ADAIR ON TEAMBUILDING AND MOTIVATION

Self-motivation can be as difficult as motivating others and

you cannot have one without the other.

Understanding what moves an individual to action is crucial

in a manager being able to engage the persons will to act.

Motives (which operate the will which leads to action) are inner

needs or desires and these can be conscious, semi-conscious

or unconscious. We can be driven forwards by more than one

motive at a time. In other words, motives can be mixed, with

several clustered around a primary motive. We may not always

know what out motives are, even though we are able to feel

them, we cannot always label them. Sometimes we attribute

our actions to credible motives (rationalisation) without

realising what the true (usually unconscious) motives are. With

this in mind it makes it quite difficult to think clearly about

motivation as much of it can be unconscious.

To motivate others means to provide an incentive for them to

do something, to initiate their behaviour and to stimulate them

into activity. This can be done by infusing them with your own

spirit, sense of achievement and motivational thoughts. You can

improve your ability to inspire and motivate other people by:

• Understanding what motivates you and others at work if you have a clear picture of what motivates you, you will

• Being aware of different dimensions of motivation

you can easily learn the generalisations about people and how to motivate them, but you need to remember that each individual person is unique and will therefore respond to different stimulants.

• Developing your skills as a leader

: part of the role of being a manager is the ability to lead. This ability to lead means what you ‘do’ as a leader, and includes motivating and inspiring your team.

MOTIVATION

be able to better understand what motivates others.

forwards, to achieve a goal, to make progress in a task. The

‘something’ which is the driving force may be a need, or a desire,

or an emotion but it leads you to act in a certain way. Signs

of motivation in a person are an energy and determination to

achieve.

Typical qualities of a motivated person include:

• A willingness to work

• Dedication to the project or common cause

• Alignment of the person with the organisational goals

• Commitment

• An appetite to achieve

• An energy

• Drive and determination

• Tenacity

• Strength of purpose

• Orientation to work.

To be able to get the best from people, to achieve results through

individuals and teams and to maintain consistent high performance,

is all about inspiring oneself and others into action – this

all depends on the skills of motivation and leadership.

Adair’s eight rules in motivating people

2 Select people who are highly motivated

3 Treat each person as an individual

4 Set realistic and challenging targets

5 Remember that progress motivates

6 Create a motivating environment

7 Provide fair rewards

8 Give recognition

by Dr. MaryJo Wagner

Summary: Discover different ways to cross the midline and
why this is important for reading comprehension, handwriting,
and even as a test taking strategy.

* * *

For those of us old enough to have grandkids, we were taught in
one way. And certainly not in a way that took into account what
we know today about brain-based learning or using the whole
brain.

Teachers emphasized rote memorization and copying. Later
listening to lectures and taking notes. Some of us did pretty
well with that method. Especially those of us who are left-brain
dominant. We even went on to college.

Others, often very smart children, didn’t do so well. Their
brains simply worked in a different way. Maybe they were right-
brain dominant. Maybe they learned more efficiently using
kinesthetic skills.

Researchers have recently discovered that whole-brain learning or
brain-based learning is not only a more efficient way of learning
but helps more kids learn.

One the many features of brain-based learning involves using
both the right side and the left side of the brain. Although none
of our kids is just left brain or just right brain, most of them
have a dominance. Few of us use both sides of our brain equally.

For example, if Susie’s really good in math, she’s probably left-
brain dominant. Or maybe Johnny’s an artist extraordinaire. He’s
probably right-brain dominant. Nothing wrong with Susie or
Johnny’s brain dominance, but wouldn’t it be great if Johnny did
better in math? Or Susie was able to develop some artistic
skills?

These kids will benefit from brain-based learning. They’ll
improve in those skills they were lacking. They’ll be able to use
both sides of the brain.

Learning to read and write requires using both sides of the
brain. In fact learning just about anything well, thinking
clearly, and even problem solving involves using the right and
left hemispheres of the front part of the brain.

How do you accomplish this? Easy? Just move across the center
mid-line of your body. Every time you move your right arm to your
left side or your left arm to your right side, you’re crossing
the mid-line and improving learning, thinking, and problem
solving. And you’re demonstrating brain-based learning.

Works for you. Works for kids.

1. Give yourself a big hug.

2. If you’re right handed, put the phone on the left side of your
desk. Use your right hand to reach for it.

3. Dance the hula. Or play with a hula hoop.

4. Take a Brain Boosters TeleChat. Check it out at
www.brainboostersforyourkids.com Or a Brain Gym class.
www.BrainGymClasses.com

5. Learn square dancing. (Actually most dancing crosses the mid-
line. The best of all is doing the Twist—O.K, if you weren’t
around in the 1950s, you’ll have to ask somebody to show you
how.)

6. Rake some leaves, making sure you’re raking off to the side
instead of straight in front of you.

7. Play a board game. (Use your right hand to move your piece when
it’s in the left corner; your left hand to move your piece when
it’s in the right corner.)

8. Practice using your non-dominant hand to reach for things on
the opposite side of your body. Even writing and drawing with
your non-dominant hand helps. (You’ll get better with practice.)

9.Do Yoga and Tai Chi. Lots of moves cross the mid-line.

10. Cross your ankles and arms in front or in back when you’re
doing jumping jacks. Kids can usually do this. If you can’t, try
it in the swimming pool. Just crossing your arms while doing
jumping jacks is a start.

Brain-based learning really isn’t all that complicated. Lots of
everyday kinds of activities get the whole brain active. Sitting
around watching TV, however, isn’t one of them! You’ve go to
move.

MaryJo Wagner, Ph.D.
The Learning Doctor
“Helping You Help Kids Learn”
Sign up for the Brain Boosters newsletter to help your kids learn
faster and easier and at www.BrainBoostersForYourKids.com

Got a school or PTA newsletter or e-zine? Your own parent,
teacher, or learning Web site? A community publication? You’re
welcome to reprint this article. Just print the whole article
with my name under the title and my contact information at the
bottom. When the report is published, please send me a copy or
the url to find it on the Web.

Duplicate the report. Distribute the report to parents. Pass it
around to teachers.

After a long day of blogging, my dear dog Bonnie greets me at the door with blind adoration. All that love is such an ego boost. Pets are good for more than your self-esteem. Besides being great buddies, according to WebMD pets can also improve your health in these five ways:

1. Prevent allergies: Many new studies show that children who grow up in a household with furry animals or on a farm, have less risk for allergies, and asthma and a stronger immune system.
2. Friend magnets: Pets are natural conversation starters so your pet can help you meet people if you have social anxiety or chronic shyness.
3. Benefit the aged: For the elderly, caring for a pet can offer exercise and companionship. Studies have also shown that for Alzheimer’s patients, those who have a pet have fewer anxious outbursts.
4. Good for the mind and soul: Those who have pets are less likely to suffer from depression, are better equipped to handle stressful situations, and they also have lower blood pressure.
5. Good for your heart: Pet owners who suffer from a heart attack will live longer than those who are petless. Studies have also shown that men who own pets have lower cholesterol.

Many years ago, a friend and I were extremely amused by something that happened. The event became associated with the expression ‘windscreen wipers’. Afterwards, whenever we or anyone else said, ‘windscreen wipers’, we would burst out laughing. Our pointless laughing at the word ‘windscreen wipers’ annoyed others who could not ‘see’ the joke. Bursting out laughing when one or the other of us said, ‘windscreen wipers’ seemed crazy to other people! The windscreen wipers had become associated with something amusing, and thereafter, whenever we said, ‘windscreen wipers’, it made us lough just as the incident made us laugh in the past. Has something similar ever happened to you? Have you ever associated things in some irrational way? We all have thousands of experiences, although we might not be aware of them all. We might even consider them rational!

In the story above, the neutral phrase ‘windscreen wipers’ had become anchored to a state of amusement. Whenever we wanted to laugh again, we had only to say ‘windscreen wipers’. Windscreen wipers became atrigger for evoking laughter, by anchoring a state of amusement with the phrase.

Actualy this anchor still seems pretty funny to me today, many years later, wich shows that anchor can remain effective years later. Any sound, object, picture, smell, words, etc, evoke emotions, thoughts or states, etc.

Designer Anchors

Anchor can be created accidentally, but can you create them to order? If you can, then you can learn to control your experience.

You can use anchors ti deliberately bring experiences under conscious control and produce their effects whenever you need them. For example, if you need to be confident, you can make an anchor to give you that confidence when you need it. For example, you might feel nervous about a meeting, such as a job interview, and you want to be confident. Here’s how you can use anchors to accomplish this!

1. Recall an experience with the resource you require. For example, recall a time when you had the resource, self confidence.

2. When you experience this confidence at its maximum, touch yourself (for example, bring the thumb and forefinger together to make a circle) to anchor self confidence to the touch.

3. Recall, or imagine several other examples of being confident to strengthen your state and apply the anchor as in previous step.

4. Test the anchor to see wether it evokes the state you want. If not repeat the above ateps.

In the steps above we nused feeling (or touch) to create the anchor. You joined the index finger and thumb to form a circle. You can also use a mental picture or a sound to anchor the state you want. You could, if you wished, use all three!

That is you could touch yourself, recall a mental picture and a sound. For example, you could think a word, say the word “confidence”, touch your cheek, and visualize a circle. When you need to evoke the atate of confidence, you would apply all the anchors.

Anchoring Others

You can apply anchors to others using these principles. For examples, every time a person is in a good mood, you could cough, or make a subtle sign. You could touch them. You would does this when they were at the height of the resource state. After anchoring the state