Four Types of Growth Motivation

Recently I had a unique opportunity to attend a one-day immersion workshop with author Jim Collins. While I have appreciated his work for decades, it was the first time I had been with him in person.

One of the principles from his research on companies that made the transition from "good" to "great" is what he terms the "Level 5 Leadership" hierarchy:

?Individuals can progress through each of these levels in development, and indeed, even the "just good, not great" companies studied were led by leaders deemed Level 4 - Effective Leaders in their own right.

However, if one chooses to work on the skillsets needed to grow in this hierarchy, a question of motivation arises. Why should or would someone want to develop from level 1 to level 2? From 2 to three? And so on?

Why Do The Work?

In our work, we engage with CEOs and teams of growth-minded organizations to provide them with tools and systems to leverage their resources in order to grow or scale up. When we meet interested parties, the topics we like to explore prior to engagement include the questions, "What is it you believe you need our support in?" and "Why do you want to do this work together?"

"People don't buy what you do; they buy why you do it. And what you do simply proves what you believe." - Simon Sinek

Often, the reason for engaging with us evolves after an engagement, and often, we hear feedback like, "We engaged with Cadence Growth because (whatever the reason), but within the first year, we discovered the real thing we needed was (something different.)"

Sometimes, this motivation grows, but sometimes it diminishes.

This has led us to ask more questions, especially up front, to understand the motivations behind why people think they want to grow as an organization. Understanding this early on is helpful because the work is often hard, and without a clear mandate for pressing through the pain, it can be difficult to continue at times.

With the over three dozen teams and CEOs we have had the privilege to support over the past six years, we have observed some patterns for the various reasons folks want to grow. And especially as we see individuals choose to move upwards in Collins' Level 5 hierarchy, registering these motivations can be especially helpful.

Four Motivations

We have observed that individuals are motivated in at least one of the following four ways:

A) Lifestyle

A “lifestyle” motivation for growth in a leader results in an appetite for growth to the extent that it improves their lifestyle. This might mean achieving a certain level of income, being able to provide certain opportunities for their children, or making it possible to do certain things as a result of the growth.

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Lifestyle motivation may result in significant ambition - especially depending on the circumstances an individual finds themselves in. This motivation is related to the first two or three levels of Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs, including basic needs and psychological needs.

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Lifestyle-motivated leaders tend to be more inwardly focused on themselves, or they may be focused on external factors that affect their lives but are not often connected deeply to any cause or purpose beyond their own sphere.

Their big question is, “How can I better my situation or protect my position?”

B) Opportunity?

An “opportunistic” motivation for growth in a leader results in an appetite for growth if the right opportunities present themselves. They may look for opportunities, but the motivation tends to end there.

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Opportunity motivation often presents itself within the realm of "stewardship" philosophy. Being a good steward of one's resources suggests finding opportunities to increase the "talents" one has. The more opportunities taken advantage of, the better steward one is. While significant ambition may be present, the stewardship philosophy may mask it in a form of humility - it may be real or faux. This motivation is related to some forms of psychological or self-actualization in Maslow's Hierarchy.

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Opportunity-motivated leaders tend to be less inwardly focused on themselves and worry less about their lifestyle, understanding it will take care of itself if they simply apply themselves with diligence and pursue the right opportunities.

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Their big question is, “What opportunities exist for us to leverage?”

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C) Aspiration

An “aspirational” motivation for growth in a leader produces an appetite for growth connected to a cause or a goal. These leaders are about something bigger than themselves, and they are evangelists for whatever that is.

Aspirational motivation can appear unabashedly ambitious, and these leaders are good at rallying people, teams, groups, and communities towards the achievement or accomplishment of the cause or mission at hand. Winning and healthy competition are important to these leaders and may be a source of the cause itself. This motivation is related to the need for esteem but is more commonly related to self-actualization within Maslow's Hierarchy.

Aspiration-motivated leaders tend to see opportunities everywhere and understand lifestyle as taking care of itself - as long as they accomplish the goal or mission.?

Their big question is, “What is the mission, and how can we accomplish it?”

D) Transformation

A “transformational” motivation for growth in a leader produces an appetite for growth necessary for creating a future that doesn't exist yet. These leaders are able to articulate how the world will become a better place as a result of their mission, cause, and/or purpose being fulfilled.

Transformation motivation is often described as "visionary" - at least in retrospect. While these leaders are also good at rallying people towards a common goal, the goal itself is expressed as being driven by a purpose, or it is understood as requiring a series of big goal accomplishments to complete the transformation. This motivation begins with self-actualization in Maslow's hierarchy and proceeds from there.

Transformation-motivated leaders are certainly ambitious and "goal-oriented," but their goals are oriented around a cause or purpose that extends beyond their personal ambition. They tend to recognize that lifestyle will take care of itself, that opportunities abound, and that life is a series of missions or goals all leading towards an improved state of being.

Their big question is, “What is the future we are creating?”

Observations

We have observed that each subsequent motivation type envelopes the paradigms preceding it. Progressing outward from the motivation of "lifestyle" to "transformation," there is an increasing sense of abundance, magnanimity, largess, etc. Also, the further outward this orbit goes, the bigger the cause and the less the leader appears to be “at the effect” of external circumstances.

Moving outward produces appetites for growth that, paradoxically, becomes bigger and bigger while it becomes less and less about the leaders themselves. It is like a spacecraft moving away from the gravitational pull of a planet - the planet of self-interest - and into the vastness of space - space to dream and be fulfilled.

When the going gets tough, types "lifestyle" and "opportunity" tend to withdraw, tighten their belts, retreat, and scale down to meet whatever circumstances exist; types “aspiration” and “transformation” tend to press forward, advance, and scale up to prevail over whatever circumstances exist.

Between motivation types “opportunity” and “aspiration," there seems to be a shift from “reactive” to “creative” leadership attributes*, from a fundamentally “victim conscious" to a fundamentally “consciously empowered” style or way of being**.

Perhaps it could be said that when leaders go to work on their creative vs. reactive tendencies or immerse themselves in being victors vs. victims, their causes and dreams get bigger, while opportunities (and even luck events) appear. And matters of lifestyle become increasingly less of a concern.

* To explore reactive vs. creative leadership styles further, see Mastering Leadership and Scaling Leadership by Anderson and Adams.

** To explore victim consciousness vs. forms of more empowered leadership consciousness, see The Power of TED* by Emerald, and The 15 Commitments of Conscious Leadership by Dethmar, Chapman, and Warner-Klemp

Reflection

While models like this are inherently flawed, these motivation categories and Collins' hierarchy are rooted in clear thinking and sound data. Building on this, we have found asking the question:

"Which of these motivations do you most resonate with at this time?"

...is a fantastic beginning to the work of organizational and personal leadership development.