Motivation
Allow me to provide an analogy.
I suspect there are two kinds of doctors. And the difference comes down to motivation.
The first type is a popular people pleaser. This doctor probably has extremely high reviews, and may even come recommended by your friends. By all accounts, he seems great, and most likely, you’ll never know if he’s not. But you might be wasting your time and money on this service provider. This is the kind of doctor who will prescribe antibiotics against his better judgment because you demand them. He’ll let you get away with a gastric bypass even though he knows a healthy diet and exercise would be better in the long run. If you’re happy, he’s done his job.
A truly valuable M.D., worth the cost of even the highest copay, will tell you what needs to happen. In spite of what you want to hear. The steps you need to take to get or stay well. He’ll stand by his recommendations whether you like them or not. He’s not there to make you happy, he’s there to make you healthy.
But this isn’t really about doctors.
There are actually two kinds of workers. Two kinds of PEOPLE even.
- There are those whose motivation is external. This group works primarily for praise and high-regard. They place great value in achieving recognition and status within an organization.
- And there are those whose drive comes from inside. They have an internal bar for the quality of their work. Before anything else, they have to get over that bar, and the bar is eternally raised.
I believe that an ever-rising bar is the most important asset you possess as an employee and a crucial element to the success of a business.
We know now that external motivation is fickle. It can be unpredictable at best, and it doesn’t always correlate with actual job performance. Most of all, it’s just not that motivating anyway.
“Intrinsic motivation is also a stronger predictor of job performance than extrinsic motivation — so it is feasible to expect higher financial rewards to inhibit not only intrinsic motivation, but also job performance. The more people focus on their salaries, the less they will focus on satisfying their intellectual curiosity, learning new skills, or having fun, and those are the very things that make people perform best.” — Harvard Business Review
There are some organizations that get this. These businesses purposefully seek out individuals with the internal bar, and intentionally provide opportunities to top it.
There are some organizations that don’t get it. More likely, they do get the concept, but they’re afraid of the consequences.
More important in my mind is knowing which category you fit into as an employee, and understanding which kind you’re looking for as an employer. A mismatch in expectations in this area can be catastrophic for an organization.
If you’re a leader of a company or a department it’s crucial that you be honest with yourself in this assessment, and know how to tell the difference. If you’re looking for a yes-man, don’t hire somebody who will constantly challenge you.
If you have that bar we discussed earlier, it can be incredibly frustrating in a position where it’s not valued.
