SOUTHWESTERN ASSEMBLIES OF GOD UNIVERSITY

Energizing People for Performance

Instructor: Dr. Leroy Bartel

Motivational Profiles

STUDENT DATA:

Jonathan Foster

jonathanafoster@lionmail.sagu.edu

469-269-7891

Spring 2019

06 April 2019
 SUBJECT ONE

Subject One is a volunteer kids ministry leader at Dayspring Church in Arlington,

Texas and serves as the North Texas District representative for Girl’s Ministries. She is

actively involved in Girls Ministries on Wednesday nights and teaches a class of middle

school-age girls. Though we do not teach the same kids, we work together often to keep

Wednesday night ministries at Dayspring running smoothly. Outside of the church

activities, she serves as a public relations representative for a local school district. To

determine the best methods and implementations to motivate Subject One for sustained

performance in her ministry and workplace, I first asked her to take the Myers-Briggs

personality assessment prior to a short interview. The interview contained questions

regarding her experiences with motivating and demotivating circumstances in her

workplace, along with a final question about her love language. Once both the

assessment and interview were complete, I examined common trends between her

personality type and her reported experiences with motivating/demotivating

experiences. From these trends and my own personal observations of her behavior at

Dayspring, I determined she needs clear face-to-face communication regarding what is

expected of her. She also needs to see the progress of her work in the lives of others to

spark further motivation.

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 The Interview

Subject One reported that she is a self-motivated individual, requiring little

assistance from others to keep her focused on completing what she needs to do for her

job/ministry. She attributes this to a combination of her personal desire to always better

herself and a lack of interest in celebrations for her progress. She strives to find ways to

always grow, citing she “dislikes stagnation” and feels that by bettering herself, she can

better others around her. Thus, regardless of if she is acknowledged for her

accomplishments by co-workers or not, she is driven to keep performing for her own

sake. Despite this motivation, she described circumstances that would strain her focus

on her projects. These circumstances included the lack of the following: the delivery of

promises, clear communication on expectations, personal interaction with co-workers,

emotional buy-in, and vision/leadership. When these factors were absent, she would be

demotivated and find ways to continue working regardless. When asked about

motivation, she expressed seeing completed projects and growth in others as extremely

motivating.

Personal Observations

From my personal interactions with Subject One, everything that she expressed

in the interview is accurate. She is a very driven individual that takes initiative before

anyone else does. She is always working to find better ways to teach her class, and

many of her developments in teaching have been adopted in other classes during the

night. She is passionate about the kids at the church and gets very excited when they

demonstrate growth, whether emotionally or spiritually. Conversely, seeing the kids in

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pain or struggling with something drains her energy, though it only motivates her to try

and help them more. I have not personally observed her in her occupational field.

Personality Assessment

Subject One tested as an ESTJ. ESTJs are commonly self-driven individuals that focus

on achieving goals through utilizing people and resources. Because of this, ESTJs are

commonly found to be leaders in the business world. They feed off of completion of their

projects. They will process the facets of approaching their goals through their senses

and therefore require clearly defined rules and concepts to function optimally. As a

consequence, a lack of clarity, inefficiency, and consistent changes can be demotivating

to an ESTJ.

Identification of Motivation

Because of Subject One’s personality and particular character, it will not take much to

keep her motivated to sustain performance. As long as she is directed toward her

passions and goals, which directly lineup with kid’s ministry at Dayspring, she will be

motivated to not quit. However, the approach to optimize her performance is more

intentional. She requires clear communication about the vision of the ministry. Any time

a change is being considered or proposed at a leader’s meeting, it is key to make sure a

person directly converses with her about the specifics of this proposition. The personal

contact is key. Also, giving her students the opportunity to demonstrate their growth,

whether through a performance or volunteer service, will serve as a potent motivator.

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 Plan for Review

Because her class changes the discussion topic every five weeks, having a face-to-face

conversation with Subject One about the progress of her class every five weeks is

important. Rather than give her compliments about her own performance, describing the

growth observed in her class will excite her and motivate her to keep growing them. She

needs to be asked about how she plans to take their growth to the next step at each of

these meetings. These plans and expectations need to be clearly delineated and

preferably written down for evaluation at the next five-week meeting.

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 SUBJECT TWO

Subject Two is the Wednesday night ministry coordinator at Dayspring Church in

Arlington, Texas and works as a medical manager at a hospital. She is involved in all

the activities on Wednesday nights but lately has settled into teaching the Royal Ranger

class. As a result, we teach together each Wednesday evening. To determine the best

methods and implementations to motivate Subject Two for sustained performance in her

ministry and workplace, I first asked her to take the Myers-Briggs personality

assessment prior to a short interview. The interview contained questions regarding what

types of events would motivate and demotivate her at her workplace (as opposed to her

ministry), along with a final question about her love language. Once both the

assessment and interview were complete, I examined common trends between her

personality type and her description of what motivated and discouraged her at work.

From these trends and my own personal observations of her behavior at Dayspring, I

determined she needs to have a very detailed plan of what each week of tasks will look

like. In addition, she needs a tracking mechanism so she can visualize the impact of her

work.

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 The Interview

Subject Two described that she is motivated by seeing people develop their

leadership skills. As a developer, she enjoys seeing people learn and become equipped

to spread their knowledge to others. This also translates to seeing others achieve their

goals and dreams. This brings her more fulfilment than even achieving her own goals.

She commented that to sustain motivation, she appreciates an occasional word of

encouragement. She feels this helps her know she is heading the right direction.

Conversely, people taking credit for her work severely demotivates her from putting in

effort. Negativity also drains her motivation and being present in a discussion full of

negative opinions can shut her down. Her love language is acts of service and feels

important when people assist her.

Personal Observations

Subject Two is a soft-spoken but kind hearted individual. She is very reliable and

can be trusted to follow through with what she says she will do. As the head coordinator

for the Wednesday night activities, she actively involves herself with the classes to

better understand how to help. As her interview revealed, she is highly motivated when

she sees the kids learn and mature. She takes extra steps beyond what I do to ensure

the Royal Ranger class has the most opportunities to learn and earn achievements. I

have also observed her break down from extreme negativity and disobedience from the

kids.

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 Personality Assessment

Subject Two scored as an ISTJ on the Myers-Briggs personality assessment.

ISTJs are commonly known to be reliable and consistent with their values. They

appreciate having an orderly system when they work, and factors that disrupt this

system can stress them. ISTJs are very detail-oriented and pay attention to what details

are necessary to accomplish their goal. When an ISTJ is not given the clear groundwork

they need to operate, whether that is through a disorganized approach or open-ended

situation, they can become demotivated.

Identification of Motivation

Subject Two’s character somewhat differs from what a typical ISTJ is described as.

Because of her soft-spoken nature, she does not initially appear to be highly driven by a

detailed system. However, upon further reflection, she is always orderly and detailed.

To maintain her motivation in the Royal Ranger class, I would need to implement a clear

strategy on approaching merits for the boys to earn. This entails creating a spreadsheet

with the following months of lessons for each week laid out. This spreadsheet would

need to include necessary resources for each week and what each teacher would teach

for that night. A separate document would need to be created to keep all of the merits

each boy has completed in one place to monitor their achievement progress. This would

prevent stress on Subject Two’s part from trying to keep track of how far along in the

program each boy is. Lastly, expressing gratitude to her each evening after the class

would let her know that she is valued and her help appreciated.

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 Plan for Review

Using the spreadsheet of the weekly schedule, a review conversation can be held every

five weeks (the duration of a merit) to see how she and I did in teaching the class.

Finding detailed and specific ways to improve for the next merit will motivate her to

improve for their sake. Also, reviewing the achievement chart to see how far along the

boys are in the program would be a palpable reminder of their development, which she

mentioned is highly motivating to her. Lastly, I would ask every half-year if she would

like to transition out of Royal Rangers. Because she is responsible for all the activities

on Wednesday night, demonstrating that I recognize her responsibilities in other classes

would not only give her the opportunity to serve elsewhere, but communicate her value.

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 SUBJECT THREE

Subject Three is the president of a student-led organization at Southwestern

Assemblies of God University. She is responsible for several different outreaches that

students lead and interacts heavily with SAGU staff to maintain the vision of the

organization. Though she is not necessarily a co-worker, we work on many of the same

projects and outreaches. Outside of this organization, she works as a peer mentor,

teaching other students academic skills. To determine the best methods and

implementations to motivate Subject Three for sustained performance in her ministry

and workplace, I first asked her to take the Myers-Briggs personality assessment prior

to a short interview. The interview contained questions regarding her experience as a

student leader, along with a final question about her love language. Once both the

assessment and interview were complete, I examined common trends between her

personality type and her reported experiences with motivating/demotivating

experiences. From these trends and my own personal observations of her behavior, I

determined she needs to talk with someone about how she feels on a consistent basis.

She must also be given the freedom to generate new ideas for her team.

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 The Interview

Subject Three is highly inspired by generating new ideas. When planning new

approaches to a ministry, she is motivated by creative ideas that can uniquely contribute

to the goal. Seeing her team actively work together and participate in this brainstorming

process motivates her to give her best to the planning phase. Focusing on her passions,

which the student organization is directly tied to, also motivates her even in negative

circumstances. Despite this, she does not classify herself as self-motivated and requires

support from others. She finds that negativity and lack of investment from her team

severely demotivates her from wanting to work and has occasionally stopped her from

caring entirely. Arguments also emotionally drain her even if she is not one involved,

which distracts her from her goals. Her love language is quality time.

Personal Observations

Subject Three is a good friend, and I have personally observed all of the traits

she described in her interview. In addition to this, she requires a person to debrief her

emotions and thoughts through. She often comes to my office just to talk and get her

thoughts about what is happening with her team out. She is a very emotional individual

and can be highly affected by the mood of her team, whether positively or negatively.

She has the greatest difficulty with conflict in her team and shuts down when conflict

grows. Despite these things, she accomplishes many of her goals because she is

vision-driven.

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 Personality Assessment

Subject Three scored as an ENFP. ENFPs are commonly very energetic,

imaginative people that are fueled by activity and teamwork. They generate new ideas

and enjoy exploring the different possibilities out there for problems and solutions. They

require people to join them on their creative and energetic crusade and can lose steam

if people do not buy into their ideas. Details and logistics can drain an ENFP, causing

them to lose interest in carrying a new idea from conception to realization. Too much

organization and procedure bores them and demotivates them. An overabundance of

management and oversight can stifle their creativity.

Identification of Motivation

The most important thing Subject Three needs to remain motivated is emotional

support from those around her. Though cards and notes of appreciation help, she

requires quality time with people to properly process her thoughts and feelings. Thus,

weekly meetings both about work and just to relax are necessary for her. Otherwise,

negative thoughts can build up and she will lose motivation. It is imperative that she is

an important part in the decision-making process for her team. Both generating and

hearing fresh ideas motivates her greatly, so she needs to be given the freedom to

express her thoughts. This can be accomplished by developing a standard operation of

meetings to give every person equal opportunity to speak. Lastly, conflict needs to be

resolved quickly, lest it drain her. Having a third-party mediator such as me established

to handle conflicts can take the burden of resolving conflict from her.

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 Plan for Review

As previously mentioned, she needs to have weekly meetings about both work

and relaxation to stay motivated. The meetings to socialize and relax can be established

as a short conversation weekly with a trusted advisor or friend. These conversations

can be specifically implemented to give Subject Three the opportunity to unload any

emotional baggage from the week while not directly focusing on work. Her team also

needs to express their gratitude to her through public recognition and quality time, as

both will signify their investment into her as both the president and as a friend. These

events can happen bi-annually, as she is more responsive to consistent conversation

but highly appreciates occasional larger events. Keeping record of new ideas generated

in her team meetings can serve as a visible reminder of the progress her team is

making as well.

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 SUBJECT FOUR

Subject Four is an Assistant Director for a department at Southwestern

Assemblies of God University. Her role is unique, as she is actively involved with both

staff procedures and student activities. She also serves as a part-time faculty, teaching

a few classes. I am her administrative coordinator and work with her daily. To determine

the best methods and implementations to motivate Subject Four for sustained

performance in her ministry and workplace, I first asked her to take the Myers-Briggs

personality assessment prior to a short interview. The interview contained questions

about what motivated and unmotivated her in ministry. In particular, questions revolved

around her position as an Assistant Director. There was also a final question about her

love language. Once both the assessment and interview were complete, I examined

common trends between her personality type and her reported experiences with

motivating/demotivating experiences. From these trends and my own personal

observations of her behavior, I determined she needs to be reminded about the purpose

behind many of the tasks she completes.

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 The Interview

Subject Four began by discussing what demotivates her. She dislikes negativity

and complaining, as she does not see many viable reasons to be negative. In addition

to this, she finds a lack of resources to complete the vision and lack of buy-in from

others very discouraging. She heavily emphasized that knowing why she is doing what

she is doing is key to her motivation: with a clearly defined purpose, she is easily

motivated to keep working toward the goal. The lack of a defined purpose in an activity

turns her off from wanting to contribute. She is also motivated by seeing God move in

people’s lives, especially in students. Seeing results inspires her to keep working. Her

love language is words of affirmation.

Personal Observation

Subject Four is extremely energetic and lively because of how motivated she is.

This is because she has a clear view of the vision of her position. She understands why

she needs to complete the responsibilities of Assistant Director, so she eagerly works

and encourages everyone around her to join her. Though obstacles and drawn-out

procedures can irritate her, she remains motivated to continue working through her

frustration. At the same time, she can be easily distracted from tasks that do not appear

immediately related to her goals, even if they will contribute.

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 Personality Assessment

Subject four tested as an ENFJ. ENFJs are teamwork-oriented individuals that

focus on collaboration and discipleship. They love to work in teams and seek to bring

their team along with them wherever they lead. They are structured and can be very

task-oriented. At the same time, they will look for opportunities to develop those around

them. Seeing accomplished tasks and growth in others excites them. Conversely,

seeing a lack of progress and enthusiasm can discourage them. If team members do

not give an ENFJ the freedom to express and lead, they will grow frustrated and may

become overbearing in their care for others.

Identification of Motivation

For Subject Four in particular, there is not much that needs to be done to keep

her motivated. She is very self-motivated because she has bought into the vision of her

position, even when obstacles and team issues come her way. She even serves as a

motivator to her students and fellow co-workers. Therefore, to maintain her motivation, it

is essential to keep asking the question of “Why” for her. She needs to know the

purpose behind her tasks, so consistently reminding her why tasks relate to her goals

can keep her aligned with her purpose. This can come in the form of an extra sentence

at the end of an email, a tagline in a conversation, or a graphic with a “Why?” on it.

Since she dislikes negativity and complaining, it would be best for her to delegate

conflict resolution to another, such as myself. Expressing appreciation for her energy

and ideas through notes is also a great way to let her know she is valued.

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 Plan for Review

Currently, she holds weekly meetings with student leaders to discuss the next

steps for the student organization. At these weekly meetings, devoting a segment to

asking why what they are doing is important can serve as a potent reminder for both the

students and her. To check on her progress on her goals, an online system can be

established (using tools such as Basecamp) to send her automatic reminders about

what is on her to-do list. Finally, a semester review of the spiritual health of the student

body can serve as a clear view of how the vision is either being realized or detracted

from.

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 SUBJECT FIVE

Subject Five is a volunteer for kids ministry on Wednesday nights at Dayspring

Church in Arlington, Texas. He volunteers with operating the sound booth during

worship and helps with teaching Royal Rangers. Outside of this ministry, he is a Project

Manager for Microsoft. To determine the best methods and implementations to motivate

Subject Five for sustained performance in his ministry and workplace, I first asked him

to take the Myers-Briggs personality assessment prior to a short interview. The

interview contained questions about what helped him remain focused in his workplace.

In particular, questions revolved around his daily operations as a Project Manager.

There was also a final question about his love language. Once the assessment and

interview were complete, I examined common trends between his personality type and

reported experiences with motivating/demotivating experiences. From these trends and

my own personal observations of his behavior, I determined he needs a clear task list to

complete and consistent celebrations of his accomplishments through recognition and

gift-giving.

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 The Interview

Subject Five was relatively curt with his answers. He relayed that finishing tasks

on his checklists satisfies him. He likes being recognized for his work and enjoys

celebrations, whether through a large public forum or in private. He considers himself a

self-motivator as long as he can develop a list of tasks to stick to. Visualizing his

progress helps him remain focused. Conversely, he is demotivated when his team does

not stick to the original dream cast, whether it is for a project or ministry. Not receiving

the necessary resources and support needed to complete his task list is also very

discouraging for him. His love language is receiving gifts.

Personal Observation

Subject Five is task-driven. I easily observe this in the Royal Ranger class we

teach together, as he always thinks in steps for the merits. His love language also

comes out, as he enjoys getting gifts for everyone in the form of snacks, especially

when the boys are behaving well. When discussing how to approach future merits, he

discusses different tasks that need to be completed in order to complete the merit. He

takes initiative in preparing for the class, indicating his self-motivation to seeing the boys

grow in their skills and spiritual lives. He gets frustrated when our ministry lacks the

materials needed to do certain tasks for merits, but we always work together to create

an alternative.

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 Personality Assessment

Subject Five scored as an ENTJ. ENTJs are commonly characterized by their

drive to strategically approaching goals while leading others along the way. ENTJs are

focused individuals that enjoy problem solving and accomplishment. When given a clear

structure to follow, ENTJs will relentlessly pursue the achievement of their goal, which

directly relates to Subject Five’s desire to complete his checklist. A lack of control and

efficiency can frustrate an ENTJ, as these get in the way of accomplishing the goal.

Though ENTJs will lead others through necessary tasks, if these others push back

against the ENTJ’s ideas, the ENTJ can become frustrated and either lose motivation or

become overly controlling.

Identification of Motivation

Based on Subject Five’s interview and personality, two distinct needs for his

motivation come to mind: task completion and celebrations. He needs to be given a

clear goal with clear steps to create a list that will guide him. Each time a task is

completed, he should be rewarded with thanks and a small gift, such as a snack or

monetary incentive. Before getting Subject Five started on a project, it is important to

clearly define all of the necessary resources he will need to complete the project so that

he can have access to what he needs to complete his tasks. His supervisor must also

be willing to answer any questions he has about proceeding with the project to help him

work even more efficiently. The intersection of clear tasks, resources, and gifts will keep

him motivated to work.

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 Plan for Review

Every time Subject Five completes a significant step toward completion of the

goal (these steps would be defined before the project begins), he should be asked to

write a small review of how the process went. This gives a supervisor the ability to both

review his work and see how to provide him with support. At the end of a project, a

public celebration needs to be held where all team members, including Subject Five, are

recognized for their achievement. If he has consistent success with his projects, this

celebration should be paired with financial incentive like a bonus to demonstrate true

appreciation for his hard work.

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 References

Myers-Briggs Type Indicator. (n.d.). Retrieved April 9, 2019, from

https://www.mbtionline.com/

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