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Motivation Theory and Leadership

The word motivation is often defined as "getting someone moving." Motivation theory breaks down theseforces into internal or intrinsic motivation, and external or extrinsic motivation. If you're in a leadership role, then it'simportant to understand how employees are motivated, and what you can do as a leader to keep them motivated.

Motivation Theory

When wemotivateourselves, or someone else, we are developing those incentives or conditions that we believe will helpmove a person to a desired behavior. Whether it is through intrinsic motivation or extrinsic motivation, most individualsare moved by their beliefs, values, personal interests, and even fear.

One of the more difficult challenges to a leader is to learn how toeffectively motivate those working for them. One of the reasons it's sodifficult is because motivation can be so personal. Typically,inexperienced leaders believe that the same factors that motivatethemselves will motivate others too.

Another misconception held by inexperienced leaders is that the same

factors that motivate one employee will work on another. In fact,nothing could be further from the truth. As we will learn later on, onesize does not fit all when it comes to motivation.

Intrinsic or Self Motivation

Fundamentally, all motivation comes from within. So the most common concepts of motivation are those of selfmotivation, internal motivation, or intrinsic motivation. All of these terms are used interchangeably to describe thesame motivational factors that come from within a person.

Later, we will describe a second form of motivation, which is extrinsic or external motivation. While it is certainlyrecognized that external factors can motivate us, this is a secondary factor. For external forces to be effective inmotivating us, they must be in harmony with one of our intrinsic motivational factors.

In fact, several theorists such as Combs (1982), or Purkey & Stanley (1991), maintain that there is only a single kind ofintrinsic motivation. That motivation is one that can be described as engaging in activities that enhance or maintain aperson's self-image or concept of oneself.

Other theorists such as Malone and Lepper (1987) define self motivation in broader and perhaps more usefulterms. Malone and Lepper believe that motivation is simply what people will do without external influence. Saidanother way, self motivation or intrinsically motivating activities, are those in which people will partake in for no rewardother than the enjoyment that these activities bring them.

Malone and Lepper have integrated a large amount of motivational research into a summary of seven ways we, astheleadershipof our organizations, can design environments that are self motivating.

Motivation through Challenges

Individuals are motivated when they are working towards personally meaningful goals. Attainment of those goals mustrequire activity that is increasingly difficult, but attainable. In other words, people like to be challenged, but they mustfeel their goals are achievable to stay motivated. This can be accomplished by:

Establishing goals that are personally meaningful

Making those goals possible

Providing feedback on performance

Aligning goals with the individual's self esteem

Additional Resources

Effective Leadership

Ethical Leadership

Leadership in Sports

Motivation Theory and Leadership

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Motivation through Curiosity

In this concept of self motivation, we are talking about providing something in the individual's environment that arousestheir curiosity. This can be accomplished by presenting the individual with something that connects their presentknowledge or skills with a more desirable level - if the person were to engage in a certain activity. So to motivatesomeone through curiosity, the environment must stimulate their interest to learn more.

Motivation through Control

Most people like to feel they are in control of their destiny. They want to feel in control of what happens to them. Tostay motivated, individuals must understand the cause and effect relationship between an action they will take and theresult. To motivate individuals through the use of control you can:

Make the cause and effect relationship clear by establishing a goal and its reward

Allow individuals to believe that the work they do makes a difference

Allow individuals to choose what they want to learn and how to go about learning it

Motivation through Fantasy

Another intrinsic motivating factor comes via fantasy. That is individuals can use mental images of things and / orsituations that are not actually present to motivate themselves. You can foster motivation through fantasy by helpingindividuals imagine themselves in situations that are motivating.

For example, if you know that someone is highly motivated by the thought of being in control, then you can talk to themabout a future point in time when they might be in charge of a large and important business operation.

Motivation through Competition

Individuals can also be motivated by competition. That's because we gain a certain amount of satisfaction by comparingour performance to that of others. This type of competition can occur naturally as well as artificially.

When using competition to foster motivation, keep in mind the following:

Competition is more motivating to some than others

Losing in a competition de-motivates more than winning motivates

Competitive spirits can sometimes reduce the likelihood of being helpful to competitors

Motivation through Cooperation

Cooperating with others or the feeling that you can help others is very motivating. Most individuals feel quite satisfiedwhen helping others achieve their goals. As was the case with competition, motivation through cooperation can occurnaturally or artificially.

When using cooperation to motivate, keep in mind:

Cooperation is more important to some individuals than othersCooperation is a valuable skill that can be used in many different situations

Interpersonal skills are important for cooperation

Motivation through Recognition

Finally, individuals are motivated through recognition. When their accomplishments are recognized by others, then theyfeel motivated. You need to make sure that recognition is distinguished from competition. With recognition you do notcompare their achievements to those of others as you might with a competition.

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Extrinsic or External Motivation

As previously mentioned, extrinsic or external motivation is the term used to describe external factors that stimulate ourinternal motivation. The concept of externally motivating someone is not at odds with the fact that motivation comesfrom within. The point here is that it is possible to provide others with situations, or an external environment, that ismotivating.

Perhaps the most useful lesson for the leader then becomes how to motivate employees that report directly or indirectlyto the leader. If you understand the intrinsic motivational factors previously described, then a game plan can bedeveloped to foster motivation among employees.

Employee Motivation

Some of the most effective ways for managers and leaders to motivate their staff includes recognition, providing positiveperformance feedback, and by challenging employees to learn new things. Many new managers make the mistake ofintroducing de-motivating factors into the workplace such as punishment for mistakes, or frequent criticisms.

When followers feel they are being supported, and they have the ability to remain in control of their workplace, theystay motivated. Leaders can foster this feeling by allowing employees to take on added responsibility and accountabilityfor making decisions.

The important thing to keep in mind is that motivation is individual, and the degree of motivation achieved through onesingle strategy will not be the most effective way to motivate all employees. The most effective way to determine whatmotivates others is through carefully planned trial and error.

Figuring Out What Motivates Others

That being said, we'll finish up with some tips on how to determine what motivates others:

Talk to your employees, not about what motivates them because they may not realize it themselves, but what theyvalue. This will give you insights into which of the seven motivational factors might be high on their list.

Test a factor on an employee. For example, if you think that recognition might help motivate an employee then try usingthat factor.

Check in with employees about their feelings. It's always a good idea to get feedback from your employees. Make sureyou're getting the reaction you're looking for.

Be on the lookout for signs of de-motivation. Make sure you're not inadvertently introducing something into theworkenvironmentthat is being counter-productive to your goal - motivated employees.

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