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I'm often asked to come in to organizations and give a motivational speech to their employees. I reply that I'm not a motivational speaker. Never have been. Never will be. Don't want to be. I do something else. I teach their people how to become motivational leaders. That's a far more productive endeavor.

The concept and application of motivation are misunderstood in most organizations. The motivational industry is based on a fundamental contradiction; because the focus of motivation is misplaced. After all, leaders (salespeople included) should be motivated. If they aren't, they shouldn't be leaders.

Here's where the focus should be: not on the leaders themselves but on the people they lead. Can those leaders transfer their motivation to other people so those people are as motivated as they are about the challenges they face?

Furthermore: Can those people who "catch" the motivation of their leaders then go out and motivate others -- and those others go out themselves and motivate still others ... and on and on?

Finally, can people at each phase of this "cascading of cause leaders" translate motivation into action that achieves results -- and not just average results but more results faster on a continual basis?

All my books, articles, courses, seminars, workbooks and interviews are based on that simple sequence of ideas.

I have written many articles on motivation and how to transfer your motivation to others.

But there is another way of transforming your motivation to others that doesn't take much explaining. It's surprisingly simple, easy to use, and effective. Yet few leaders I've encountered use it, and those who use it, don't use it well.

It's the Way of the Question Mark. A "way" is a course of life one undertakes to advance in a particular discipline.

So it is with the Way of the Question Mark. It is not simply a technique; you'll find it is actually a disciplined course of life. (I've been using it for years and am still a long way from mastering it. Because the question mark is often particularly appropriate in a highly charged emotional situation. However, in such situations, when strong emotions are getting the better of me, it takes practice and discipline to step back, gather my thoughts, and ask a question.)

Practicing the Way of the Question Mark can enhance your relationships with the people you lead so you get a lot more results as a leader.

From now on in all your leadership endeavors, make a conscious effort to put a question mark at what would otherwise be declarative sentences.

Asking the question rather than using a declarative is usually more effective because it gets people reflecting upon their situation. After all, we can't motivate anyone to do anything. They have to motivate themselves. And they best motivate themselves when they reflect on their character and their situation. The question prompts people to answer, and when they are answering, they may engage in such reflection. You may not like the answer; but often their answer, no matter what it is, is better in terms of advancing results than your declaration. Also, their answering the question may prompt them to think they have come up with a good idea. People are less enamored of your great ideas than they are of their ideas, even if those ideas are simply average.

For instance, your organization needs to have people to from point A to point B. An order leader might say, "Go from A to B."

Practicing the Way, one might ask: "Tell me what you think about going from A to B?" or "What's the best way for you to go from A to B?" or "Tell me how I can support you going from A to B?" or "How will you take leadership of others going from A to B?"

Mind you, I'm not talking about pandering to people's whims. I'm talking motivation, motivating people to get more results faster on a continual basis. (In fact, you can't order people to get more results faster continually. Only motivated people can do it.) I'm talking about challenging people to undertake extraordinary things, to be better than they think they are.

The question mark, as opposed to the simple declarative, opens up a world of results-producing possibilities. And it's a world predicated on their choices.

Make the Way of the Question Mark your way. Discipline yourself to ask questions rather than make statements. You'll start getting more results.

2005 © The Filson Leadership Group, Inc. All rights reserved.

PERMISSION TO REPUBLISH: This article may be republished in newsletters and on web sites provided attribution is provided to the author, and it appears with the included copyright, resource box and live web site link. Email notice of intent to publish is appreciated but not required: mail to: brent@actionleadership.com

I recently had the distinct pleasure of meeting up with Mary Jo Foley in Vancouver during TechDays as she was our guest on a special edition of the AlignIT Manager Tech Talk series. She’s put together this guest post for the blog on what you need to know as an IT manager and shared her tips on how best to keep up to date. Enjoy!

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After having the opportunity to talk with a number of IT managers in Vancouver during Tech Days in November, I came to a few realizations.

What Canadian techies want to know is not so very different from what U.S. techies do. And like their U.S. counterparts, Canadian IT professionals want to know how they can find reliable, timely information that will help them do their jobs better.

Ruth Morton, a Microsoft Tech Evangelist and host of the AlignIT IT Manager Podcast Series, is the one who got me thinking about the "how" question last week, when she asked me to give IT managers some ideas for staying abreast about what's going on at Microsoft.

The way I -- a full-time Microsoft watcher -- stay up-to-date about IT matters is a multi-pronged process:

• Make sure to watch and listen closely for information about new products and directional shifts. Remember when former Server and Tools Chief Bob Muglia said over a year ago that Microsoft's strategy with Silverlight had "shifted"? That was key for IT managers who were thinking about the extent to which to bet on Silverlight, Microsoft's rich-media plug-in and development tool. Some may have opted to consider other options, including HTML5, JavaScript and CSS, for certain new dev projects.
• Be on the look out for roadmaps. This is where Microsoft conferences and blog posts can be handy. At certain shows, Microsoft execs may be more willing to flash a roadmap slide during an in-depth talk. And every once in a while, teams decide they can share more information via blog posts. (Subscribing to favorite blogs via RSS, while no longer, "trendy," can help you make sure not to miss the occasional roadmap post.)
• Filter, filter, filter. There are more technology blogs cropping up every day. But not all blogs (or bloggers) are created equal. Look for blogs and authors who seem to be clued in and who have a good accuracy track record. While it's easy to be caught up in the latest hot rumor on TechMeme, remember that there's pressure like never before on journalists and bloggers to get clicks. Volume doesn't equal quality; rumors aren't the same as well-sourced reports.
• Don't be afraid to use social media to ask questions. It's next-to-impossible to be an expert on every new technology. But the Web is full of experts in particular domains. Ask questions using Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook and other social-media channels and you'll quickly find a number of subject-matter experts willing to share what they know. I've had good success gathering timely information via Twitter on everything from System Center, to Windows 8. A quick Twitter exchange often leads to email address sharing, allowing more in-depth, private conversations.

Next year, 2012, is going to be one of Microsoft's biggest launch years in the company's history. If the tipsters and roadmaps are right, Microsoft will be delivering SQL Server 2012, System Center 2012, Windows 8, Office "15," Visual Studio 2012, new versions of Dynamics CRM and ERP -- and cloud complements to all of these products -- before the year is over. Keeping up with all the coming changes can be a full-time job (and is, for me). Being smart about staying current with the latest tech trends is more important than ever.

Bonus Links

• Microsoft: Our strategy with Silverlight has shifted
• Microsoft server roadmaps: A free webcast and cheat sheet 
• New System Center, SQL Server releases on tap for early 2012
• Keeping track of the Microsoft codenames

About Mary Jo

Mary Jo Foley has been a tech journalist for more than 25 years. She has worked for a variety of tech publications and Web sites, including PCWeek/eWeek, CRN and ZDNet. She is the editor of the "All About Microsoft" blog on ZDNet, and the author of the book "Microsoft 2.0: How Microsoft Plans to Stay Relevant in the Post-Gates Era" (John Wiley & Sons). She also is the co-host of the Windows Weekly show on the TWiT network and a frequent commentator and speaker on all things Microsoft-related on TV, radio, podcasts and at industry events.

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