Internal/Intrinsic Motivators:
Your motivation to accomplish your goal comes from within. It is determined by your personal values and goals. The drive to do something because it is interesting, challenging, and absorbing is essential for high levels of creativity. Enjoyment based internal motivation is the strongest and most pervasive driver as is a belief that it is a good or right thing to do. Often it is something we pursue even without a tangible result.
• Examples: Reading a nonfiction book because you are curious about the topic, or playing chess because you enjoy effortful thinking are internal motivation examples.
With internal motivation, it is much easier to stay motivated. Trying to find some internal value in everything you have to do can improve your overall performance and pleasure.
External/Extrinsic Motivators:
Your motivation to attain your goal comes from a source outside yourself. It reflects the desire to do something because of external rewards such as awards, money, and praise. People who are extrinsically motivated may not enjoy certain activities but engage in them because they wish to receive some external reward.
• Examples: The person who dislikes sales but accepts a sales position because he/she desires to earn an above average salary or selecting a major in college based on salary and prestige, rather than personal interest in the major are samples of external motivation.
It drives one to do things for tangible rewards or pressures, rather than for the fun of doing it. Performing tasks to look good or to please others can be difficult to maintain. It focuses people on the reward and not the action. In effect, extrinsic motivations can change something pleasurable into work.
When are you most effective? When are you so engaged that hours feel like minutes? What is the balance for you?
Motivation - Internal and External MotivatorsTransitions at work can be exciting times. And yet, heightened work motivation and enthusiasm can actually backfire and cripple the chances of a successful transition.
Harvard's David McClelland identified three primary motives, or needs, that drive behavior: Affiliation, Achievement, and Power. Likewise, Forum Corporation identified four main transition types (or PATHs) - Place (New job or greater scope), Assignment, Team, and Heading (organization changes strategy or structure, even if ones role does not change).
When we overlay these two frameworks, "dangerous" combinations of motivation and transition type emerge:
A leader with a high need for achievement with a new team. The danger here lies in seeking quick wins for the glory of ones own career or ego, thus alienating the team. A leader with a high need for affiliation entering into a short term, high pressure assignment. Their team-oriented affiliation approach can generate cross-functional support, but if overdone (e.g. spending too much time being accepted or reducing conflict), this approach can result in a missed opportunity. A leader with a high need for power in a new place. Need for power can positively influence others and create impact, or it can take a more negative form in a need to control or dominate. If someone becomes intoxicated with the 'status' of a new position, this person could step on some toes - fast. How about the opposite of the above: someone who does not pay attention to power or the politics in their organization, and is not even remotely aware of how vulnerable they suddenly are when the organization shifts its' heading and re-organizes.
There are many more possible combinations, but you get the point. Most of us have a mixture of these motives, with one generally being dominant. How about you: which motive most drives you? Any blind spots to avoid in your next job transition?
The 4 Transition Types, the 3 Motivation Types, and the Dangerous Combinations