Understanding the difference between what drives your team, and what motivates your team and how to harness both of them, can create more growth, fulfilment, and satisfaction for your team and your organisation.

Before I knew the difference, I sometimes felt as though I was stumbling around somewhere in the dark.  Of course, it’s much more difficult to walk around a place in the dark when you don’t know the layout: where the bathroom is, where the kitchen is, where the stairs are!

Relationships can sometimes feel like we’re stumbling round in the dark too.  It would be really helpful if we knew the layout, or rather the personalities, involved.

It would really help to know:

• whether they want to talk things over, or would rather have time to think things through;

• whether they like to have loads of questions answered in detail, or just want the big picture;

• whether they want to quantify exactly what the outcome will be, or how it will make people feel;

• whether they’ll get to the end of the week and say: “we had a great time”, or “we got the job done”.

Understanding how to create a vision that is inspiring and compelling for your team is a vital part of effective leadership; understanding how to communicate that vision in every interaction with your team is fundamental to the effective delivery of your dream; after all, Leadership is about Imagination, Inspiration and Influence.  But how do we do that?