The other day, I received a call from a large state association considering me to speak at their day-long annual “Motivation Day” event. To be considered for this event is a huge honor. I was so pleased and excited that I got the call.
However, I have a confession to make: I can’t motivate anyone. I really can’t. The only person who I can motivate is myself. I have no control over the long-term changes that a recruiter makes once he or she leaves my program.
Motivation is a choice that each recruiter must decide to make for himself or herself. Authentic and long-lasting motivation comes from within and is not dependent upon external means. So how can we get recruiters motivated to achieve long-lasting performance improvement?
The problem that many managers have with the concept of motivation is that their belief about it is flawed. They believe they can read a motivational book, attend a “pump up” seminar, or get psyched by listening to Wagner on the way to work in the morning. These changes might inspire someone for a few hours, but the next day the same old habits are in place with the same old results.
The biggest complaint I hear from managers about the concept of speaking programs is that they get tired of sending someone to a session and a week later the performance results are still the same. Everyone gets excited for a week, and then the status quo raises its ugly little head and says, “Move over, I’m coming back home.”
In order to change the motivation level of a recruiter and to achieve real long-lasting change, we must change the fundamental beliefs that cause that person to achieve. And it’s more than the externally visible “enthusiasm” that so many people mistake for motivation. They think that a gregarious bubbly person who is enthusiastic is motivated, when they have no idea what habits live beneath the surface.
Here’s the real key to motivation, folks. It’s more than personality or a fleeting emotional charge. The real source of motivation for recruiters is the commitment that you have to achieve your outcomes even when you don’t feel like it. That’s it. In other words, it’s leading a disciplined life.
If you want to achieve long-lasting change, then you must become more disciplined. If the word “discipline” had a color, it would be a dingy, ugly gray. It connotes boring, laborious drudgery and doesn’t have much fun associated with it.
This ain’t your father’s discipline!” I’m talking about “fun discipline.”
Anytime I do a session for recruiters, I make sure that it’s easy, that it’s simple, and that it’s wildly fun. Let’s just admit the fact that recruiters and sales people don’t like to do anything that’s freakishly boring or monotonous. Let’s put some spice in it so people will actually follow up on what really counts when it comes to success: performance improvement.
When you peel away everything that doesn’t count, success on your desk all boils down to the actions that you take on an hourly basis. Your entire year is made up of a series of hours, and you must manage your performance as a recruiter on an hour-by-hour basis.
In my next blog post, I’ll present three tips for increasing your motivation as a recruiter.
— — —
Scott Love, guest writer for the Top Echelon Recruiter Training Blog and owner of The Attorney Search Group, trains, motivates, and inspires recruiters to achieve greatness in the profession. Visit his online recruiter training center for tips, downloads, videos, and articles that can help you increase your recruiter billings.
Leave a Comment..