There are 3 broad ways to motivate people – fear, duty or inspiration. Each comes with a different narrative –
Fear – “If you don’t do the job, I will… ” – there is typically at least a small degree of bullying involved in this method and works best when you have the power to coerce or when the people you are leading are naive or uneducated.
Duty – “You get paid to do this” – duty is what keeps most city trains full at 8am. This is the most passive form of leadership of the three as you don’t really need to do much. Most of us have an intrinsic sense of duty and a need to be fair.
Inspiration – “Everything we do here has a purpose and we’re building something great” – this is the hardest of the lot. The reason this is incredibly hard is because it requires you, as the leader, to be continuously inspired. And, it also requires you to design and reinforce systems that celebrate and encourage people.
There is no right or wrong style in most cases. I’ve just observed the following –
1. Outstanding organizations are built around inspiration. You don’t need to be a shout-off-the-rooftops leader to be inspiring. There are many in Microsoft who would say Bill Gates was many times more inspiring than Steve Ballmer.
2. You will have a personal preference for one of these styles. Inspiration, for example, doesn’t work for everyone. Just make sure you build teams that work with your style. And, similarly, make sure you join teams that are aligned to your style preference. Style mismatches never end well.
3. Inspiration comes easiest when what you do is aligned with who you are and why you do things. When that happens, you don’t have to try to be inspired – your integrity alone will inspire. The word ‘integrity’ comes from the word ‘integer’ and means “whole.” When it feels consistent, it shows.
A Learning a Day 