Human Energy: Third Wave Motivation

A major concern of the effective manager is motivation, a critical issue in today's chaotic world. A firm's associates must have the motivation to serve customers, create innovations and cope with a rapidly changing world. They must also have the self-esteem to cope with the failures associated with the need to be entrepreneurial and innovative. In the absence of these conditions, the manager will find that his or her department is not contributing to the effectiveness of his or her enterprise. As pointed out by FORTUNE, the 1990's will be the decade of value added (Nulty, 1987). In a world experiencing major transformations in social, economic and cultural conditions, value can not be added without innovation, customer service and flowing with changes.

What is a manager to do? The answer resides in the myth that a manager can motivate a person to perform. The fact of the matter is that motivation comes from within. This is not to say that the manager can not create a supportive environ. He or she can. Effective managers devote considerable time creating a high performance environment ( Vaill, 1982 and Luthan, 1988). They are sensitive to the needs and values of each individual. They are person-centered. Levinson and Rosenthal (1984) point out that effective leaders mentor and develop their associates. Nanus and Bennis (1985) indicate that effective leaders create an environment that supports innovative learning and experimentation.

The effective manager will also educate his or her associates in techniques to enhance their inner motivation. To accomplish this end, a manager have a number of options. Most of the popular self-improvement techniques such as affirmations, self-talk and positive thinking have serious drawbacks. These drawback can reduce organizational effectiveness and personnel development. Each of these techniques will be explored and their drawbacks pointed out. An alternative approach focusing on enhancing human energy will also be presented.

The first problem with positive thinking is that it does not assist the person in discovering the cause(s) limiting his or her motivation. It does not lead one to discover the source of so called positive and negative feelings and thoughts. What is suggested is that negative thoughts be repressed and covered up by positive ones. In other words, they are pushed into the unconscious. The problem is that the unconscious directs behavior and we are more unconscious than conscious. Branden (1972), Perl (1973) and Grof (1985) indicate, on the basis of clinical evidence, that thinking tends to be influenced by unfinished business and introjections based on a person's past which have become unconscious. These individuals stress the importance of self-discovery and awareness.

A dramatic example of the negative result of the positive thinking approach was the decline of Computerland. It's CEO, Bill Millard, was a student of the EST program. The philosophy of the program reinforced Milliard's belief in focusing only on positive thoughts. His charismatic personality and dependency on him by many of his followers reinforced an overall optimistic way of thinking about the company's situation. He ignored associates and information which pointed out problems. Millard's neurotic illusions drove the company into disaster (Critser, 1986).

The lack of self exploration can lead the positive thinker to engage in unethical actions in the name of "positive thought." Many of the philosophies and techniques associated with this approach are manipulative, seductive, elitist, and treat people immaturely. They also led to narcissism and express disrespect towards others. An example is the Dale Carnegie School. Graduates of this school are taught to manipulate and seduce people by putting them in a positive state of mind, getting them to say yes and giving constant approval (Conniff, 1987). These individuals are engaged in "impression management" which is another trait of both addictive and co-dependent personalities (Schaef, 1986; 1987).

Influencing people with positive comments is not open communication when the comments are designed to seduce the other by playing on their need for approval. It is highly deceitful. It also expresses disrespect towards the other and is grounded in the attitude of superiority which is an indication of low and not healthy self-esteem (Branden, 1984). To paraphrase Abraham Maslow, to respect a person is to tell him how you really feel and how you really think. This indicates respect for the other as a mature person. This example also indicates the narcissistic aspect of this approach. Alexander Lowen (1985) points out that the narcissist is not in love with him or her self, but is in love with the image. This in turn causes the narcissist to deny his or her true self. The inability to communicate honestly and the use of manipulative and seductive techniques are the hallmark of the narcissist who places his or her emphasis on image and disregards feelings. The Carnegie techniques are inherently narcissistic.

Human experience suggests that we are not always positive and enthusiastic. The inability to experience disappointment, anxiety and depression is a denial and not an affirmation; it indicates a fear of life (Lowen,1980 ). It expresses low self-esteem because the person cannot accept and embrace life (Branden,1973 ). Dale Carnegie illustrates this inability to affirm the fullness of human experience. He was unable to write a planned chapter on exceptions to the laws of positive thinking (Conniff, 1987).

Positive thinking can create unrealistic expectations that lead to depression when one does not achieve them in the planned time period. Blotnick (1987) found that wanting too much within a short period of time causes people to fail. Seligman (1988) reports that that young adults are ten times more likely than their parents to suffer from depression. He says this results from an overemphasis on achieving and self-interest. The positive thinking approach may contribute to this effect by its emphasis on ego-inflation, narcissism, thinking vs. feeling, and creating unrealistic expectations based on cultural myths which may or not reflect the "here and now" reality of the individual.

Positive thinking can inhibit peak performance. Research by Murphey and White (1978), Garfield (1984, 1986), Gallwey (1974), Tannebaum and Hanna (1985) and Sinetar (1987) indicates that peak experience and personal change involves a sense of "letting go", the person experiences a sense of unity of mind, body, spirit and feeling. In some cases, individual express a sense of oneness with the environment. They experience a sense of absorption in and surrendering to the activity. In this state, any type of thinking can result in the breaking of the flow. Maslow describes this state in this fashion: "the will does not interfere. It's held in abeyance. It receives and doesn't demand. We can not command the peak experience. It happens to us." Skier Cindy Nelson describes the experience in this way: " There is generally not any conscious thought; it's all instinct, and practice takes over" (Garfield, 1984).

The positive thinking approach can enhance a person's inner conflict. Negative thoughts are a valid aspect of the person and situation and may be beneficial in certain situations. They have a purpose. They are resources that one can use. If a person tries to eliminate the expression of negative thoughts, they will only fight harder to express themselves (Laborde, 1988). The key is not to suppress these thoughts but to understand their purpose and to seek their assistance in achieving one's desired outcome. It is important to recognize what one person considers negative may not be negative to another. What is negative will change from situation to situation. John Sculley, CEO of Apple, states one needs to discover the value in criticism (Inc., 1987) Sculley transforms criticism (which many consider negative) into useful knowledge.

The effectiveness of these techniques is based on the assumption that the mind is like a computer. It is not uncommon to hear that when ones uses affirmations that one is programming the unconscious. The assumption is that negative attitudes are eliminated and/or covered up with positive thoughts. This can be likened to inserting a larger, positive attitude data file into a hard disk drive called the unconscious. The idea is that the larger file will replace or dominate the smaller attitude file. Unfortunately, unlike computers, human beings do not have an open command which will display all their files called memories. While affirmations are supposed to serve as a delete command, it is somewhat difficult without an open command to determine whether a negative attitude file has been eliminated or just further repressed into the unconscious. Unlike a harddisk drive, floppy or diskette, the human mind seems to have an unlimited storage capability and our knowledge of the landscape of the mind is fragmented and still very limited (Brown, 1980).

It is important to recognize that human mind is not a general purpose computer that can be programmed in any way (Tart,1975). There are a number of factors which may inhibit the programming of the mind. For example, programming the mind in a normal state of consciousness to deal with personal issues which are in another state of consciousness are likely to be ineffective (Tart,1975 and Grof, 1985, 1988)

Affirmations may also create a state of paradoxical intention. Viktor Frankl (1985) points out that during periods of anticipatory anxiety that paying excessive attention to a fear will often cause it to become a self-fulfilling prophecy. In the case of a person experiencing a fear that others may reject him or her, the use of the affirmation "I like myself" may only enhance the person's unconscious anxiety cause him or her to exhibit behaviors causing the other to reject him or her. Research indicates when people are told not to think about something, they can't help but think it (Lynch, 1987). Stating to oneself an affirmation may result in focusing on the reverse. It has been found that certain neurological structures causes certain persons to reverse positive affirmations, turning them into negative self-talk without the person being aware of this.

Evidence from sports psychology suggests that self-talk can be counter productive. In the basis of their research, Eveleyn Hall and Charles Hardy concluded: "Too much verbalization can cause frustration and anxiety. Since abstract verbal phrases evoke no visual images, verbal instructions should be concise and relevant to the movement. A single correct image is worth more than tons of verbiage, which overloads and restricts the performer's mind "(Garfield, 1984).

In summary, the effectiveness of many popular self-motivational strategies is limited. They can contribute to the development of an addictive, manipulative and narcissistic personality. These unhealthful consequences suggest the need for the development of new strategies for enhancing self-motivation.

The following are self-motivational strategies focusing on enhancing a person's human energy. They focus on integrating mind/body, enhancing self-awareness and defining a person's purpose or vision.

1. Research on peak performers in sports and business, effective leaders and self-actualized individuals, indicates that these individuals are motivated by a vision (Garfield 1984, 1986, Bennis and Nanus, 1985 and Sinetar, 1987) . This vision allows them to experience a future state in the present and act from this state. This suggests that creating a vision, a image or movie of a desired state is an important factor in enhancing self-motivation. It also suggests that any effective self-motivational strategy will use some form of imagery. The most effective of the imagery techniques are those based on Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP). The advantages of NLP techniques is that they do not seek to repress negative attributes but to reframe them into resources that allow the person to move forward and can be used to create resource states that do not have to be ongoing revisualized. NLP can also be used for learning certain types of behaviors (Laborde, 1988).

However, NLP processes can be enhanced by combining them with techniques designed to enhance the flow of a person's physical energy. The importance of physical energy is illustrated by the word, motivation. Motivation implies motion. Motion is an expression of the body and not a consciously-created mental image. A person can create countless mental images. However, action involves movement, the taking of action. Also, certain body energy techniques will allow the person to experience the feelings of relaxation, high energy, pleasure and confidence in the "here and now" and not through mentally visualizing past peak performance experiences.

In his book, TRIGGERS: A NEW APPROACH TO SELF-MOTIVATION, Stanley Mann (1987) presents a number of NLP based processes for enhancing self-esteem, health and learning. These techniques can be augmented and enhanced through the use of exercises presented in Alexander and Leslie Lowen's (1977) THE WAY TO VIBRANT HEALTH.

2. The first process is based on the assumptions that a person has a vision or motivational purpose. If this is not the case, a person might use Garfield's (1984) mission statement exercise found in his book, PEAK EXPERIENCE and/or the exercises on life purpose found in Ferrucci's (1983) book, WHAT WE MAY BE.

3. A person needs to discover the causes inhibiting him or her from moving towards his or her vision. One effective technique for discovering the reasons a person does not move towards his or her vision is Nathaniel Branden's sentence completion technique. A discussion of this technique and a variety of different types of sentence stems for exploring different aspects of one's life experience are found in Branden's (1986) book, TO SEE WHAT I SEE AND KNOW WHAT I KNOW.

4. A person must also be grounded. To be grounded is to have one's feet on the ground and to be able to stand up for one's values. Grounding allows also the person to be in the "here and now" and begins to create the feelings associated with peak performance. Grounding will also center a person. It will allow one to "let down" and not be in a "hung-up" state. When a person is hung-up, his or her shoulders are raised. This indicates that he or she is not grounded or centered and needs to let go of what is causing him or her to be hung-up. In other words, a person is hung-up on some need which indicates the absence of mind/body unity which is critical for peak performance (Garfield, 1984). There are a number of exercises in Alexander and Leslie Lowen's (1977) THE WAY OF VIBRANT HEALTH that will allow a person to become grounded. These exercises will not cause a person's hang-ups to be eliminated, but it will allow a person to feel an enhanced state of aliveness for a period of time.

5. A person's energy can be enhanced by improving his or her breathing. Breath is the energy of life. Most people repress their breathing to inhibit feeling. They breathe in an inhibited fashion. This can be observed in persons with tight bellies. By holding their bellies in, they can not breathe fully. Healthy breathing involves the belly. Poor breathing will inhibit peak performance which requires a person to experience a state of aliveness, pleasure and enthusiasm (Garfield, 1985). Poor breathing causes the body and mind to be depressed. A depressed body lacks energy. A depressed body will not provide the brain with the oxygen it requires for extraordinary awareness. When the body is depressed, one can will himself or herself to take action. However, he or she will still be depressed and the forcing of intent will drain the person's energy even more, causing a deepening of depression. One cannot be fully motivated through mental processes alone. The body has to be in an energized state before the whole person can become fully motivated (Lowen, 1973 and Kelley, 1974 ).

Life is a journey. This odyssey involves developing oneself and others. John Sculley (1987) supports the notion of business as a journey of adventure, romance, development and change. Sculley's journey began in a Second Wave corporation. His change in course to become the CEO of Apple Computer placed Sculley in a new, Third Wave Corporation. Sculley states that in his new world that the individual is most important. The function of the manager is to support his or her associates in contributing their best. This means that the manager is not a motivator. He or she is a teacher and developer who provides his or her associates with an environment, the knowledge and tools for releasing their unlimited human potential.

Bennis, W. and Nanus, B. (1985). Leaders. NY,NY: Harper and Row.
Blotnick, S. (1987). Getting rich your own way. Chicago, IL: Nightingale-Conant.
Branden, N. (1972). Breaking free. NY,NY: Bantam Books.
Branden, N. (1973). The disowned self. NY,NY: Bantam Book.
Branden, N. (November/December, 1984). "Honoring The Self." New realities. (6)3. pp. 30-35.
Branden, N. (1986). To see what I see and know what I know-a guide to self-discovery. NY,NY: Bantam Books.
Brown, B. (1980). Super-mind--the ultimate energy. NY,NY: Harper and Row.
Conniff, R. (October, 1987). "Dale Carnegie's rocket riders." Smithsonian. (18)7. pp. 82-93.
Critser, G. (August, 1986). "The Est Factor." Inc. (8)8. pp. 68-72, 74, 76.
"Face-To-Face: Corporate Antihero John Sculley." (October, 1987). Inc. (9)11. pp. 48-50, 52, 55, 57, 58, 60.
Ferrucci, P. (1982). What we may be:techniques for psychological and spiritual growth through psychosynthesis. Los Angles: J.P. Tarcher
Frankl, V. (1985). Psychotherapy and existentialism--selected papers on logotherapy. NY,NY: Washington Square Press.
Gallwey, W. T. (1974). The inner game of tennis. NY,NY: Random House.
Garfield, C. (1984). Peak performance--mental training techniques of the world's greatest athletes. NY, NY: Warner Books.
Garfield, C. (January/February, 1985). "Peak Performance In Sports." New realities. pp. 17-22.
Garfield, C. (1986). Peak performance--the new heroes of american business. NY,NY: William Morrow and Co..
Grof, S. (1985). Beyond the brain: birth, death and transcedence in psychotheraphy. Albany, NY: State University of New York Press.
Grof, S. (1988). The adventure of self-discovery: dimensions of consciousness and new perspectives in psychotherapy and inner exploration. Albany, NY: State University of New York Press.
Kelley, C. (1974). Education in feeling and purpose. Santa Monica, CA: Radix Institute.
Laborde, G. (1988). Fine tune your brain: when everything's going right and what to do when it isn't... Palo, Alto: Syntony Publishing.
Levinson, H. and Rosenthal, S. (1984). Ceo--corporate leadership in action. NY,NY: Basic Books.
Lowen, A. (1973). Depression and the body--the biological basis of faith and reality. NY,NY: Penguin Books.
Lowen, A. and Lowen, L. (1977). The way to vibrant health--a manual of bioenergetics exercises. NY,NY: Harper Colophon Books.
Lowen, A. (1985). Narcissism: Denial of the true self. NY,NY: Collier.
Lowen, A. (1980). Fear of life. NY,NY: Collier.
Luthan, F.. (May, 1988). "Successful vs. Effective Real Managers." Executive. (2)3. pp. 127-132.
Lynch, D. (October, 1987). "Whatever You Do, Do Not--We Repeat Do Not--Think Twice About the Subject Matter That Follows. Brain & strategy. (7)9. p. 3.
Mann, S. (1987). Triggers: a new approach to self-motivation. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall.
Murphy, M. and Rhea, W. (1978). The psychic side of sports. Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley.
Nulty, P. (February 2, 1987). "How Managers Will Manage." Fortune. pp. 47, 48, 50.
Perl, F. (1973). The gestalt approach and eye witness to therapy. Palo Alto, CA: Science and Behavior Books. 1972.
Schaef, A. W. (1987). When society becomes an addict. San Francisco, CA: Harper and Row.
Schaef, A. W. (1986). Co-dependence--misunderstood-mistreated. San Francisco, CA: Harper and Row.
Seligman, M. (October, 1988). "Boomer Blues." Psychology today. (22)10. pp. 44-49.
Sculley, J. (1987). Odyssey--pepsi to apple...a journey of adventure, ideas and the future. NY,NY: Harper and Row.
Sinetar, M. (1987). Do what you love, the money will follow--discovering your right livelihood. Mahwah, N.J.: Paulist Press.
Tannenbaum, R and Hanna, R. (1985). "Holding On, Letting Go and Moving On: Understanding a Neglected Perspective on Change." In Human systems development. Ed. by Robert Tannenbaum, Newton Margulies, Fred Massarik and Associates. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.
Tart, C. (1975). States of consciousness. NY,NY: Dutton.
Vaill, P. (Autumn, 1982). "The Purposing of High-Performing Systems." Organizational dynamics. (2)2. pp.23-39.

WeCareToo Saratov Web Page--Support Natalya Create Her Business Center Vision

First Name Last Name

Bob

Home Page

---

This page hosted by Get your own Free Home Page