Top Performance

by Zig Ziglar

  I don’t know how you “stand” when you’re waiting in a line or waiting for something to happen, but I will never forget a little incident that took place in Washington, D.C., that fairly well describes the average person’s concept of what motivation is and what a motivated person does. I had spoken for the National Federation of Parents for Drug-Free Youth, and the response had been very gratifying. The audience laughed at the appropriate places, nodded in agreement at the right spots, applauded at the high spots, and gave me an enthusiastic standing ovation when it was all over. Compliments flowed thick and fast. Had my wife been there, she would have loved everything they said about me! My children would have been a little embarrassed about it, and my mother would have believed every word. In short, it was an “up” occasion for me.

  The next morning I was in the restaurant waiting for the host to seat the guest who preceded me. I was quietly standing, awaiting his return. As I stood there, three women who had been present at my talk the night before joined the people who were waiting in line behind me. These three women obviously thought I was out of earshot or would not be tuned in to what they were saying. However, here’s the conversation I picked up. First lady: “There is our speaker from last night.” Second lady: “Yes, and he is obviously a ‘night’ person!” Third lady: “He must be, because he sure doesn’t look motivated to me!”

  Now to be really honest, I don’t know how you either “look” motivated or “stand” motivated. I suppose the women thought I should have had an ear-to-ear grin on my face, or perhaps I should have been bouncing up and down and waving to the people in the restaurant. If that’s their idea of a motivated person, all I can say is that they are way, way off base.

  The question I am most often asked is, “Are you always so ‘up’?” And the answer, of course, is, “No, I’m not always ‘up.’” But I am “up” about 95 percent of the time. Usually if I am not “up,” it is because I am exhausted as a result of a grueling schedule. Common sense and experience then dictate to me that I either need to take a nap or go for a walk—which is exactly what I do if it’s humanly possible.

  I should explain, however, that there is a vast difference between being “up” and being “on.” Anyone who is “on” twenty-four hours a day is “on” something that is deadly! In short order he will suffer from burnout and probably end up as a depressed, perhaps even psychotic, individual. Either that or efforts to always be “on” could lead to a tragic dependency on drugs, which have claimed far too many (even one is too many) people who are deluded into believing that they must always be “on” and having a marvelous time.

  Just Who Is Motivated?

  Unfortunately, too many people think of the “motivated” person as the loudly enthusiastic, turned-on extrovert who is making noise and is the center of attention, whether he is in a crowd of ten or ten thousand. This is not necessarily motivation, but probably falls under the banner of “hysteria,” and hysteria is giving motivation a bad reputation. I’m not saying that the extrovert is not motivated, because he could be, but being loud certainly doesn’t necessarily mean being motivated. Some of the most “up” and motivated people I’ve ever known are quiet and unassuming. Obvious point: You can be “up” and motivated while quietly jogging, reading, praying, thinking, holding hands with your mate, or even sleeping.

  As I wrote that last paragraph, the Redhead was waiting to take a walk in the botanical gardens along the Brisbane River in Brisbane, Australia. What an “up” experience it was! The greenery, shrubs, flowers, rocks, plants, birds, boats, water, and people were beautiful, fascinating, and quiet. At no time during the walk would anyone have accused us of being “on,” especially when we sat on the bench to watch the ducks and birds in their never-ending quest for food. However, it was definitely an “up” experience and is permanently recorded in my memory bank as a most enjoyable, motivating interlude.

  I might also add that this process helps to clean out the garbage and the cobwebs from the yesterdays of life, so that you really are clearing the decks for more effective action today. Another benefit is that this kind of meditation will help eliminate lots of medication.

  Yes, life can be—even should be—sprinkled from time to time with “up” experiences. For me, a walk with one of my children or grandchildren, a game of golf with my wife or son, a moving sermon, inspiring semiclassical music, a hymn of the faith, or a drama about real life depicting the good guy winning over the bad guy, is always an “up” experience. These events turn me on when I need to be turned on to do the speaking and writing that my profession requires.

  My guess is you are pretty much the same way, and like me, you have certain things that do not get you as motivated as your best performance demands. It may be a certain aspect of your job, such as paperwork or long and tedious meetings. It might be making cold calls on unmotivated buyers. It might be dealing with and trying to manage other people’s frustrations when you feel you have enough of your own aggravations to last a lifetime. The question should be, “Is it possible to be motivated about something that I am not motivated about right now?” The answer is a definite Yes! Especially if you understand that most small problems, when nourished with procrastination, will grow bigger and bigger.

  It will be even easier when you understand a simple formula that I call the Four-A Formula to develop motivation. The next four chapters are dedicated to this formula.

  Before we really get into this concept of motivation, let me make one more point. You may be as motivated as you ever want to be. The chances are good, however, that there is someone in your life who is not as motivated as you would like him or her to be. So, as you read the next chapters, don’t forget that you are reading from two perspectives: (1) How will this information help me to be a Top Performer? and (2) How will this information help me to help others be Top Performers? You will be pleased with the answers you find to both questions—I guarantee it!

  PERFORMANCE PRINCIPLES

  * * *

  You must understand motivation to motivate others consistently.

  Management’s imperative is to cultivate its human resources.

  What the workforce really wants is management leadership whose competence and concern they can trust.

  One of the most important things we can give others is hope with direction, encouragement, and believability.

  Where you start is not as important as where you finish.

  You can be “up” without being “on.”

  13

  Why You Manage … Why They Follow

  The true motives of our actions, like the real pipes of an organ, are usually concealed. But the gilded and the hollow pretext is pompously placed in the front for show.

  Charles Caleb Colton

  Awareness

  Assumptions

  Analysis

  Action

  The first A in our Four-A Formula stands for Awareness. When I am talking about awareness, I am talking about answering the question Why? Why are you reading this book? Why are you continuing to work in your job? Why are you continuing to be involved in the day-to-day activities that fill your life? The honest answer to the question Why? is also the answer to your personal motivation. This is not motivation that has been imposed upon you by anyone else; it’s your personal motivation. One of the early success writers suggested we take the word motivation and make a slash between the v and the a—and if you’ve got just a little bit of imagination, you can see two words. The word on the left is motive, and the word on the right is action. People who are motivated have a motive; they have a reason, a purpose, or a cause. And then they take action on that reason, purpose, or cause. Question: Have you given it any thought at all?

  motiv/ation

  A friend of mine, attending college, was placed in a 7:30 A.M. English class that met on Saturdays. In his words, “The counselors saw me coming, didn’t they? They must have said, ‘This guy looks like he just fell off the turnip truck! Let’s put him in that 7:30 A.M. Sat
urday English class and he’ll probably show up!’ They did—and I did!”

  He went on to tell me that the teacher walked to the front of the room and immediately gave an assignment. The class was to write a short theme on “Why I Am Going to College.” The students dutifully got down to business, but after about ten minutes, one of them got up and left the room. When the class was over, several of his friends walked out to the quadrangle to find the student who had left early. Sure enough, Ray was sitting in front of the library. “Ray, what are you doing?” his puzzled friends asked.

  “Funny, I never thought about it before,” Ray said, “but I don’t want to go to college! The only reason I’m here is that you guys are here, and my other friends are here, and my mom and dad wanted me to go to college. I don’t want to go to college. I want to go to work at the plant where my dad works, get married, have a family, play slow-pitch softball at night, and spend time with my family on the weekends. I just never thought about it until that teacher asked the question.”

  [Image not included because of rights restrictions.]

  The real irony of this true story is that Ray was a straight-A high school student, and the chances are good he could have gone on to be whatever he studied to be. However, with that attitude, he would have been a mediocre doctor, lawyer, scientist, teacher, manager, or anything else. He would have been mediocre because he had not identified his own personal reasons, purposes, or causes. If we are to motivate ourselves, we must honestly face up to the real reasons we do the things we do.

  If we want to motivate other people, we have got to find out what their reason, purpose, or cause is. People are not going to be motivated for your reasons. They are going to be motivated for their own reasons. We must understand that everyone listens to the same radio station. The station is WII-FM and the call letters stand for What’s In It For Me? If you want to motivate others, this is the information you need to share. You’ve got to find out their motive, reason, and cause—and then encourage them to take action.

  The first time you attempt to discover what another person’s motives are, you will probably get an answer he or she thinks you would like to hear. If you continue to probe, you will get an answer that someone very close to that person would like to hear. And if you continue to probe, you might get the truth. Now, people don’t mean to be deceitful. It’s just that they haven’t given much thought to what really is important to them. Money is not a motivator … what we can do with the money is what really motivates others and us. Whether it’s the biggest home on the street or the largest donation to the orphanage, our motives vary greatly. Honest realization of our motives (or those of others) is the first step in understanding motivation.

  Types of Motivation

  Fear Motivation

  Motivation comes in three forms. The first is fear motivation. Fear motivation works for some people some of the time. In most cases it is temporary, but there are occasions when it is effective. When the economy is extremely tight and there are more workers than jobs, many workers will consciously make a much greater effort to be extremely productive in an effort to ensure their jobs. They will arrive earlier, stay later, and do more while they are there. However, if this is their only motive, the chances are excellent that over a period of time they will grow weary of well-doing and revert back to their old habits and, if the economy is still bad, will ultimately end up losing their jobs. Temporarily, however, it will work and effect an increase in productivity for them.

  Fear motivation is also effective on a toddler who continues to reach for things that he can destroy or that might be dangerous to him. A few light slaps on the hand will convince him, in most cases, that it is not in his best interest to pursue that course of action, and he will desist. Fear motivation also works for a six-, seven-, or eight-year-old when it comes to acquiring bad habits such as smoking. A threat on the part of the parents to “wear his britches out” if they catch him with a cigarette is very effective and will keep that cigarette out of his mouth. However, the same approach for a fifteen-year-old might have the opposite effect.

  In the marketplace, fear motivation sometimes is temporarily effective to keep workers in line and to help them become team players and cooperate with, and on occasion even be subservient to, their superiors. But again, the results are temporary and over the long haul can even backfire.

  Incentive Motivation

  The second kind of motivation is incentive motivation. All of us in our business careers have seen the familiar picture of the donkey pulling the cart with a carrot dangling in front of him. The donkey’s motivation to pull is obviously to reach and take a bite of that carrot. For this incentive to work, the load has got to be light enough for him to pull, the donkey’s got to be hungry enough so that he wants to take a bite of that carrot, and the carrot has got to be desirable enough to appeal to him. However, if he does not eventually have his bite of carrot, he’s going to recognize that it’s a “con game,” and he will stop pulling.

  The only problem is, when you give the donkey a big enough bite of the carrot, he is no longer going to be hungry and, consequently, his motivation to pull is dramatically reduced. At this point, the only way you can get him to pull is to lighten the load, shorten the stick, and sweeten the carrot. The problem here is that in the business world we have a load that is fairly well dictated by market conditions and, if you lighten it too much, or if you give the donkey too big a bite of the carrot (or the profit generated by the free enterprise system), the operation is no longer profitable and we ultimately end up out of business. Remember: Today’s fringe benefits are tomorrow’s expectations. So what do you do? Answer: Change the donkey to a Thoroughbred and make him want to run.

  Change or Growth Motivation

  This brings us to the third kind of motivation, which is growth motivation. The primary purpose of growth motivation is to change the thinking, the capacity, and the motivation of the worker. We must make him want to pull that cart (do his job). We must give him reasons for doing what we want him to do and what he wants to do. In other words, we must work with employees to the degree that we can help them get the things they want in life. That’s a major purpose of Top Performance—to give specific methods, procedures, and techniques for helping each individual grow and inspiring them so they will want to do a better job—not just for the benefit of the company but for their own benefit as well. As I’ve said before, in reality we are all “on the same team,” and, consequently, we have the same objectives. When management and labor both clearly understand that they are on the same side, then both sides will be willing, even eager, to cooperate.

  When I was a small boy, my friends and I frequently walked on an abandoned section of the railroad tracks. Each of us attempted to keep our balance and walk the farthest, but inevitably, after a few steps, we would fall. Had we but realized it, two of us could have gotten on opposite rails, reached across and held hands and, together, could have walked indefinitely.

  I’m convinced that in the business world when management and labor, employer and employee, fully understand that they are on the same side and have the same objectives, if they will “hold hands” and work together, all will benefit. Then we are not only developing our maximum potential as individuals, but we’re also achieving the maximum productivity in our company, which ensures the stability and growth of that company. That’s the kind of thinking and motivation that will bring optimum results and permanent benefits for labor and management.

  I’m convinced that everyone is motivated at some time in his or her life about something. Winners are motivated a high percentage of the time. Winning leaders are motivated most of the time, and almost always when the chips are down. My friend the late Gene Lewis, one of the great commonsense leaders I had the privilege to work with, shared this analogy, which clearly points out what happens to entirely too many people:

  [Text not included because of rights restrictions.]

  Obviously, Gene is not talking about lead
ers in that last paragraph. True leaders who are really motivated will use one success to build to an even bigger one. A leader knows that he is the example his subordinates look to for guidance and direction. As a manager, he knows he will be measured and judged by the number of his subordinates who surpass him. He clearly understands that the mark of greatness is the ability to develop it in others.

  Krish Dhanam had the good fortune to meet one of the world’s greatest management leaders. He tells the story:

  * * *

  Saintly Leadership

  On June 7, 1994, I had the rare privilege of meeting one of the most effective Top Performers of our time. I was entrusted with the task of taking a donation from my employer in Dallas to a little missionary worker in the slums of Calcutta. I was asked to meet and greet Mother Teresa and offer the donation as a gesture of goodwill for all that she had accomplished. Little did I know that the twenty-minute encounter would give me some incredible leadership principles that would last me a lifetime.

  In my haste to part with the money and capture a picture with the future saint, I kept egging this icon of patience to come to where I was standing so a memory of our meeting could be recorded. It was clearly evident from what transpired that the memory I wanted to create was not as significant as the result of the actions of that day. My camera stopped working, and all efforts to get a picture were thwarted by fate, coincidence, or happenstance.

  I left India disappointed and blamed myself for coming so close to greatness and failing to get a picture, but the saintly leadership of Mother Teresa taught me some valuable lessons.