Motivation
Kate Van Akin
Experienced leadership coach, facilitator, and change expert | McKinsey and Harvard alum
How do you create more accountability on a team? This is a topic I’ve discussed with three different clients this week, so there must be something in the air. I hear the longing and frustration in their question as they search for ways to motivate their teams to proactively take action towards achieving a goal. Accountability seems to be a perennial pain point for leaders. In a brilliant talk by Patrick Lencioni, author of the book Five Dysfunctions of a Team, he shares that Accountability is almost always the lowest scoring topic on his team survey.
What are we meant to take from this? That people are inherently lazy and need strong extrinsic motivators (the proverbial carrot and stick) in order to get anything done? I don’t believe this to be true. While extrinsic motivation may spur short-term compliance and action, I believe that intrinsic (internal) motivation is the real catalyst for action. Daniel Pink describes the three elements of intrinsic motivation as autonomy, mastery, and purpose. Autonomy is the human desire to lead a life of one’s own. Mastery is the desire to improve something that matters. And purpose is about the desire to serve something greater than man himself.
A friend once said to me that he feels like a Ferrari being driven in second gear, and I totally get what he means. I have felt that way myself many times at work in my past – like I am full of potential that is not being utilized. It’s not that I am lazy, but when I was a consultant at McKinsey, I didn’t really feel like codifying approaches to change management or building out massive change plans was my life’s purpose, or that I was making a real difference. So I dragged my feet and eventually left, despite the extrinsic motivators of mentorship, promotion, and bonuses. (This is not to say change management is not an important topic – I know many people who work in this area who are passionate about what they do. And that’s great! It’s just not my own passion.)
I think we need to flip the question of accountability around. The question, for me, is not “how do I create more accountability on my team?” It’s “what do my team members care about? What do they want to dedicate their lives to? How, if at all, can this dovetail with what we are trying to achieve as a company?” It means really taking the time to get to know each member on your team and giving them an opportunity and the autonomy to shape a goal that matters to them. The scary implication of this is that the more self-inquiry we do, the more we may realize that we will never fulfil our soul’s longing in our current job. As a leader, opening this Pandora’s box may lead to losing good people on your team. As a team member, it may lead to uncomfortable questions about your career more broadly. It’s easier to cruise along in second gear, never feeling fully alive, than to face the implications of realising that the path you’re on might be leading to a dead end.
If you find yourself caught in this tricky in-between space, I hope John O’Donohue’s poem about longing may bring some encouragement. May you have the courage to listen to the voice of desire that disturbs you when you have settled for something safe. May your come to accept your longing as divine urgency. And may you know the urgency with which God longs for you. Just imagine how much energy could be unleashed if we were to all live into the fullness of our lives, in alignment with our values and our longing. What a wonderful world that would be.
About Friday Pauses
We can all sense how a lack of presence in our daily life affects the quality of our relationships, our ability to form real connections – and yet we struggle to set aside distractions. In my Friday Pauses, I want to encourage us all to do just that – pause for a moment and feel what it’s like to be present by reading a poem.
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Leadership Coach. Team Facilitator. Change Management Expert. Specialist in Healthcare Leadership and People Strategy. Author of Poetry at the Heart of Business.
1 年I appreciate how you bring it back to each individual. After all, teams are just collection of individuals so motivating a team requires understanding what motivates each individual person. Aside from asking what you long for in terms of purpose, work, and career, I think it’s also helpful to talk to your team members about what they’re looking for in terms of belonging to a team. This will look different for each person as well. You always share great thoughts for reflection. Thanks, Kate!
Leadership Executive Coach | Strategic Advisor | Board Member @Outvertising | Board Advisor Simprints Technology | ICF Accredited
1 年Such a powerful poem. It reads as metta meditation. Thanks for sharing.