In Daniel Pink's newest book Drive the underlying message is that a leader can provide a motivating environment but can't motivate their employees; motivation comes from within an individual.

This goes entirely against the common belief that given more carrots, an employee will be motivated to behave in ways that will increase the success of a company. Yet, time and again, leaders have found that providing more money and better benefits, extrinsic motivators, only provide a short term effect on behavior change. Extrinsic motivators are not sustainable.

Last month's newsletter outlined the Top 5 Leadership Mistakes and one of them was misunderstanding motivation.

I outlined the three attributes that when implemented effectively within the organization, can increase the long term behavioral changes a leader is looking to instill in the organization.

And what can a company expect from its employees when they provide an environment that provides for autonomy, mastery, and purpose? Read more...