A number of years ago I read a book by author Daniel Pink which I found very beneficial in understanding how to motivate others. In this post I want to share with you his key principles. I liked Drive so much that after I borrowed it from the library I later bought it as a reference for the future.
In his book Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us he provides three keys to our motivation. Before I share that, what about money? Surprisingly, money was not one of the top three motivators. Pink found as long as people were receiving fair pay this was not the big motivator. So what did he find?
AUTONOMY
This is freedom to do things the way we want or as he puts it: the “desire to direct our own lives.” You are a leader and you have led others. When do you give the most pushback? Is it when given freedom to do the project the way you want or when someone was over your shoulder all the time?
At the end of the day we all want to be trusted. When trusted that we are competent to do a job this subconsciously instills confidence. We all have doubts, but also want to figure it out on our own. When leaders provide autonomy and clear expectations, we show trust in those we lead and truly empower them.
MASTERY
Everyone of us is designed with unique talents, experiences, and skills that make us capable to excel at something. We all have room to grow as well. Pink says this idea of mastery is the “urge to make progress and get better at something that matters.” Something that matters . . . we’ll get to that in a moment.
This speaks to the reality that we all want to be challenged on some level to grow. We want to be put in a position where we can be an expert and excel at something meaningful. As leaders may I suggest we need to find our “sweet spot” and that of those we lead. As we understand unique personalities, strengths, skills and experiences we can position ourselves and others to become masters at something that will bring us alive and meet a need in the organization and world.
PURPOSE
The third key Pink found is the idea that we want to do what we do “in the service of something larger than ourselves.” I would suggest this is the desire to live a life of significance. Whether leading an organization, team, a family or something else we want our life to matter and leave a legacy.
As leaders our job is to connect the what with a bigger “why” that relates to what matters to those we lead. We need to help those we lead see the bigger picture of what we are doing and how it connects with the purpose of the organization or team. This should be bigger than just making money, but how it will make an impact in the world?
How are you doing at these three areas? What are you doing to help those who you lead to provide autonomy, give an opportunity to develop mastery and clarify the purpose? If you need help thinking into better motivating those around you through your leadership then contact me for a thinking partner/coaching session at no cost to you. In the meantime lead well.
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