Motivation from Inside to Outside

Psychologists make a basic distinction between intrinsic and extrinsic motivation. Having intrinsic motivation means doing something for its own sake, like playing a game just for the joy of playing. On the other hand, extrinsic motivation pulls you by the power of some external benefit or tangible reward you’ll attain by taking action, like in the case of a professional athlete who plays primarily for money rather than for the fun or challenge of the sport. It also, for example, influences business and sales executives who are driven fundamentally by the income they receive rather than by the love of the service they provide. Of course, extrinsic motivation can be very powerful. Many people go to a job they neither enjoy nor care about just to receive a paycheck. You can bet these people would not go to their jobs every day if they knew no one was going to pay them for their work. Some of these people actively hate their jobs, but the extrinsic motivation is strong enough to keep them going faithfully every day.

Suppose you choose a particular career because of the money. What happens when there’s more money in doing something else? Since there is no inner drive to stay on any particular path, the journey will be arduous, and motivation will tend to weaken whenever the external reward seems remote or out of sight. Some people spend their entire lives wandering from one field to another, always looking for an easier way to find that pot of gold, never achieving a significant goal worthy of their inner potential.

But how powerful is extrinsic motivation in a larger sense? How does the power of extrinsic compare to intrinsic motivation when the topic is doing one’s best, peak performance, or human greatness? For instance, you may recall from history that the exquisitely beautiful armless statue of Venus de Milo was carved by an unknown sculptor.

When a farmer dug up the soon-to-be world-famous work of art while plowing his field, a renowned museum official sadly reflected what a great pity it was that thousands of admirers would never recognize the sculptor, nor would he ever know how valuable the statue became hundreds of years later. The farmer retorted that it must have been a labor of love for someone to be able to have envisioned such perfection and bring it forth with just a chisel and a shapeless piece of stone. “Just creating something of such quality,” said the farmer, “would have been payment in full for me.” You can’t commission a masterpiece. Human greatness can’t be extrinsically motivated. It must be compelled from within.

In studying history and present-day entrepreneurs, although many of them created great wealth, we found that they were driven more by the passion of pursuing an inner calling than in trying to become rich. Fred Smith of Federal Express was obsessed with getting packages delivered faster; Bill Gates of Microsoft was focused on software solutions to real-life problems; Stephen Spielberg was more interested in what he saw through the lens of his movie camera than he was in a college degree; and Celine Dion just loved to sing ever since she was a young girl.

Mark Zuckerberg, the billionaire founder of Facebook, did not pursue his dream because he wanted to become one of the wealthiest individuals in the world. He and his friends simply wanted an innovative way to stay connected with college buddies on his and other university campuses. His motivation was an inner force that propelled him to take action.

Do you see what that means for you? If you want to be the best—whether it’s the best manager, the best salesperson, the best parent, or the best athlete on your team—you have to light that fire within yourself. The real motivation is that drive from within. You know where you’re going because you have a compelling image inside, not a travel poster on the wall.

One of the classic studies of motivation that leads to achievement was done by a team of scientists under the leadership of Dr. D.N. Jackson. They identified six types of “achievement motivation.” As we review each of the six motivations, ask yourself the following questions: Is this an intrinsic or extrinsic form of motivation? How strongly motivated am I by this particular type of motivation? How well does this type of motivation help me achieve my goals?

The first type of achievement motivation is Status with the Experts—in other words, gaining recognition as a leader in your field. In my case, this could be a desire to be thought of in the same league as Napoleon Hill. In your case, it could mean being treated with deference and respect by your immediate boss or manager.

The second type of achievement motivation is Acquisitiveness, which is the desire to acquire something tangible, such as a fixed sum of money, a new Mercedes, or a cabin cruiser. Many people live for the things they love, and they also hate to lose those things.

I once heard about a young man in Phoenix who came home from work exhausted and ready to wind down. If someone had told him he would be spending the night digging up his yard, he would have laughed and said, “There’s no way I’m going to do anything but relax.” But that was before his new bride told him she had accidentally flushed her $1,800 diamond engagement ring down the drain!

Immediately, his priorities changed. Possibly influenced by the $1,000 he still owed on the ring and the fact that it wasn’t insured, he became motivated to acquire the ring—whatever it took. While he spent the night digging up and taking apart the plumbing in search of the ring, his wife spent the night with a relative to escape his foul mood. After searching all night, the young husband was convinced the ring had departed from their property, so he called the water department, and out came Phoenix’s “lost diamond crew” to pick up the hunt. They installed a trap at a downstream manhole, then sent a high-pressure stream of water down the sewer pipe to flush it. One of the crew members crawled down into the manhole and fished the diamond ring out of the sewage.

Now that illustrates motivation to acquire! One small possession completely dominated this young man’s being for twenty-four hours without distraction. How strong a force is motivation to acquire in your life?

The third type of achievement motivation is Achievement via Independence, which is the desire to achieve on your own skill and merit. This could involve going through the demanding academic training to become a neurosurgeon, scientist, attorney, or any other profession where you are sought after for your ability.

The fourth type of achievement motivation is Status with Peers. This is different from Status with the Experts because, to put it bluntly, your peers may not be the experts. Many of us are motivated by how our friends or our fellow employees regard us at work.

The fifth type of achievement motivation is Competitiveness, something we all know about. NBC founder David Sarnoff said, “Competition brings out the best in products and the worst in people.” How important is winning to you?

The sixth and final type of achievement motivation is Concern for Excellence. Vince Lombardi, the legendary coach of the Green Bay Packers during their pro football dynasty, believed that “the quality of a person’s life is in direct proportion to their commitment to excellence, regardless of their chosen field of endeavor.” Concern for excellence means that you are motivated every day to be the best you can possibly be in whatever you do.

Of the six motivation types we’ve covered, only two—Achievement via Independence and Concern with Excellence—are true intrinsic motivations. Not coincidentally, scientists also have found that these two motivations are the most effective in leading to significant achievement. Leaders and managers should take special note of this. You need to be careful in your use of extrinsic motivators in trying to inspire your employees over the long run. Remember, enduring motivation must ultimately come from within the individual. That is why the words empower and envision are so vital to team performance and quality. It must be their power and vision that compels them, not that of the leader.

The success of our efforts depends not so much on the efforts themselves but rather on our motive for doing them. The greatest companies and the greatest men and women in all walks of life have achieved their greatness out of a desire to express something within themselves that had to be expressed, a desire to solve a problem using their skills as best they could.

This is not to say that many of these individuals did not earn a great deal of money and prestige for what they produced. Many did. But the key to their successes is to be found in the fact that they were motivated more by providing excellence in a product or service to fill a need than by any thought of profit. William Shakespeare, Thomas Edison, and Estee Lauder all became wealthy. Separated as they were in time and type of talent, they all were motivated by the same thing: to produce the very best, to express the very best that was in them.

The problem is money alone does not stimulate intrinsic motivation and, therefore, is a means, not an end. Money is like fuel for your car. It is not the destination. It is not the journey. It is only part of the transportation system. Make your “why” grab you by your very soul. You’ll never be disappointed for very long. And you’ll stay committed regardless of market conditions or setbacks. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. spoke about this as eloquently as anyone ever has when he said, “If an individual is called to be a street-sweeper, he or she should sweep streets even as Michelangelo painted, or Beethoven composed music or Shakespeare wrote poetry. He should sweep streets so well that all the hosts of Heaven and Earth will pause and say, here lived a great street-sweeper who did his job well.”

Question: Are you more motivated by material rewards, money, and status or by internal values concerning excellence and self-actualization?

Action: Since intrinsic motivation is the most enduring, really explore the internal drives among your team, your loved ones, and yourself. Start today. You may be surprised.