Enlightened Self Interest, a.k.a. Self Motivation

The readers of this blog seem to have voted conclusively in favour of ‘Motivation being an internal and external drive’ (for those who missed it – Is Motivation Purely Internal?). From the comments it also seems clear that leadership plays the key role by enabling the environment, showing the direction and lighting the fires within along with a person’s internal drivers.

My opinion is based on the following:

1. Successful programmes in coaching very senior managers to make behaviour changes.

2. Programmes of facilitating change management interventions with teams of leaders.

3. Over 2000 conversations with potential job seekers of various ages (22-60), through various stages of engagement with many leading to final job choice decisions.

4. Autobiographies and stories of many great leaders (Gandhi, Churchill, Alexander, Ashok, Lenin, Che Guevara and so on).

5. My own life experience as I moved from wanting to be a teacher to an accidental advertising person to my current avatar as a consultant and coach.

The Compass and The Map

Alexander of Macedonia created in 10 years, an empire larger than anything the Romans were able to do over 500 years of empire building. He was fired by his desire for greatness. But what about his army? The one he commanded so expertly to win all those battles? What did they fight for and why did they finally stop? History tells us, and this is a seriously paraphrased explanation, that for most of them, right down to the foot soldier, it was their ‘get rich quick’ scheme. They believed that this was their chance to amass wealth beyond anything that they could otherwise hope to do in their lives. They followed Alexander because they believed he had the military chutzpah to make the risk of death acceptable. They finally turned back because of the never ending nature of Alexander’s quest which prevented them from enjoying the spoils of their victory. The story of Chengiz Khan and his army is only slightly different – Chengiz came from an impoverished and agriculturally barren land which had always only seen a cycle of war and looting for the meagre resources. No wonder his soldiers looted and plundered after every victory.

What we learn from the stories of the most successful conquerors is that their armies were essentially mercenary – soldiers motivated enough to put their lives on the line for a fighting chance to change their financial status for life.They needed a better life and Alexander and Chengiz recognised that and promised them great wealth.

The story of Gandhi and the freedom movement or Lenin and the October Revolution  runs to pretty much the same script – promise of a better life for the individual which led to mass participation and then change. Some may argue that there were those who were motivated by purely altruistic reasons and therefore self interest is not the only motivator. True and we will come back to it a little later but for the moment let us stay with the majority.

It seems to me that the large mass in all of these cases had an internal compass which pointed them in a particular direction but they had no map for reference. It was the leaders who arrived with the map and the coordinates. The rest, as they say, is history.

The Jiggly Pointer

Does the pointer always, unerringly show true north?

I will once again deal with the average – those around the centre of the bell curve. For most people the process of discovering their true north is a lifelong journey. The younger you are, the less certain. It is often at these times, when the compass pointer is at its jiggliest, that people are most open to being ‘influenced’ or ‘led’ into a particular direction. That is why younger people have always been the bedrock of all ‘movements’ and ‘ideologies’. Charismatic and persuasive leadership is most appealing and that is when they are looking to be ‘led’. The fire for motivation is lit from the outside. In the corporate world, the first boss (if he was in any way charismatic) is often one such person. Often we follow this boss into a different job simply because he asked.

The True North

Soon, however, the jiggly pointer starts moving as an individual comes to grip with his own self and situation. Pure altruism often gives way to the need for fame/money/power/freedom/peace/exploration and so on. The person than looks for coordinates that match what his compass shows as true north then.  Should the ex boss ask one to move, he will evaluate whether the coordinates match his compass direction.

The jiggly pointer however does not just settle down and go to sleep, stuck permanently in one direction. Over time, as a persons situation in life changes and his own understanding of self, the pointer keeps moving and homing in closer and closer to True North. The closer you are to your True North, the stronger your internal drive and unsurprisingly, the higher your need for knowledge and independence. Also, the closer you are to your true North, the higher your Self Esteem. You are a lot more at peace with your own desires and drives. This is the state I refer to as Enlightened Self Interest.

This is also the condition under which you are able to deliver the most creative, innovative solutions. There are enough experiments done on this subject. Read Dan Pink for more on this subject.

In the world of knowledge workers, we will increasingly be dealing with people with a firmer grip of their internal compasses. To deal with the truly self motivated, paradigms of command and control and mass incentivisation will not work. Empowerment, knowledge, mutual respect and recognition of self are the pillars of the new paradigm.