Intrinsic and Extrinsic Motivation in High-Performance Teams

If you are relying on me to motivate you, I probably don’t want you on my team. *Read that again please… When you lead a team, you cannot possibly be the sole source of motivation. In fact, Daniel Pink’s book “Drive”, unearths some interesting research on intrinsic vs extrinsic motivation for teams. I often speak about the idea of shared leadership. As organizations become flatter and work becomes more knowledge based instead of task-centric, leadership cannot solely be about position. Motivation cannot solely be about the carrot and stick. I’m excited to share some powerful insights inspired by this recent read…ok I listened to it on a recent drive six-hour drive back home. In the pursuit of unlocking your team's full potential, consider the following strategies: 1️⃣ Autonomy: Provide your team members with the freedom to explore and execute their ideas, allowing them to take ownership of their work and approach tasks in their unique way. 2️⃣ Mastery: Foster a culture of continuous learning and development by offering opportunities for skill enhancement and growth. Encourage your team to set personal development goals and support them in achieving these milestones. 3️⃣ Purpose: Connect your team's work to a higher purpose, emphasizing the meaningful impact of their contributions. Help them understand how their efforts align with the larger goals and vision of the organization. By incorporating these principles of autonomy, mastery, and purpose into your leadership approach and team dynamics, you can cultivate an environment where intrinsic motivation thrives, leading to increased engagement, creativity, and overall team satisfaction 🌟💡 #intrinsicmotivation #teamdevelopment #leadershipdevelopment #leadersarereaders #LeadershipDecoded Looking forward to hearing your thoughts and experiences on this transformative journey! 💬💭

Unearthing Motivation: Breaking Free from Previous Leadership Patterns This week, I engaged in an interesting conversation with one of my clients regarding change and the prospect of making behavioral adjustments in her approach to how she was leading. My client acknowledged the necessity of operating differently in her role, yet she found herself wrestling with the question of whether she truly desired such a change and whether it would yield personal fulfillment and satisfaction. Traditionally, we've believed motivation should stem from within. However, we explored a more nuanced perspective: motivation can come from both internal and external sources, evolving on a continuum from absence of motivation to intrinsic motivation. 1. ✨ Absence of Motivation - where there is no inclination or readiness to commit - no sense of importance or capability; characterized by negative sentiments ("I lack any desire to engage in this"). 2. 🎈 External Motivation - Actions are undertaken with the expectation of a reward or to evade punishment ("I doing this since it is mandatory). 3. ✨ Introjected Motivation -There's a tentative grasp of expectations or values, but it's still propelled by the pressure to gain approval or avoid disapproval or feelings of guilt. (It seems preferable to carry out this task). 4. 🎈 Identified Motivation -Eventually, some internalization takes place, distancing from the realm of external influences, and a glimmer of hope emerges. Actions now carry some recognition of their value; a connection is established between the task and personal objectives, sparking genuine interest. ("I believe it's beneficial, it aligns with my aspirations). 5. ✨ Integrated Motivation -Actions are driven by ethical alignment and strong self-direction, acknowledging the task as significant, as something that resonates with one's identity (Engaging in this is an integral part of who I am). 6. 🎈 Intrinsic Motivation -Pure intrinsic motivation - the ideal state of learning with fulfillment and pleasure derived solely from the activity itself, devoid of any external incentives; learning akin to a cherished narrative. I'm pursuing this because it brings me immense joy. Motivation plays a crucial role in leadership behavior and behavior change. Breaking away from old patterns often involves traversing this motivational spectrum, recognizing where we stand and defining the desired future state. While both intrinsic and extrinsic factors influence motivation, intrinsic factors tend to be more motivating. As you navigate your journey of leadership growth and change, remember that the ultimate breakthrough lies in finding that spark, where fulfillment becomes its own reward. 🔽 🔽 🔽 #Leadership #Motivation #Coaching #Change #Leadershipdevelopment

Teamwork is a system you design, not a speech you give.   What do teams need?   💎 Speaking up.   Teams need people willing to speak up when they sense a problem or opportunity. Leaders must set these conditions by "listening with the will to learn." It is easy to speak up when you have confidence your perspective matters and your voice will be heard. Ask yourself this honest question: do you need more telling from your boss or more listening?   💎 Disagreeing well.   High-performing teams -engineer- constructive conflict. They separate critique of ideas from critique of people, surface dissent early, and close with unity. Practiced respectfully, debate becomes a rehearsal for crisis: it strengthens bravery, kills artificial harmony, and turns meetings from boring "status theater" into advantage generators.   💎 Showing love.   The L-word at work. Cringe. Maybe not good timing after that Coldplay kiss-cam video. Teams need people who feel the professional love of their leaders. Showing professional love is learning who they are and saying it to them in the way they can hear it and understand it. Its not just recognition or celebrating a milestone, its true compromise to demonstrate the team is bigger than any one of us, including the leader. You want people all in? Show - repeatedly - that you are all in on them.   💎 Instilling ownership.   Teams need people who feel the autonomy, mastery and purpose of their work. Instilling ownership means engineering the conditions for intrinsic motivation: explicit decision rights, co-created outcome metrics, and context transparency. Add small discretionary budgets and rotating stewardship roles so many people get to exercise judgment. Shift your default response to escalations from giving answers to asking: What do you recommend? And why?   💎 Nothing time.   Teams need downtime because that's how relationships extend beyond work and beyond the field. Travel together. Goof off. Host a team meal with no business, just spending time together and having laughs. Do things together to create common experiences and inside jokes. Skip the temptation to over-orchestrate offsites. Help your team build camaraderie before you need it. You will know how connected to each other they are when times get tough.   What teams need is a systematic approach to high performance and fulfillment.   What is on your wish list as a team member? What does your team need?   Backstory: I was inspired to write on teams as this week had several milestones: mid-year self-assessments for myself and my global team, final game of the regular season for a team I oversee, final tournament of a team I recently retired from, time with extended family in a mini-reunion, planning a presentation to the Board on AI, guiding sub-teams on AI Governance, observing increasing dysfunction and polarization in public forums. They look and sound different but there are common threads. That's what emerged for me this week, which became this post.