Everything slows down when you can’t see clearly!
Simon Sinek coined the phrase from his 2011 book Start with Why "people do not buy what you do; they buy why you do it." Sinek's Golden Circle provides a communication framework that begins the conversation, strategy, or story with why it matters (Sinek, 2011). When employees connect the bigger picture, it touches on meaning, significance, relevance, and impact. When communicating, we express details of what we are doing and tactically how we will do so. What and how are relevant in the context of why it matters? The focus is essential for motivation when connecting it to why it matters uniquely and intrinsically. One of the most significant challenges related to employee engagement, teamwork, and leadership begins with clarity. Managing through the fog of ambiguity may be the source of low motivation. Cutting the fog of uncertainty by focusing on the direction of vision, connecting with value, or the significance of well-defined meaning goals can be a launch point for increasing motivation.
Equally challenging can be the divided focus of many goals, objectives, and priorities that demotivates from disciplines of many instead of a focus on a few essentials.
Motivating language theory (MLT) relates to how executive leaders can construct and transmit strategic vision and values messages to improve organizational performance (Mayfield et at., 2015). Motivating strategically, well-articulated, and consistently disseminated by top leaders result in higher organizational outcomes, a more committed workforce, and higher collective performance. Sullivan's MLT proposes that when a strategic leader effectively communicates results in better engagement, motivation, build commitment, and shared organizational vision, thus improving performance and quality of work life. The three components of ML are direction-giving, empathetic, and meaning-making language as strategic leaders develop awareness, ability, and style of delivering ML performance, and worker well-being increases throughout the organization. Motivating related to focus may integrate extrinsic goals but also focus on competency development based on awareness, ability, and style.
Focus as a motivational discipline supports Locke and Latham's goal path theory built on the principles of clarity, challenge, commitment, feedback, and task complexity (Latham, 2011). The goal theory compares to the "do your best" approach, which lacks focus, attainment, and achievement. A goal focus may lead to increased work performance, such as a New Resolution, which may be considered more of a wish than a goal. The threat of goal focus may be sustainability. The goal theory primarily faces the tension of quantity over quality and individualistic efforts at the expense of competing team member objectives. Additional challenges to the goal path relate to attainability.
Stretch goals may be defined as implausible, leaving achievers demotivated. Whereas utilizing a SMART goal framework provides further focus and clarity. The SMART goals framework includes Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic, and Timely. Success in the goal path approach begins by focusing on metrics for progress begins by (1) collectively defining the goal, then (2) regularly monitoring goal progress, (3) system monitoring by tracking workplace resources and changes, (5) including stakeholders to monitoring in terms of collaborating, and (5) coordination ongoing action plans with a timeline of an interdependent action plan (Lathan, 2011, p. 297). As employees and teams define and discipline, their focus, motivation, engagement, and productivity increase.
Reference
Latham, G. P. (2011). Work motivation : History, theory, research, and practice. SAGE Publications, Incorporated.
Sinek, S. (2011). Start with why. Penguin Books.