Money as motivator

Some people are more anxious about pay and status than others. I used to fret keenly about it as a younger man rising through the corporate ranks.

Back in the days of company cars I broke the mould by getting a Ford Escort at 26. It was the bee’s knees, but after a week someone pulled up alongside me in a Ford Sierra.

Wow, I thought: get one of those and you’ve arrived!

Eighteen months later I had a Ford Sierra, and the magic lasted for about two weeks, after which it reverted to being just a car, and one on an ever-expanding spectrum of luxury and status.

As a leader you will be limited in terms of how much cash or perks you can dangle in front of your people.

The author Daniel Pink argues that “extrinsic” motivators like pay are weaker than “intrinsic” motivators, of which the three biggest are 1) a sense of autonomy, 2) the promise of mastery, and 3) a sense of meaning.

People want to know they matter in an important endeavour.

Establishing such an endeavour and enlisting people in it are what delegation is all about.