Creating Change: Are You an Unmotivated Donkey?

I recently pulled out a book called "Coaching for Performance" written by John Whitmore that I had read back in 2003 to look at the chapter on Motivation. I had been involved in a conversation with a client about how the people she supervises are completely unmotivated to do anything. Mr. Whitmore states that "If you treat people like donkeys, they will perform like donkeys," meaning that donkeys (people) will do as little as they can possibly get away with at work.

I admit it- I have been a donkey in the past. I once had a job that I really liked- until management changed that is. With that change, much of the duties of my job that I really enjoyed and succeeded at were taken away from me in efforts to realign the organization that I worked for. I was left with a job that involved shuffling papers, and cleaning up insignificant problems that were created by others. My job no longer had any real meaning. I had asked for more meaningful work, had volunteered to participate in various workgroups and projects but felt that support by management was extremely lacking. I started doing as little as I could get away with. I felt very apathetic. I was entirely unmotivated.

As I was thinking about my own previous experience as a donkey, I found myself wondering what was really going on at my client's place of work. Were the donkey's truly not motivated or was their motivation completely sucked away by the leadership of the corporation?

I personally knew that I could not be a donkey for the rest of my life. Sitting back and doing nothing just didn't feel right to me. I came from a blue-collar family where hard work was the norm. Even though I had job security, I interviewed for several positions and eventually left that company. At the same time, I also started working on a business plan to become self-employed. My motivation was that if I sat there being a donkey for the next 20 years, that it would slowly kill me or at least deplete every ounce of self-respect that I had. I could not live with myself under those circumstances.

If you find yourself feeling like a donkey, ask yourself a few questions:

• Why am I here?
• Do I like this job?
• Is there something else I could do?
• What are my strengths, and weaknesses?
• What are my skill sets?

If you are boss and you are supervising a bunch of donkeys think about how you can empower them. Oftentimes people in the work environment lose motivation because they are told what to do and feel like they have no say. Support your staff and their decisions to the extent that you can. When you use the word empower be sure that it is not a hollow concept.

Guest Writer

By Lori Bell