It's about achievement.

Leaders. Do you know this graph? You need to know this graph.

Deep lessons in leadership and management in a glance.? It's not about the generations or the war for talent, but it holds the keys to unlocking both. It's about people. Specifically, what extremely satisfies and dissatisfies people at work.

I still remember coming across this visual in a print edition of HBR 20 years ago.?I was a new manager and felt overwhelmed by the complexities of leading people.?I would hear generalizations about people that sounded attractive, but simplistic.?"They just want to know you care." (True by the way, but how do I show them I care? This chart answers that.)

Here I found both simplicity and depth…it turned out to be one of the most insightful graphs I would see in the next 20 years.?The realization that what makes people love their work and hate their job are two different things.

This has a host of implications…

+ We can be extremely satisfied and extremely dissatisfied at the same time (for different reasons)

+ This means we can lead a rockstar who loves her work and still quits because she hates her job / company / boss (ouch)

+ We can pour every last dime and ounce of energy into fixing all the things that are wrong at work, and people probably won't thank you. Fixing all the broken stuff doesn't make people extremely satisfied. It just makes them "not mad".

+ We can have a great relationship with people as their boss, and they still quit b/c their other needs aren't being met

+ Pay in-and-of-itself doesn't drive extreme satisfaction or dissatisfaction, but chronically underpaying people is unfair…and people hate dumb rules most of all. See the big red line to the left called "Company Policy and Administration" (we must shoot for paying fairly!)

And perhaps the biggest and most promising insight that should align leaders, managers, and their people:

+ People love achievement!

Truly consider this. The thing you can do as a leader to help your people be the most satisfied they can possibly be at work...help them be successful. Let go of trying to make everyone happy. Help them be successful. Make that your want. Want that for them. Help them see it and experience (some never have).

Maslow hinted at this same insight...he noted in 1954 that inside every human being is a desire to achieve their potential (self-actualization). He came back in 1970 and added something even better...inside every human being is a desire to be part of something bigger than themselves (self-transcendence).

Dan Pink added another layer to the conversation in his awesome book, Drive. He said the strongest, most sustainable driver of behavior is Purpose, Autonomy, and Mastery. People want their work to matter. They want to have a say in how it gets done. They want to get good at what they do.

Don't just win or focus on the win. MAKE IT MATTER.

And where is leadership? Leadership is not one specific thing that ranks for satisfaction…it is everywhere and impacts both the satisfiers and the dissatisfied.

What are your takeaways when you see this data?

#BestWorkBestLife