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Lead from the Inside Out

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  • Richard Martin
  • July 16, 2017
  • 1:40 pm
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Richard Martin

Richard Martin empowers leaders to outmaneuver uncertainty and drive change through strategic insight and transformative thinking.
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by Richard Martin

It’s common to provide rewards and (occasionally) punishments to inflect behaviour. For instance, my daughter works on telephone sales. When they reach their weekly goals, they receive a monetary incentive. There’s nothing wrong in principle with that, but judging by the fact that she’s gotten the reward just about every week since she started the job indicates to me that the reward is actually part of the basic compensation.

The problem is that people start to expect the reward. It’s like that scene in Christmas Vacation, where Clark Griswold (Chevy Chase’s character) learns that the annual Christmas bonus, normally given every year, is not forthcoming. He was so sure it was that he put money he didn’t have on a down payment for a pool. Much hilarity ensues.

It’s much better to motivate people from the inside out, through intrinsic motivation and transformational leadership. It’s essential to find what makes people tick, and what will truly motivate them emotionally, from the gut. That’s what I mean by leading from the inside out. Instead of finding ways to reward them or, much worse, punish them, look for what they’re passionate and truly care about. Create an emotional connection that goes to the heart of their concerns… and interests. Alternately, create an enticing vision and give them outcome-based goals that let them use their intellectual abilities and are stimulating and engaging.

You can always provide rewards after the fact for a job well done or performance beyond expectations. But it you go into the mission with a pre-ordained reward for a set level of achievement, that’s all you may get. Leading and influencing others from the inside out will get you much further than anticipated.

© 2017 Alcera Consulting Inc. This article may be used for non-commercial use with proper attribution.


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Richard Martin, President of Alcera Consulting Inc.

Richard Martin

Richard Martin is the President of Alcera Consulting Inc., a strategic advisory firm collaborating with top-level leaders to provide strategic insight, navigate uncertainty, and drive transformative change, ensuring market dominance and excellence in public governance. He is the author of Brilliant Manoeuvres: How to Use Military Wisdom to Win Business Battles and the creator of the blog ExploitingChange.com. Richard is also the developer of Strategic Epistemology, a groundbreaking theory that focuses on winning the battle for minds in a world of conflict by dismantling opposing worldviews and ideologies through strategic narrative and archetypal awareness.

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