on some statistics homework so, rather than going to the mall for lunch, he was working in the library.

The doors burst open and two disturbed students charged in with guns screaming: “This is for the all the BS you’ve given us.” Shots rang out and Ireland was hit with bullets twice to his head and once to his foot. He blacked out.

When he came round, he realized his life was still probably in danger so he tried to crawl out of the school building from an upstairs window. Because of the severity of his injuries, he only had one leg to use to push himself. As he passed in and out of consciousness, it took him three hours to go just 50 feet passing several of the 15 students who were killed that day. TV cameras captured him falling out of a window onto a lower level where he was rescued.

After four hours of surgery, a neurosurgeon told him he would have problems reading, writing and remembering and that he would never be able to walk or his use right side again. 10 weeks later he went home. Within four months he was in school half-time and rehabbing the rest of it. By the end of his senior year, he was valedictorian and proving the surgeon wrong about his physical and mental capabilities.

11 years later he is a successful financial services professional who made the Million Dollar Round Table (where I saw him speak). “I am fortunate to be here. It has not been easy.” Despite much discouragement, frustration and anger, Ireland made four points that he had learned through his adversity:

1.  People are generally good.

During his recovery, Ireland heard from well-wishers from all over the world.

2.  Perseverance conquers all

His rehab has been a long, hard road.

3.  When things happen, you can either be the victor or the victim

Just because an event is negative, it does not mean your life has to be. “I will not let that event define me in a negative way.”

4.  Cherish life and your relationships

Family matters even more to him now. His wife and baby joined him on stage.

He concluded by quoting civil rights leader Whitney Young who said: “There is nothing noble about being superior to others. The only nobility is to be superior to your former self.”