Episode Details

Summary

The objective of leadership is aligned motivation. When we inspire people from the outside in we build a team that contributes because they want to, rather than because they have to.

Transcript

Hello and welcome to episode 81 of the Leadership Today podcast where each week we tackle one of today's biggest leadership challenges. This week we look at inspiring others from the outside in.

The objective of leadership is aligned motivation. As leaders we want a group of people who aren't just motivated, but are motivated towards the same vision and objectives. There's no point in having a group of motivated people who are headed in different directions. It's not much better to have a group of people who know exactly where they are headed, but lack the motivation and drive to get there. As leaders we need to align the motivation of our people.

But how do we achieve this? Do we just need to hire people who are already on board with where we are headed as an organisation? And then what happens when the direction changes? How do we move people towards a new vision and direction? That's where understanding human motivation can be really helpful.

I've referred to the work of Deci and Ryan before. It's fair to say that they have done more to build our modern understanding of motivation than any other researchers. Deci and Ryan suggest that we often think about motivation as a single thing - that motivation varies just in amount. As a result we then try to work out how to make a person more motivated to do something we want, or less motivated to do something we don't want. Their work demonstrates that it's more helpful and accurate to think about types of motivation.

The first distinction they make is between autonomous and controlled motivation. With autonomous motivation I'm doing something with a sense of willingness, volition and choice. I'm undertaking the action or completing the work because I enjoy doing it, and I find it interesting and personally valuable. It's likely the work aligns with my values and interests. With autonomous motivation I do it because I want to.

With controlled motivation I'm doing something to gain a reward or to avoid punishment. I'm completing the work because I feel pressured, demanded or obliged. With controlled motivation I do it because I have to (or at least I feel like I have to).

Not surprisingly, Deci and Ryan found that autonomous motivation is much better for performance, creativity, problem solving, well-being and engagement. Having freedom and autonomy is a basic human need. We're much better off as human beings when we have autonomy and freedom.

When we think about autonomous motivation, we typically think about it in terms of intrinsic motivation - that it's something inside of us. Here we are doing the activity or work because we personally find it interesting and enjoyable, and not just because someone told us to do it. So it's easy to think of intrinsic motivation as 'good'. People then contrast that with extrinsic motivation, where we are doing an activity in order to get something else. That 'something else' might be a financial outcome, the praise and approval of others, or a good grade. Therefore many people lump all types of extrinsic motivation into the 'bad' category.

However, Deci and Ryan found that people could internalise extrinsic motivation in a way where they own it as their own. Over time a person could come to understand the inherent value of the activity and integrate it into who they are. The extrinsic element could be an idea or a concept such as a team purpose. If I come to identify with that purpose, I can eventually own the purpose as my own. At that point I have become autonomously motivated. I've taken the extrinsic idea and made