Motivation - It Starts with Acknowledgement

Acknowledgement is about recognition or attention fromanother person. It can be physical such as - a pat on theback, a touch or a handshake. It can also be psychologicalsuch as - a word of praise, a compliment, even a "hello!" Itcan even just be time spent with the person.

Physical and psychological attentions are absolutely vitalto human beings. We all need it and we need it every day.However, it must be said that every human being has adifferent level of need for acknowledgement.

If you looked at it on a scale of 0 to 100 then there are asmall number of people who'd be low on the scale. These arethe people who cut themselves off from others, the hermitsamongst us. The majority of people however, are pretty farup that scale.

The need for acknowledgement is something that's programmedinto us. Babies and children have a huge need for physicalacknowledgement. You can see that demonstrated by the waythey reach out for you, how they want to be held andcuddled. Research has shown that infants who are denied thisphysical acknowledgement can suffer both in their physicaland emotional growth.

As children develop their use of language, they start toneed psychological attention as well. I'm sure you'veexperienced children coming to you, with something they'vedrawn or made, looking for your praise.As we grow into adulthood we become more sophisticated;however our need for acknowledgement doesn't go away, wejust seek it in a different way.

We send out all sorts of signals just to getacknowledgement. We "casually" mention some achievement -"I've managed to reduce my golf handicap" - "My boss hasasked me to take on more responsibility" or - "Our child hasjust passed their exams."

We take other actions to meet our need for acknowledgement.Do you remember the TV programme Cheers about the regularcustomers in a Boston bar? The show's signature theme had aline in it which went something like - "Everybody goes whereeverybody knows your name!" The characters in Cheers don'tjust go to Cheers for a drink; they know that when they walkin the door someone, probably the person behind the bar willacknowledge them.

I was speaking to a participant on one of my seminars and hewas telling me all about his role as President of his localfishing club. All the things he had to do, the newsletter towrite, the competitions to organise and the meetings toattend. I asked him if he got paid for it. "Oh no" was thereply, "I do it because I like it." Of course he does it because he likes it and no doubt it's alot of work and takes up lots of his time. However, theacknowledgement he receives from this is massive.

I've known elderly parents who exaggerate illness just toget their family to visit and spent time with them; theyjust want acknowledgement.

A human's need for acknowledgement is so strong that theywill sometimes behave badly to get that acknowledgement. I'msure you're aware of children who behave badly in schooljust to get attention - well, adults do it too. That person in your team who gives you all sorts of problemswhich are often difficult to understand, may just be seekingacknowledgement.

The people you manage need acknowledgement and spendingquality time with them is the way to do it. Just to be clear- acknowledgement isn't just about praising people; it'sabout spending time, listening and speaking with them.

Discover how you can generate more business by motivatingyour team!Alan Fairweather is the author of "How to get More Salesby Motivating Your Team" This book is packed with practicalthings you can do to get the best out of your people. Visit http://www.howtogetmoresales.com