Motivation & Energy Summer 1980

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Keys to Effective Motivation

by Reginald McDonough Broadman Press, $3.95, pb.

Reviewed by Terry C. Muck, Executive Editor, LEADERSHIP

"I do not believe a leader can control the motivation of those he leads. He seeks to provide a climate in which persons can motivate themselves."

After drawing this important distinction between motivation and manipulation, Reginald McDonough outlines four basic principles or keys that church leaders can use to create the positive climate conducive to motivated behavior.

McDonough makes it clear that these four keys spring from a biblical view of man. God values man highly-so should we. Since God gave man the freedom to choose, motivation must come from within each person. Man is sinful and self-centered-his egoistic needs motivate him. Since God gives the believer unlimited power, man's needs can be altered to reflect God's will.

Key Number One: Persons are more highly motivated in an environment that has order, predictability, structure, and stability. The real threat to stability is the emotional upheaval brought on by change.

Well thought-out change stimulates growth, but only when presented so that stability or the promise of stability is not compromised. Pastors who care for their people, show confidence in new projects, and have expertise in executing plans blunt the emotional blows of change. Frequent, well-planned communications bolster members laid low by threatening changes. Also, timing can make or break a proposed change. McDonough cites a statistic supplied by Lyle Schaller: most growing churches do not begin their significant growth patterns until after the pastor's fourth anniversary.

Key Number Two: Persons are more highly motivated in a climate where they feel themselves to be a ...

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