11Motivating and Inspiring Others

If you have ever tried to get someone else to do something – neighbours to help out at a community event, a teenager to tidy their room or a friend to take that job or leave their abusive partner – you know that you can't simply order people around and expect them to do what you want.

Rather than make people do something, you need to take an emotionally intelligent approach; create an environment within which they can (and will) motivate themselves.

What's the difference between motivating and inspiring? When there's an immediate, specific goal that you want people to achieve, you need to motivate them. Motivation is what prompts and drives a person to do and achieve something.

When you want to shape people's long-term ...

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