Most motivational speakers cost good money
and achieve nothing more than very temporary
increases in "motivation" and morale. That's
a best case scenario. The poor ones don't
achieve anything at all. There's another
question though. Can motivational speakers
cause harm to individuals and organizations?
The answer is a
resounding YES. Let's put aside the
cost/benefit issues for now. Let's look at
the potential effects on employees and
organizations. To do so we need to consider
the issue of EXPECTATIONS.
One of the most common
problems organizations have with respect to
employees, is credibility. An organization
where employees see the company and
management as keeping their promises tends
to be more successful. Simply put, there's
less cynicism, less complaining, and more
loyalty to companies that don't make
promises they don't keep. Companies and
managers that promise new things and don't
deliver, get into big trouble. What happens
is when a company promises that a "new"
system will save 35% of time, employees want
to believe it. On implementation, if it
appears to employees that the "promise" was
incorrect, how do they react? They blame
management for making a bad decision (at
least in their eyes), and are less likely to
react with enthusiasm to the "next" promise.
What does this have to do
with motivational speakers? First, most
motivational speakers are brought in by
management. They are presented to employees
as valued gurus, with something to say.
Expectations are intentionally created
regarding the value that the speaker will
provide. Then, the speaker drops in for an
hour or two, does the motivational thing,
and a big chunk of the audience is
disappointed. Perhaps it's that many people
don't like feeling they are being
"manipulated into motivation". Or just as
common, apart from the theater and pizzazz
of the motivational speaker, there is often
no content, and little practicality to what
is presented.
So we end up with the
classic cycle of expectations and
disappointment. Raise expectations with the
pre-speaker hype. The speaker disappoints
many in the audience, and then leaves the
scene. However the managers and executives
who brought in the speaker are the ones that
look stupid. They have just lost more
credibility in the eyes of their staff.
Motivational speakers can
cause harm in another way. Individuals who
may be susceptible to motivational ideas and
theater, can go away "halfcocked"...the a
little knowledge is a dangerous thing
syndrome. Here's a real example. Jane was a
receptionist, somewhat quiet, but what we
would call a bit passive-aggressive.
Management, with good intentions, arranged
to have Jane attend a high profile
motivational session on assertiveness and
taking control of one's life. Lo, and
behold...it TAKES...she GETS it (or does
she). She returned to work all hyped up, all
"assertive" but her understanding of being
assertive (based on the few hours with the
motivational speaker) was twisted. She
actually ended up more aggressive,
impossible to work with, and no amount of
coaching from her manager helped, once she
"got the spirit" from the motivational
speaker. In the case of Jane, she eventually
was fired. Certainly Jane was harmed
personally.
There are indeed
situations where motivational speakers can
cause harm to companies, management, and
even individual employees. When you consider
bringing in a motivational speaker ask
yourself these two questions:
-
What will happen
if we make promises we can't deliver?
-
Is it possible
some individuals will get the "wrong end
of the stick" and take it TOO seriously?
Post your comments at
amin@aiminlines.co.th
Copyright © 2014 AIM Inlines. All rights reserved.
No portion of this web site may be used or
reproduced in any manner
whatsoever without written permission, except in the
case of brief quotations
embodied in critical articles and reviews. |
Back to Articles
| Top of the Page
|