24
2010
Motivation and Leadership
An article by 
Leadership discussions often focus on the subject of motivation. In traditional terms, leaders are somehow understood to be the “motivators.” They must create within the employees the driving force, the need, the rationale, the raison d’etre. It’s as if leadership must have some power to inject, to force feed, to create a sense of urgency in the employee. Years ago, as an Air Force Academy cadet, I spent multiple hours in the office of the Commandant of Cadets as in his own words, he “shoved unknown quantities of blue and silver up my (inappropriate term deleted)”. It was as if he knew instinctively, that if I was to perform at my best, he should be forcibly injecting the secret sauce that would be responsible for my best performance.
In years thereafter there was no shortage of pressure situations where, the heat was turned up and the organization was “motivated” by carrots and sticks to perform at its highest levels. The idea that extrinsic forces when correctly applied can result in enhanced levels of performance is at the heart of most compensation systems today. Contingent motivators are at the heart of performance enhancement systems in business, just as they are in the military. How many times have you experienced the implicit threat of a poor appraisal or even termination if something was not accomplished on time or on budget and so forth?
And yet, if you take the time to Google “TED” (Technology, Education, Design) and spend a few minutes listening to Dan Pink’s words on the Surprising Science of Motivation, you will be introduced to an entirely different way of thinking about motivation. His entire thesis is built on the premise that while the carrot and the stick approach to motivation may work for traditional, focused and clearly delineated tasks and jobs, the mandates of competitiveness and innovative necessity in the 21st century require us to look at motivation in ways that encourage creative thought, analysis, crossing boundaries and other types of conceptual work. This is not simply Dan Pink’s “great idea”…it lies at the heart of the science of how humans work and think. It also exposes a dichotomy that exists between the science of motivation and the so called practice of motivation in the workplace.
Think about this: Since when did threats, promises and the like enhance your intellectual activity? Most likely the greater the pressure, the more narrow and more focused your thought. Even more likely, you ceased risking your hide in considering excursions beyond the tried and true. And so it is for employees and subordinates in many organizations. Hence the phrases “buck up”, “tighten the screws”, “keep the heat on!” And yet, think about those occasions…do they really produce the motivation and resulting behavior that raises levels of performance to sustainable levels? Or did they merely produce a period of heightened sensitivity and new levels of paranoia from the cubicles to the corner offices?
As the aerospace industry moves into a globally competitive environment where there are no givens, which environment will produce the results you need to succeed as an organization? How will you balance the need for productivity and excellence with the need to create an environment where employees are self motivated and strive for the greater good because they see it as the right thing to do?
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Subject Matter
Aviation and Aerospace
- Green: The New Color of Manufacturing Dr. Heather Garten
- Innovation, Imagination and Building Your Organization Dr. Kees Rietsema
- Manufacturing Leaders’ Real Estate Savvy Decisions Dr. Heather Garten
- Institutional Isomorphism Dr. Matthew P. Earnhardt
- Aerospace Leadership and Technological Vision: “Toward New Horizons” Dr. Joseph P. Bassi
I have long (and believed myself to be flying solo) supported that the US Air Force provides exceptional leadership training and equally important leadership development opportunities. It is refreshing to read similar commentary from a fellow Air Force member and Academic. For many others like myself, the belief has long been maintained by hiring managers, that only the military’s “Commissioned” Officers possessed leadership abilities which could transfer from the Air Force, to the Corporate world. This assumption has unfortunately deprived Corporate America of some of the best trained (and in some cases with higher education), experienced leaders. Unfortunate because more often than not, the enlisted Non-Commissioned Officers are overlooked by potential employers when transitioning “From Air Force Blue to Corporate Gray (Savino & Krannich, 1997).
In my current role within a large aviation and aerospace employer, and an academic, I am working tirelessly to change the misconception that leadership abilities reside soley within the Commissioned Officer ranks of the military. My success to date has resulted in successful employment opportunities for several of my students who transitioned from the Air Force. I am also working on my Doctoral Degree: Toward Gemeinschaftesgefuhl: Exploring Subordinate and Manager Perceptions of Trust and Perceptions Regarding Behavioral Change Potential. In short, what are the perceptions by subordinates regarding managers’ potential to be more accepting that subordinates have much to offer in the form of leadership, and that followership is applicable to leaders and managers as well as to subordinates (perhaps more so). Further, that there is a clear difference between leading and managing, and helping current managers to become aware of this concept is my life goal.
I’m pretty far from the apple tree but I had to comment on the level of understanding that is taking place today that was certainly not there a few years ago. I’m a previous Air Force member of the non commissioned type. The depth of acceptance needed for all military leadership was severely lacking in elasticity. I remember having got the chance to be involved in an airman leadership council and represent my unit and how good it felt to do that. My humble and unfocused desire for knowledge and mentor-ship has been quite an upward battle and was reflected in my poor participation. I fell apart more than once trying to convince myself I was ready for success. Every step I took was another up the face of Mt. Everest. There were the peer leaders who were like Superman. They had families, college backgrounds, goals, and technical focus that surpassed the crowd. Yet, these individuals would be walked on, forgotten and punished. Then there would be the charismatic unhindered with glamour written all over their faces. They would appease the unease within an environment and excel beyond those who were much more intellectually developed. Finally, there were those like me. We preferred work over influence and desired leadership more than all.
Knowledge of individual leadership starts from the absolute bottom and reaches far into the top. For someone of my disconnected social experiences it is extremely difficult to apply what I’ve learned into a productive outlet that can be shared. I still have many years from becoming a formidable writer or speaker. However, I am glad that even someone without capability, like myself, can still appreciate blogs and leadership programs such as this.
From my level, leadership is communication and character. Personality is always a bonus but good character opens up positive social forum. This is a quality much more derived from inheritance than achieved through success. Grasping the character of a leader, from my perspective, requires acceptance and not intimidation or public review. Meaning, you can’t expect a person to not judge by appearance, but you must expect them to be above such reproach. Appearance should be a cultivated experience. Double standards and/or standards that create friction between ideologies deters proper leadership.
Now, someone of my perspective is purely an outside eye looking in and does not fall into the normal casting of society. Most of us can clay our way into the mold and be successful.
Low to high end leadership.
Best article, lots of intersting things to digest. Very informative
I completely agree with the above comment, the internet is with a doubt growing into the most important medium of communication across the globe and its due to sites like this that ideas are spreading so quickly.
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Hey…thanks for that. Fantastic content. I’ll be coming back soon for more news. Cheers!
The stories are like reflections of what I am going through in my life…and these did make me realize my mistakes and what steps do I need to take….
Thanks for this video…I have been brain storming for something just like this and thanks to you I have what I was looking for and not all those spam looking links that make you want to click them just to see what they lead too…my pet peeve.
hi, new to the site, thanks.
I really liked reading your post!. Quality content. With such a valuable blog I believe you deserve to be ranking even higher in the search engines
Good blog, Motivation is always in-demand ,I have also realized, that positive experiences lead to motivation which in turn can create powerful habits. Those habits in turn can bring you success, if you are ready to put the hours in.
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