Unearthing Unconscious Motivators

Through her consulting and bestselling book, I Am:The Untold Story of Success, Klyn helps leaders identify their unconscious motivators and utilize them to grow both personally and professionally.

Her podcast, Elevation Nation, offers helpful insight and bite-sized pieces of wisdom from ordinary people who have overcome incredible odds.

A Story of Resilience

Klyn has Cystic Fibrosis (CF) which is a rare, progressive genetic disease that causes persistent lung infections and limits the ability to breathe over time. Due to these conditions, she must spend at least one month per year, sometimes up to six, living in the hospital. During this time, she became an expert in neurolinguistic programming which has opened a myriad of doors: from sales consulting to executive training and keynote speaking.

Getting Rid of Excuses

By focusing on her energy, she came to one fundamental conclusion about success, or lack thereof- too many times, we make excuses instead of finding solutions. Particularly in her work with sales teams, Klyn found that too much ROI is lost in making excuses. She references the Pareto Principle, where 80% of the results come from only 20% of the salesforce. She implores that those who struggle should "level up" or "shuffle out" of the sales game. We have driving forces and Klyn's research suggests that these are rooted in deep unconscious fears- that we will not be 'enough' or that we will not be 'loved'. We get into 'stuck states', ruts that inhibit our growth, most of the time unconsciously, our blind spots.

Third-Party Perspective

Often, sales managers can become frustrated when a team becomes stuck in one of these ruts. There is a disconnect between the desired goal and the patterns of behavior, many times without understanding the root causes. By bringing in an expert third-party perspective, Klyn is able to assist managers and communicate possible solutions to neurological blocks. She mentions three goals that a leader should always be pursuing- developing the next set of leaders, constantly recruiting, and offering a structure formated in which feedback is given and improved upon continually.

Unearthing Unconscious Motivators

Klyn utilizes a system that identifies 5 unconscious motivators that can aid people in breaking through 'stuck states'. These are the keys to jumpstarting and helping team members through rough patches by leveraging their unconscious motivators. She helps managers have that conversation with their teams and utilize different communication methods that best match the individual's motivation. The first step is to identify and establish a common communication model. The next is to conduct interviews, a motivation solicitation. The third is creating accountability structures so that the team is able to perform these surveys again. Capitalizing on momentum comes fourth, the 'how' behind the litany of buzzwords that many motivational speakers use. She creates a task list, a drive to get the necessary functions done so that the company can thrive. Understanding how to grow as a person, including yielding responsibility to other resources, allows those in leadership to better develop a company as a whole.

Constructive Feedback Even In Good Times

By creating a culture of feedback, leaders are able to build stronger relationships with their teams and are able to have difficult conversations even when times are productive. Removing emotion, framing the conversation around the tangible outcomes and internal motivators, allows managers to connect deeper with their salespeople. When they understand the most effective ways to communicate with each individual, they are better equipped to inspire productivity.

This was only a high-level overview of our conversation with Klyn. Be sure to listen to the full episode!

See you in October for Season 5 of the MKG Podcast!

To Learn More About Cystic Fibrosis (CF):

• Cystic Fibrosis Foundation
• Living With CF - Daily Life