We are not talking about your waistline, but rather the people who work in your firm. How to motivate, inspire and create a sense of action with your professionals?

T.J. Sullivan, founder of Campuspeak, a speaking/workshop agency out of Denver, has a great book called “Motivating the Middle: Fighting Apathy in College Student Organizations”.  You know what?  His philosophy applies to the business world too.

It goes like this.

Every firm has ‘thirds’; the top third are rock star performers. They always follow through, are conscientious, have an owner mentality and inspire others. The bottom third are professionals who would rather have their fingernails pulled out than go on a sales call; don’t participate in firm meetings and scowl at the thought of someone piling on another task on their to do lists.

The middle third is where you should be focused.

Middle performers care about the firm. They just don’t want to be asked to take on too much or lose their flexibility. They don’t see praise, would rather fly under the radar. They will work on a proposal, prep for an important client meeting but don’t see a need to participate. His premise (and we agree) is in order to grow an organization, you need to engage the middle.

Here are a few ideas?

• Ask them questions. “What’s the one thing we can do to make our firm stronger?”. Then listen. They may realize that they have more to contribute then they first thought.
• Start your meetings on time. Middle professionals hate long meetings or tasks. It panics them when they cannot control their own time.
• Minimize conflict in your firm.  Middle folks hate conflict. Work out the kinks before you hold a meeting or learn how to take discussions offline to keep meetings flowing.
• Give them a meaningful support role. Is your firm going after a big prospect? Middle people are great at doing the detail research.  Ask them to research the prospect, the industry, identify hot buttons for the meeting.
• Take personal time with them. If you are a partner, try to swing by middle’s office to check in with them. Ask them how they are doing.

Thinking about how you can motivate your middle (ok, diet tips later) can help you build a strong firm for the future.