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Light on Leadership
What we get wrong about motivation!
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Welcome to Light on Leadership! In under two minutes, our newsletter delivers one book recommendation, one leadership action step, and two leadership tips. We know you're busy, so we've designed this content to be both useful and shareable. Enjoy!
What are we reading? Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us.
- by Daniel Pink
Our traditional beliefs about motivation have been turned upside down! Author Daniel Pink's opening chapters demonstrate how external rewards can actually decrease motivation. In our companies, teams, and schools, we often try to motivate people through external incentives—like payments for completing tasks on time or grades in academic settings. Though this approach has worked historically, we now know that money and rewards matter less than the intrinsic motivators that bring us joy and fulfillment in our daily work and life choices.
How does this insight affect your leadership? When hiring for your team, do you focus mainly on external incentives? While compensation and benefits matter, what's more crucial is the meaning your team members find in their work and their daily impact. If your entire system relies solely on offering extrinsic rewards, you will not succeed. True greatness requires intrinsic motivation.
Action Step
Instead of relying on traditional reward and punishment systems ("sticks and carrots"), develop leadership strategies that tap into your team's internal drive by providing opportunities for growth, leadership, and autonomy.
Purchase this book! https://www.amazon.com/Drive-Surprising-Truth-About-Motivates/dp/1594484805
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Two Tips
“If you're going through hell, keep going.”
- Winston Churchill
“Don’t let yesterday take up too much of today.”
- Will Rogers
