Two of my six P's of effective motivation are purpose and pride. Research consistently demonstrates that intrinsic motivators such as pride trump external motivators such as money or being beaten with a blunt object. (By the way, if you're keeping score, money definitely trumps being beaten by a blunt object.)
Although there are dozens of ways to tap into workplace pride, I saw a very effective example at a conference I recently spoke at. A pharmaceutical company brought in several doctors, nurses, patients and family members of patients who, for the first time ever, had a chance to interact with front line employees and share how much better there lives were because of one of their products. The stories were so compelling that several employees were moved to tears of joy. Even though some of the employees weren't directly related to the development of the products, they told me they had never felt more proud to work for their company.
One of the most powerful things you can do to inspire and motivate your team is to connect with the end users of your services or products.
Whether you create a "wall of pride," a testimonial book, a video book, bring people in, go on a field trip to them or post video success stories on your website, connecting to the real end users and real life stories can boost your pride quotient in dramatic ways and help everyone on your team connect to a powerful sense of purpose in their jobs.
