A very good friend of mine, Mr, Chris Perry, sent me a note this morning about a video that he found on YouTube. The video was produced buy the Royal Society for the encouragement of Arts and has a most interesting topic: Drive - what motivates us.
As a student of Human behavior, I have discovered that what compels a person to get up out of bed every morning and go to work is rarely the paycheck that they receive on pay day. In fact, if the compelling reason IS the pay check, you should really find another occupation, but that is for a different blog post.
As I watched this video, I began to get very excited as it coalesced and crystalized a number of disperate thoughts that have roamed around my brain for years. First and foremost, it validated my belief that if you want a person to perform at a high level, money is rarely a prime motivator. In fact, I NEVER have been motivated by money, I have ALWAYS been motivated by doing something that I love and have passion for.
This is not to say that money is not nice, it is, as I enjoy being able to provide my family the things they need to survive. What I am saying is that I do not get up in the morning and think to myself "Man, I love going to work so I ca earn money!!" Instead, I get up and say "What great things can get accomplished today?" or "How can I help someone accomplish great things today?" This is what I love to do. This is where my passion sources from. I love being around people who are at the top of their game and help them achieve even more than they thought they were capable of. I also love finding out what a person's "currency" is and use it to motivate them to attain their goals. Your currency is not a financial term, instead it is the thing that makes you feel alive, connected and engaged to something. It is what pays off your ego and feeds your soul and keeps you coming back for more, even when you have a knock down, bang you head against the wall shitty day.
Another thought that came to clarity for me today was that I am a born leader of humans! I have always enjoyed leading, but I realized it is in my DNA. I say this because the speaker was speaking about concepts and findings that I instinctively knew. These concepts and findings are the bedrock of my leadership style and have served me and my employers very well over that last 10 years.
A word of friendly advice, if you are suppose to be a leader of human beings, and you think that money is a prime motivator of great people, you REALLY need to find another career. Seriously, you do...no really.. believe me, I am not lying to you.
Now this all may sound a little self serving, I will admit that it is a little bit, but my main reason for sharing this with you is to bear my testimony that Dan Pink speaks the truth. I also want it to be known that this is what I believe in and how I lead, so if you ever had any question, well... now you know.
Oh man! I love that video and talk! I think I watched it every morning for a week when I first found it. I find it interesting that once money is not an issue, meaning I have enough of it to sustain, the rest of the motivators work as expected. I'm currently reading a book called "Drive: The surprising truth about what motivates us" which is very similar to this talk and I've enjoyed it so far. Great post and keep up the good work!
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