This had me reflecting on motivation and some learnings I took our local leadership development group a few months ago. One often thinks of motivation as something that can be manufactured through incentives, driving results rather than leading. Daniel Pink has become quite famous in discussing motivation and the flaws that modern management has in attempting to motivate employees. I have spoken about this before, however I do feel that Mr. Pink has simplified the discussion a little bit too far. He talks about the need for Autonomy, Mastery and Purpose. I do not disagree with these three principles, however where he misses the mark is on understanding that motivation is an internal set of characteristics as compared to something an outside authority (manager) can provide. Here is a link to Daniel Pink's TED talk as it is worth listening to if you have not heard it.
I already stated that I do not disagree with Dan, I do feel both formal and informal leaders need to take this farther and understand motivation better. Let's reflect back on exercise, most people who begin exercising as a result of a New Years resolution are not motivated through exercise, they have another goal or purpose. Some people are motivated by exercise and therefore they go to the gym even when it is a holiday Monday or 'squeeze in a run' while travelling. A person who is not motivated by fitness as an activity, however still has a goal of being fit or losing weight needs to understand what motivates them. Are they somebody who needs a sense of order? If so scheduling and planning will likely get them to the gym. Are they somebody who likes beauty, if so then nice clothes and a gym that is estectically pleasing will motivate them. You need to understand the key motivating factors for you to be successful in changing habits or obtaining a goal. Autonomy, Mastery and Purpose as Dan Pink states do play a role, however they simplify the process of understanding motivation.
This extends to that of the manager or leader. Understanding the motivation of those who work with you is vitally important. A classic example for me is that food is simply fuel that allows me to do the activities I want. For many people food is a motivator and a well prepared meal is vital for their enjoyment of many social and business activities. I need to understand this type of motivation when I am doing things such as scheduling meetings as not everybody will be satisfied with taking a 10 minute break to have a protein shake for lunch. I susbscribe to the theories as presented by Dr. Steven Reiss who has developed the 16 basic desires of individuals:
(Reiss 2012)
I believe people in general and specifically leaders (or future leaders) should have a greater understanding of what motivation truly is and if you are interested there are some people doing some great work on it. One place to start is to read Steven Reiss and his work on motivation as founded in the discoveries by Frankl just after the first world war. Another great resource is to follow the blog from Reiss Profile Canada. We can get just touch the surface or get as deep as you want to into the theoretical work as you want to, but what it really comes down to is making an attempt to have a greater understanding of the person you are working with to understand what motivates them, allowing you to both format the work environment and actual work, rather than simply providing incentives for short-term 'motivation'. Along with leading others this knowledge results in one knowing what motivates yourself as an individual so that you can self-motivate and monitor your mood based on motivating factors.
Okay, I am off to the gym now.....
