Contribution – my team needs me
Next up on our round-the-mind tour of intrinsic motivators – Contribution. We are social creatures who thrive in an environment in which we can interact with others in a group. Numerous studies have shown that some of the happiest and longest-lived people in the world are those with deep social connections and relationships. Heck, even […]
Mastery – I’m good at my job and getting better
The intrinsic motivator of Mastery relates to our desire to be awesome at something. It feels good to know that you are a “rock star” at a skill. But it’s not just about being good, it’s about continuously getting better. Intrinsic motivators like mastery are really a recipe for what makes us happy. While most […]
Podcast: Motivate Your Agency’s Team to Achieve World Class Performance
Agencyrevolution.com recently posted a podcast with Mivation’s Seth Preus, who discusses what it would mean to an agency if everyone on the team got to the next level. Seth Preus is an advisor to Mivation, and the creator of both Racing Snail and Leaderboard Legends. As a thought leader, he uses his 25 years of […]
A Fish Story
Extrinsic and intrinsic motivators appear to be contradictory of one another. Extrinsic motivators are tangible, controlled by a third party, and are not directly connected to the work itself. On the other hand, intrinsic motivators are intangible, originate from within a person, and are directly connected to the work. But is it possible that one […]
The Perfect Motivational Formula
Compensation management is an extremely sophisticated endeavor. I routinely hear senior managers complain that their company’s compensation plan does not seem to properly motivate all or parts of their sales team. Attempts to drive motivation by tweaking the compensation plan often backfire with disastrous results. I have personally worked for a company that had the […]
Lost because you know the way
I recently wrote a blog about Autonomy that describes the importance of giving your team latitude in how they complete their jobs. By granting that latitude you make it possible for them to find faster, more efficient, and more effective ways of accomplishing their work. The business world is not stagnant and requires constant adaptation […]
Autonomy
I know the best way to do my job. Next up on our tour of intrinsic motivators – Autonomy. In the simplest terms autonomy is the ability to do what you want, the way you want to do it. Various dictionaries define it using the term “self-governing”. Autonomy is a powerful intrinsic motivator because human […]
Accountability
You can count on me. Initially it may not seem that Accountability would be considered a motivator. The word “Accountability” is usually used negatively in the business world when describing someone who is not doing what they are supposed to do. It almost has an Old Testament kind of heaviness, “Thou shalt be held ACCOUNTABLE!” […]
Meaningfulness
My Work Matters. How do we motivate our teams to do the best work they can by using an intrinsic motivator? I’m going to start with what seems the hardest, but really is just a matter of communication — Meaningfulness (wow, what a fluffy word!). A person who believes that their work is meaningful is […]
Utilizing Intrinsic Motivators
Remember, motivation is just a fancy word for wanting, so whether it’s an intrinsic or extrinsic reward, you can’t make somebody want something. However, there are ways that you can move the intrinsic motivations (feed the fire) that already exist within a person. First, since we’ve established we can’t create these motivations, can we really […]
