Motivational DNA: What Motivates You?

Do you know what motivates you to do your best? 

That was the driving question at a seminar called Get Motivated!.  Speakers included  Colin Powell, Rudy Giuliani, Suze Orman, Phil Town, Zig Ziglar, and more live and in person. 

I must say, I was very skeptical.  How could they really have all of these powerhouse leaders in person for $4.95 entry fee?  I set my expectations very low.

Well, I was blown away.  The seminar was everything they advertised and more.  There were rumors that more than 12,000 people signed up (but still, at $5/person, that’s only $60K…not even enough to cover 2 of the standard speaking fees of these people).  The Austin Convention Center was very full, and they had a satellite location which apparently was just as crowded.  It was an amazing production.  And yes, it was motivating to hear the messages of so many luminaries.

One surprise concept, presented by Get Motivated founder Tamara Lowe was called Motivational DNA.  Tamara shared her 3-component framework for what motivates people:

1. What drives you (production or connection)
2. What your needs are (stability or variety)
3. What awards you prefer (internal or external)

Each combination produces a profile of how to best motivate you.  Tamara’s written a book (due in January 2009) on this, and her book’s website has a very short test you can take to see what your motivation profile looks like.  Go on, take the test.  I did.

Here is my profile:

What is your profile?  You can find out instantly, without any further obligation.  This is a very useful idea.  Wouldn’t it be nice if you knew the motivational DNA of every member of your team? It would certainly help each of us know how to motivate and communicate with colleagues. Sounds like a good idea to me.