Motivating ourselves is something that we all do. Like a palm tree with deep roots near a sandy beach that survives the brunt of storms year after year, you can nurture your learners to stay motivated. And in doing so, you can continue to see growth for free.
In the brilliant book Emotional Intelligence, Daniel Goleman describes seven key abilities most beneficial for human beings: the ability to motivate ourselves, to persist against frustration, to delay gratification, to regulate moods, to hope, to empathize, and to control impulses.
In this article, we’ll look at motivation (FI.I.A.K1c) and how it is affected by human needs (FI.I.A.K1d).
What is motivation?
The Aviation Instructor’s Handbook defines motivation as “the reason one acts or behaves in a certain way and lies at the heart of goals.” Motivation is the equivalent of a starter on an aircraft. It plays a part in driving the decisions that learners make so they can move forward. However, it isn’t always used.
In his book Tiny Habits, Dr. BJ Fogg says, “Motivation is like a party-animal friend. Great for a night out but not someone you would rely on to pick you up from the airport. You must understand its role and its limitations, then pick behaviors that don’t rely on such a fickle friend.”
What the author is suggesting, in other words, is that motivation is unreliable.
You know the feeling. It can appear at times but will also vanish unexpectedly in the toughest situations. One way to overcome this limitation is to get a glimpse of what is happening behind the scenes.
The power of why
Good questions can help you understand the how and why behind the motivation of a learner. Not knowing can negatively affect your relationship with your learner. It’s also a recipe for failure. As an instructor, you are also a leader. Asking questions is a way to sidestep the flaky nature of motivation. Here are three questions to start a conversation about learning to fly:
– What’s happening in your life that brought you here to learn how to fly?
– What surprised you the most about your discovery flight?
– If you could wave a magic wand and instantly become a captain of an airline, which one would you choose?
Nudge your learner to get specific with phrases like “Tell me more” or “It’s interesting you said X. Could you tell me more about that?” Even listening and being silent can encourage more sharing. To go further, save these insights in your phone so you can use the actual words later on. For example, if a learner shares their dream airline, then save that to a note so you can bring it up in the future. Or if another learner talks about what it would like to be to fly their family for a weekend getaway, then jot it down so you can revisit it.
Those vivid details will be invaluable to your relationship with your learner when motivation inevitably fades away. Next, we’ll talk about a way to help a learner understand how they are performing.
How to encourage learners
Feedback can help a learner understand what they are doing well. It can also help them know when they aren’t performing to standards. Feedback that is timely, specific, and positive is preferred for a beginner since it offers encouragement.
Angela Duckworth reminds us that experts and beginners are motivated by different things. As she writes in her book Grit: “At the start of an endeavor, we need encouragement and freedom to figure out what we enjoy. We need small wins. We need applause. Yes, we can handle a tincture of criticism and corrective feedback. Yes, we need practice. But not too much and not too soon. Rush a beginner and you’ll bludgeon their budding interest. It’s very, very hard to get that back once you do.”
Let’s say that you are walking a new learner through preflight. You can praise their use of a checklist as you preflight an aircraft together for the first time. Then remind them in the future about why a thorough preflight matters. Perhaps, even connect day-to-day preflight to demonstrating this task successfully for a check ride. Next, we’ll explore some desires and needs that we have in common.
5 basic human needs and desires
In 1954, Abraham Maslow attempted to answer the question “What motivates people?” The psychologist explored the current research on motivation. Then distilled the ideas into a list of desires and needs that people try to fulfill. We know these as Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs:
- Self-actualization: realize our potential, peak experiences.
- Self-esteem: achievement, status, independence.
- Love and belongingness: family, affection, friends.
- Safety and security: protection, stability.
- Physiological needs: hunger, comfort, thirst.
Imagine a pyramid starting from the base (i.e., physiological needs) and working your way to the top (i.e., self-actualization). Does this mean that a learner won’t do well in flight training if they are hungry? Not necessarily. However, a lack of sleep can.
What has been discovered through real-world application, is that the hierarchy is flexible. That is, people can pursue several human needs and desires at the same time. Next, we’ll talk about a couple of systems that influence our decision-making.
Two systems that drive our behaviors
Think back to your first day of work. You likely used a maps app on your phone to get you to your workplace. You probably left early to give yourself some extra time. The drive required concentration and effort. Now think about your most recent commute to work. It was probably uneventful. The drive seemed to almost happen on autopilot.
The scenario above is a combination of system 1 and system 2. System 1 is “fast” while system 2 is “slow.” Doing something that requires effort like driving to someplace new to you uses system 2. With practice, system 1 can take over. This happens as the behavior becomes more automatic like your daily commute.
As the psychologist, Daniel Katheman, writes in his book Thinking, Fast and Slow, “System 1 operates automatically and quickly, with little or no effort and no sense of voluntary control. System 2 allocates attention to the effortful mental activities that demand it, including complex computations. The operations of System 2 are often associated with the subjective experience of agency, choice, and concentration.”
Conclusion
Whether you are working with someone who dreams of becoming an airline captain, a successful business owner who wants a new challenge, or even a professional who’s making a career change, it’s essential to remember that your learners look up to you for guidance. As a leader, having an understanding of how motivation works is an important tool in your instructor toolbox. Use this tool to help learners continue to make progress on their aviation goals.
