How do you get people on board with what you need them to do?

People will only willingly do what you want if it’s in their self-interest to do so.

Think about that statement. 

My guess is that as you think about it, you realize that it is ultimately true.  When you look back at those things you were asked to do in your life, whether small or large, when you knew it was in your self-interest to do it, you were probably much happier doing the work than not.  It’s simply human nature.

So how do we get people to willingly do what we ask of them?  The obvious answer; get them to see why it’s in their self-interest.

And how do we do that?  There are actually quite a few ways.

One way is to tell them that they are fired if they don’t do what you ask.  That method works…at least for the short term.  It’s in the person’s self-interest not to get fired that day.  But who knows, the next day it may be in their self-interest TO get fired!  This method doesn’t create long-term goodwill nor excellent work.  And the “willingness” wears off quickly.

Giving them more money is another method that works, at least again for the short term.  It probably has a longer effect than not getting fired does, but over time, it either wears off on them, or you simply cannot afford to keep giving them more money.  Money is a motivator, but it’s not the best motivator.

Other types of rewards can be very useful as well.  When you make people feel valued and trusted, they are more likely to do what is asked of them, even if they really don’t understand why they are doing it.  Trust is huge in getting people to do what you need done.

But there is one method that actually surpasses even trust; that is to get inside the head of the people we’re asking to do a job and figure out why that would be good for them to do it. 

Before I explain this aspect, however, I’d like to go back and investigate a bit the phrase “self-interest.”  What exactly does that mean?  I do want to be clear – this does NOT mean “selfishness.”  Certainly, there are people who do things purely for a selfish reason.  As leaders, we need to realize that will be the case for some people.  But that’s not what “self-interest” is.

Self-interest is really based solely on the values that a person holds dear to them.  Some values are not good.  I think of the Islamic suicide bombers.  They willingly blow themselves up because they believe it is in their self-interest to die in what they consider is a martyr’s death.  You and I may disagree with that, but it is THEIR values that determine their self-interest.

For most of us, we have employees who have basically positive values.  So, their self-interest can be everything from providing for their families to being able to do something that helps other people (i.e. providing clean water for people in faraway countries). 

So now that we understand a bit about “self-interest,” let’s figure out how we can communicate that to our team that will have meaning to them. 

It’s actually quite simple to do; ask yourself what the person you’re communicating with cares about.  Ok, maybe not so simple.  You do have to get to know your audience; what are their concerns, what inspires them, what do they care about?

But if you do understand your audience (whether one or many), you look at what you’re asking them to do from their point of view.  In other words, what you care about may mean nothing to them, but what they care about means everything.

Here’s a quick example: suppose you believe a new performance review process that you created is just fantastic.  If you tell everyone how fantastic it is, you’ll probably fall flat on your face.  No one cares what YOU think about it. 

However, if you look at it from their point of view, you’ll understand that they’ll look at it as just more work and more time with nothing really different.  So get inside their heads and figure out what IS important to them.  For example, being successful in the next 6 months where this review will help them determine the course of their career, raises, promotions, etc., will be far more valuable to them.

Once you know what is important to them, that’s where you start your communication; i.e. “How would you like to participate in determining the course of your career and improving your opportunities for promotions?  Well, I have a good news for you; we’ve come up with a way to make sure that happens for each and every one of you.”  Doesn’t that sound a lot better than, “We have this new process for performance reviews. Please make sure you become familiar with that and participate with your manager.  Thank you.”?

How would you rather hear this message?  I thought so.