Unleash your motivation
I was talking to the PMM team at PandaDoc this week and one of them asked me about my urgency article and how I drive urgency. It got me thinking a bit about motivation and I want to share my story about what motivates me knowing that for everyone motivation is deeply intrinsic and takes many forms. Still the lesson is that when you know what motivates you and you tap into it you can unleash a drive for urgency, accountability, and business results. Let your motivation become your superpower.
For me my motivation comes from having an impact. Nothing gets me as excited as seeing results. This could be an inflection in a metric, it could be creating something from nothing - but it’s about knowing I helped create something. That creation and move to impact gets me motivated like nothing else. In my case, impact can be anything that’s furthering the goal of the company. This past week I had three:
I helped one of my AEs get a large deal across the line
My web-team got a huge win on one of our tests
We signed an exceptional candidate for one of our open roles
All three of those got me excited, because they are furthering the goals of PandaDoc: to build value for our customers, team, and company. These three things do that by helping my teams get better, helping our customers get to value, and building our business. As I think more about my experiences and what motivates me I’ve realized that the best impact experiences come from me working with teams to drive these moments of impact. I have realized that the impact of doing something on my own is never as great as the satisfaction I have in getting things across the line with a group of other people - there’s something special about winning together and creating this long lasting change as part of a group that I find particularly satisfying.
As you search for your motivation, think about what makes you happy during the day, but also what gives you energy. For me I know I’m motivated when something gets me to pick up the laptop at a crazy hour, gets my brain thinking, or makes me want to get right back to work even after a big win. Think through that and why it excites you. I’d also encourage you to be honest with yourself, there is no judgment in what motivates you whether it’s having impact, being altruistic, spending time with your team, developing talent, or even financial rewards. Understanding these drivers can be key for unlocking a bit more in your current role or even just helping drive that self-discovery so many of us look for. Lastly I know many people get stuck in their career at inflection points and don’t know where to take their career. One of the questions that I always try to ask in these situations are what my team likes doing, what they’re good at, maybe most importantly what gets them pumped up to get into work in the morning. Thinking through these angles of reflection can help you take the next step in your career towards something you will find meaningful and satisfying.