Achievement orientation!!

To look at people as flesh and blood powered by a motivation to survive is probably a very basic way of looking at life. While there are different motivational levels at different point of time in life for people there are still a lot who believe that they require external reasons to be motivated. Such people get motivated and demotivated as easily as loosing charge in our mobile batteries. I am not saying that there should be people who should never seek to recharge but I only mention that the recharge should be for the soul powered by self. For sure when we are young we need to have the right inputs and attitude built up by exposure to good books and great thoughts. Once we are of an age where we can vote to choose a government this should change. However I really worry at people who mention in social networking sites "I am depressed and need alcohol to boost up" etc sort of confessions. Maybe they are not enjoying what they are doing or in a rat race they never want to run.
Coming to topic of Achievement orientation, I think people should read the feelings of people who have done something considered impossible like climbing Everest without oxygen. Why they set on such a task, what motivated them to stay on course and why they are still motivated after loosing most of their toes to the frost bites. When you are alone and deprived of oxygen facing a question of survival versus achieving a goal most of us fail the test taking the survival option. But achievement orientation is about even when you are alone and feel threatened how can you remain motivated. Don't look for a mother (somebody comforting you or assuring you that you are good) but look within yourself for the flame of achievement. For sure this flame will need some refueling but much lesser than charging of our mobile phones. We need to feel the soul and re-energize it with right thoughts and goals. We cannot follow survival paths and still say we will be achievers. There is nothing written in stone is the famous quote I hear frequently but there is something more rigid when it is written in the soul-achievement orientation is one such winning quality. There is no one way to get this imbibed but it evolves over time but with constant internal focus and belief.

Learning's of connecting back to old friends!!

Internet with its social networking sites provides ample opportunity to connect back to people whom otherwise we would have never imagined to get in touch. In a world without internet (example that of my parents)there might have been situations where school or college friends may physically meet in a shop or movie hall but not recognize each other as age metamorphism will be difficult to imagine.
However it is important to recognize that less than 1/100th of people moved so much across the globe or even within countries and the need to network through virtual world did not exist. For sure the boon of Internet is the ability to get back in touch with friends who otherwise would be just in faint memories.
Coming back to the learning's of connecting back...I do think the most important of all learning is to take it slow. The usual informality which existed in School or college days is not to be taken for granted at middle age or beyond. Sure it comes back but the time to accept this transition is different for different people. There are some people who take this to an extreme when they address people who are a little more successful or lucky as "Sir or Madam"...this is lack of self confidence. You should not go to the limit of calling the pet names or some specific habit the person had while young making the other person uncomfortable but building a distance by calling him/her Sir or Madam is also not a good starting point.
There are several ways one gets connected back-maybe through the social networking sites when someone guesses it should be you and calls to connect. This usually is quite sober interactive mode as it is one to one to begin with. There is a cascading effect to this that with enough quorum there is a need to build an Alumni Group.
This starts with a lot of zeal with friends getting friends and slowly building the network. There are some uncomfortable moments when the group tries to reinvent its current position with likes, what will tick, when things can be viewed seriously (in college days these were not even noticed), when to appreciate, when to wish etc.
This journey needs to be managed well. Usually the initial enthusiasm soon dies down with people taking to normal day to day affairs and not bothering to move further on the networking while some of them are very eager to pump emails/seek responses.
There is an important learning here-motivation of people who were together in their teens and led a carefree life competing with spirit (maybe partying with spirits too) evolve to be responsible parents with a cautious approach to everything in life including networking friends.This motivation difference is difficult to gauge and manage as most are spread out across the world and want to disclose as little as possible of what happened in the 20 years they were not in touch. A lot of them are apologetic but a lot more are wanting to stay aloof assuming friendship can be burden. (to be continued)

Motivate people...is this complete?

People orientation is a lot discussed subject.Though there can be different opinions by researchers, this one aspect has an unanimous agreement-a great leader should be a people's person. To inspire people and to lead them is part of a leaders role. When there is an issue on hand, a crisis, a situation wanting a clear leadership role-then leaders emerge to guide and set the group on track. However in business as usual situation this need is less felt by the group as there is a strong belief that nothing can go wrong. This sense of security provides room for high inertia which will include a situation "Nothing seems to motivate people". Leaders have a tougher job to drive changes if this becomes an organization culture. The longer a company has survived and lesser crisis faced the more likely this culture will develop.
First let us address the subject " Motivate people"..is this really required is a question. For sure a leader has to create the right environment, clear objectives and backed with right resources..but if people are not motivated to deliver because of no explicit reasons then it is time to act. Usually HR will tell-apart from above we need Rewards and recognition programs which is very critical to drive changes. Yes..but R&R programs should be used with care as it sure motivates certain types of employees but not all. When motivation is a explicit question then usually work attitudes are also implicit question. Times like this are real opportunities to challenge work attitudes to create positive change. To look it from sustaining motivation using R&R is treating the symptoms and not holistic enough. For it takes years to change attitudes of people, especially when it is ingrained as an organization culture. But unless we make an effort it will remain as an Achilles Heal for the organization.