Every leader wants a motivated team that feels passionate about their work. But instilling intrinsic motivation across a group can be tricky. While we can’t force motivation externally, leaders can implement certain conditions that allow intrinsic motivation to flourish.
Organizational psychologist and leadership expert Dr. David Burkus outlines 5 powerful tactics leaders can use to tap into the intrinsic motivators that drive teams to do their best work. Let’s explore each approach.
Describe the End Goal
Painting a detailed picture of what success looks like gives teams a clear objective to work towards. Burkus suggests framing this as the “commander’s intent” – an vivid description of the desired outcome.
This end goal serves multiple motivating functions:
Provides Meaning and Purpose
Understanding the why behind their work gives people a sense of meaning. Leaders should explain exactly how achieving the end goal will create value for the company, customers, or greater good. This taps into the intrinsic desire to make a meaningful contribution.
Focuses Efforts in Volatile Times
A volatile economy and ever-changing business environment can leave teams feeling lost. An anchor “end goal” provides direction amidst the uncertainty, keeping everyone motivated by a stable vision ahead.
Satisfies Autonomy
While teams may not choose their actual objectives, they still crave autonomy over how they accomplish the goals. An inspirational end goal, paired with flexibility in the approach, helps meet autonomy needs.
In total, an motivational end goal gives teams purpose, direction, and freedom – three intrinsic motivators.
Decide on Milestones
The end goal alone isn’t enough – people need to see they’re making steady progress. Leaders should collaborate with teams to define milestones marking advancement towards the broader target.
Tracking milestones serves two key motivational needs:
Drives Sense of Progress
Small wins maintain teams’ momentum and morale. Demonstrating step-by-step achievements against the bigger goal fuels intrinsic motivation.
Provides Autonomy
Teams feel empowered shaping how to reach the finish line, deciding on milestone sequencing that aligns with priorities and capacities. This autonomy over the process further enables internal drive.
Celebrate Small Wins
Every incremental success should be celebrated, reinforcing people’s inner motivators through positive feedback on their progress and capabilities. Burkus advocates recognizing even minor daily victories.
Possible small wins include completing an important milestone, making exceptional progress in an area, or having a great collaborative experience. Find reasons to consistently celebrate, which:
Validates Team Contributions
Highlighting achievements credits teams’ efforts, fulfilling their need to feel valued through positive feedback.
Reminds People Work Has Meaning
Wins signify tangible advancement and impact, directing teams back to the end goal’s deeper purpose.
Strengthens Camaraderie and Inclusion
Rejoicing together builds solidarity and connection. Teams motivate each other through shared celebration and support.
Learn From Failures
Setbacks sap motivation yet provide pivotal opportunities for growth through constructive analysis of what went wrong and why.
Blaming individuals is counterproductive. Instead facilitate open, blameless debriefs focused on organizational learning. This:
Supports Team Resilience
Analyzing failures for improvement demonstrates leaders’ commitment to progress, empowering teams to persist despite setbacks.
Drives Safety and Innovation
A no-fault review encourages candor about weaknesses and challenges without fear. Psychological safety enables engagement and creativity.
Provides Learning and Mastery
Evaluating unsuccessful outcomes creates understanding to fuel personal and collective capability growth.
Turn “Why” into “Who”
Missions and values communicate purpose abstractly. But connecting goals to specific human impacts is most compelling, tapping people’s innate desire to help others.
Describe exactly who benefits from achieving milestones, explains Burkus. Is it internal teams, external customers, the community? How will accomplishing objectives affect them?
Activates Prosocial Motivation
Understanding how their work assists others drives deep engagement, meeting needs for meaning, compassion and heroism.
Fosters Camaraderie and Inclusion
Visualizing shared beneficiaries built solidarity and unified commitment to mutually serve identified groups.
In summary, intrinsic motivation is extremely powerful but delicate. While leaders can’t control internal drive directly, they can cultivate the territory for motivation to bloom through tactical approaches like: communicating an inspiring vision, tracking progress, celebrating wins, learning from losses, and clarifying human impacts.