Former Edward J. Frey Dean of the Stephen M. Ross School of Business
Inspiring and Motivating Individuals
What You'll Learn
- Learn how to create a shared vision for your team and effectively communicate it to your teammates.
- Set effective goals and expectations.Understand the most important needs and drivers of performance across cultures.
5 Modules
20 Hours
4 hrs per module (approx.)
Rating
About Inspiring and Motivating Individuals
In this course, you will learn how to create a shared vision for your team and effectively communicate it to your teammates. You will also learn how to set effective goals and expectations in a way that best enables your team to attain the shared vision. Finally, you will understand the most important needs and drivers of performance across cultures, and will learn to align rewards with desired behaviors so that your teammates are motivated to attain the team’s objectives.
Motivation represents a crucial challenge for contemporary organizations: A recent Gallup poll revealed that only 13% of workers worldwide exhibit high levels of engagement and motivation. We will show you why these motivation problems are not simply due to a “bad” or “unmotivated” team member. Rather, motivation is very much driven by what work conditions we create for our teammates, how we structure goals and objectives, and how we reward people for the accomplishment of those goals. This course will help you diagnose and solve motivation problems so that you can bring out the best in your people.
Skills You'll Gain
- Communication Strategies
- Employee Engagement Strategy
- Employee Motivation
- Goal Setting
- Leadership
- Leadership Development
- Team Motivation
What You'll Earn
- Certificate of Completion:
- Certificates of completion acknowledge knowledge acquired upon completion of a non-credit course or program.
Welcome Message
Welcome to Inspiring and Motivating Individuals, the first course in the Leading People & Teams Specialization. This course focuses on how leaders inspire performance by creating vision, setting effective goals, understanding human motivation, and aligning rewards with desired behaviors. You will develop practical skills to motivate individuals across roles and cultures, communicate purpose clearly, and foster engagement and accountability to drive sustained performance.
This abbreviated syllabus description was created with the help of AI tools and reviewed by staff. The full syllabus is available to those who enroll in the course.
Course Schedule
Module 1: Becoming a Visionary Leader
- Video: 01.01 - Welcome
- Reading: Help us learn more about you!
- Reading: Steve Jobs Video, Part 1
- Video: 01.02 - Reactions to Steve Jobs' Vision for Apple
- Video: 01.03 - The Business Case for Visionary Leadership
- Reading: Introduction to Rich Sheridan, CEO of Menlo Innovations
- Video: 01.04 - How a Clear Vision Creates Energy
- Reading: Course Syllabus
- Video: 01.05 - Why Do We Do What We Do?
- Video: 01.06 - How Starting with WHY is Essential
- Video: 01.07 - What Does Success Look Like?
- Video: 01.08 - How Must We Act to Ensure Success?
- Video: 01.09 - Does Jobs Answer the Three Questions?
- Reading: Steve Jobs Video, Part 2
- Video: 01.10 - Part 1: Visionary Language
- Video: 01.11 - Part 2: Visionary Language - Reflecting on Dead Poets Society
- Video: 01.12 - Part 3: Visionary Language - MLK Speech
- Reading: Martin Luther King, Jr. "I Have a Dream..." Speech
- Peer Review: (Ungraded) Developing a Vision for Your Team
- Video: 01.13 - Developing a Vision for Your Team
- Reading: Steve Ballmer Video
- Video: 01.14 - Verbals and Non-Verbals
- Video: 01.15 - Part 2: Verbal and Non-Verbals
- Video: 01.16 - How to Design your Office to Reinforce your Vision
- Video: 01.17 - Learn to be Charismatic
- Reading: Michigan Model of Leadership
- Video: 01.18 - Recap: Becoming a Visionary Leader
- Graded: Strategies for visionary leadership
Module 2: Creating and Communicating Your Vision
- Reading: Unit Lecture Slides
- Video: Goals and Performance
- Video: The Risks of Stretch Goals
- Video: SMART Goals
- Video: 02.04 - Limitations of SMART Goals
- Reading: Basketball Video
- Reading: How Customers Can Rally Your Troops
- Video: Making Goals Meaningful
- Video: Menlo: Setting SMART and Meaningful Goals
- Video: 02.07 - Autonomy and Skill Variety
- Reading: Videos for Mobile Users
- Video: 02.08 - Recap: Setting Effective Goals
- Graded: Setting Effective Goals
- Graded: Setting SMART Goals
Module 3: Understanding Human Needs and Drivers of Performance Across Cultures
- Reading: Unit Lecture Slides
- Video: Assessment: Drivers of Performance
- Video: Drivers of Performance and Motivation
- Video: The Business Case for Employee Management
- Video: 03.04 - Understanding Human Needs to Motivate People
- Video: 03.05 - Understanding People's Needs to Drive Motivation
- Video: 03.06 - Drivers of Satisfaction vs. Dissatisfaction
- Video: 03.07 - How to Diagnose if Someone is Satisfied or Dissatisfied at Work
- Video: 03.08 - Extrinsic vs. Intrinsic Motivators
- Video: 03.09 - How to Create Meaning at Work
- Video: 03.10 - Exercise: Backward Mapping Values and Needs from Behavior
- Video: 03.11 - 4 Major Motivation Traps
- Video: Recap: Drivers of Performance
- Graded: Motivation and Drivers of Performance
Module 4: Aligning Rewards and Behavior
- Reading: Unit Lecture Slides
- Video: 04.01 - Equity
- Reading: Video for Mobile Users
- Video: 04.02 - The Folly of Rewarding A while Hoping for B
- Video: 04.03 - Types of Reinforcement
- Video: 04.04 - Managing by Fear
- Video: 04.05 - Schedules of Reinforcement
- Reading: Video for Mobile Users
- Video: 04.06 - Functions of a Performance Appraisal
- Reading: Video for Mobile Users
- Reading: Ditch Performance Reviews? How About Learn How to Do Them Well?”
- Video: 04.07 - Challenges of a Performance Appraisal
- Video: 04.08 - Providing Critical Performance Feedback
- Video: 04.09 - Giving Critical Performance Feedback
- Video: 04.10 - Seeking Performance Feedback
- Reading: Video for Mobile Users
- Video: 04.11 - Seeking Feedback and Performance Appraisals
- Video: Recap: Aligning Rewards with Behaviors
- Reading: Post-Course Survey
- Reading: Keep Learning with Michigan Online
- Graded: Aligning Rewards and Behaviors
- Graded: Seeking Feedback on Your Leadership
Grading Policy
Learners must complete all graded assignments to pass the course. The course grade is based on five assignments weighted at 15% each, and a peer-review assignment worth 25% of the total grade.
Whirlpool Corporation Research Professor of Business Administration, Professor of Management and Organizations
Course content developed by U-M faculty and managed by the university. Faculty titles and affiliations are updated periodically.
Beginner Level
No prior experience required
What Learners Are Saying
I took the Inspiring & Motivating Individuals course and it has helped me identify blind spots and make a clear difference between perception and reality.
Rajesh Ravisankar Learner in Canada
The way the course is structured is amazing. It is split into small lectures, which is easy to do for working professionals. Also gives a sense of accomplishment. It's also interactive and has projects and review process in place which gives the feel of a classroom cou…
Vidya Singh Learner in India
