Motivation no matter how you do it basically boils down to TRUST.
I think it all stems from your own personality and the relationships you have with the kids. Just be who you are and everyone can deal with you from that point.
Great post by PSS. He's exactly right. Progress means getting out of your comfort zone.
My job as a coach is to improve you as a player and person. As a player, I think fear is always a motivating factor. Whether it's playing time, winning or losing, etc. I think it's always fear. On one of the ESPN documentaries on Ray Lewis I heard him say "I tell my teammates "I will fight with you, for you. Will you fight with me, for me?" it's easy to fight together when you're up by 21 with 1 minute left. I don't want those guys. I want the guys who are still fighting for each other when we are down by 21 with 1 minute left."
I really like that concept and I have used that ever since. Defensively speaking, I try to build the unit as a family who play for each other because they do it for you.
I apply that to everything from grades, to weights, behavior, and anything in between. So when "punishment" gets handed down, it's never punishment because of what you did, it's is always explained to the player as to how that infraction impacts the total unit. I think this is where sport meets human development. Like in the email to the one player I posted the other day. To that player it was punishment, to the other 57 guys who play defense - if grades are shakey, it's fear without having to say a word to them, to everyone else it's building of trust that I will not risk their success with someone who isn't trust worthy.
So although the "motivating" factor may be fear...the outcome is the carrot. If that makes sense.
I just think football, education - these are people businesses. You get the most out of people by the relationships you form with them. Just think about any staff you've been on. The staff members who socialize together outside of football are always closer, accept criticism from each other, more open to ideas from each other than they are from the other staff members.
This past year was my first year at this school. I can be a little abrasive and I rub a lot of people the wrong way initially. My players didn't know how to take me. But at that time I had not yet earned their trust. Now I have it and now I can pretty much say anything however I want and no one bats an eye because they trust that I have their best interest at heart.
It seems to me that no matter what you deal with in life, if you trust who you're dealing with then the rest is easy. TRUST is the #1 key element that every person must earn from those in their life and must be earn from us. Whether it be a boss, your students, your players, your wife, etc. Without trust, you're just wasting your time, whether it's in a job, as a teacher, as a coach or as a couple.
There is a reason why TRUST is list first in 5 Dysfunctions of a Team.