Question

Motivation is different for each of us. Leaders struggle to keep individuals motivated. Research indicates that a motivated individual is a more productive worker. Additionally, keeping an individual motivated can be challenging. For this unit’s journal entry, share a list of the top five things that motivate you, and explain how a leader could use these motivators to help you advance in your career.

Answer 1

The five things that motivate me are encouragement, challenge, autonomy, flexibility, and opportunity to learn. These things can be used to aid in getting things done and push me to do better. The way leaders can use this to help me advance in my career are:

Encouragement: When leaders constantly encourage me, I tend to feel that I am appreciated for my work. This triggers a reaction that makes me perform better. Encouragement comes in the form of words and appreciation for the effort one puts in and it makes a positive impact on me. Therefore, leaders can use this motivator to aid in the advancement of my career.

Challenge: When it comes to working, I like to see things as a challenge and it sparks a curiosity if I will be able to do it or not. This can be used to make me try things just because of the challenge. Doing something that is monotonous gets boring and results in a lack of interest. Therefore, leaders can use this as an effective way to motivate me to do things like give me a challenge or a problem to solve. The satisfaction in solving a problem is something that drives me.

Autonomy: Autonomy is something I like when I know how to get things done. One of the things that hinder progress is micro-management since there is a constant worry about being told how to do things. When I have autonomy, it means that there is a level of trust that I can handle things and this is an effective motivator that leaders can use to help me in the advancement of my career.

Flexibility: Flexibility is similar to autonomy but this is mostly concerned with doing things when I can be the most productive instead of assigning things to me when I am not in the mood. One of the best ways to motivate me to do things is to give me a deadline but not a schedule. When leaders give you flexibility it is automatically a motivator as they ask you to do or perform something when you are the most productive.

Opportunity to learn: Another effective motivator is providing opportunities to grow and learn. The things that I relish the most is the attainment of information and knowledge. Therefore, when leaders give me opportunities to grow or learn, it motivates me. To advance in my career, there are certain skills and knowledge that I need to possess and when leaders can point me in the right direction and show me what I need to learn, it is a motivator.