What’s Your Motive? August 26, 2021 by Belinda EganWhen was the last time you asked yourself… “Why did I choose to be a leader?” If it’s been a while, read on because you might be making some big mistakes in your leadership role without even knowing it. And as a result, your team and your organization may be suffering. According to Patrick Lencioni, best-selling author of “The Motive: Why So Many Leaders Abdicate Their Most Important Responsibilities,” people are drawn to leadership roles for one of two reasons: They want to be rewarded for years of service and hard work, and being CEO (or another leadership role) is the top prize. They want to serve others. If you’re not sure what your motive is, here are some other questions to ask yourself: When you think about the tasks that take up most of your day, are they things that you like, or are they things that you’re good at? When you make decisions in the day-to-day, is it in the best interest of your team, or is what you think is best? What kind of things do you avoid doing daily at work? Are they things that you just don’t enjoy doing, or are they not crucial for your organization/team to achieve as a priority? While it makes “sense” from a strictly hierarchical perspective, reward-centered leadership is an active harm to an organization. In a perfect world, people would be rewarded for their hard work with higher pay, more perks, and ideally, less hassle and responsibility. But of course, as a leader of an organization, you know that only half of this ends up being true. A bigger salary comes with much bigger responsibility and more sacrifice…and after years of climbing the ladder, some leaders begin to resent this. Does any of this sound familiar? You’ve delegated important tasks to capable people, and you try to remain hands-off so you can deal with other priorities, but you’ll rush in to put out fires if these people need your help. You’ve begun to “hideout” in the comfortable perks of your position instead of engaging with your team, prioritizing tasks you’re good at. You see meetings, check-ins, and team-building as laborious and tedious – and you’d rather shirk, skip, or rush through these processes altogether when possible. If you identify with one of these, you need to be aware that your team may be slowly falling apart from the inside out. Miscommunication, a lack of clarity, focus, and resentment may creep in and prevent your team from working effectively. Have you heard constant grumbling from your team (or maybe just a few more vocal members) that you haven’t had the “heart” to deal with? That’s a shark in the water…and it smells like someone who is focused on rewards rather than responsibility. If you choose to ignore this shark, slowly but surely, your organization will start to see results dipping. And you’re ultimately responsible for it. But there is hope! Responsibility-centered leadership is leadership that focuses on people first. You know that your organization is not thriving without a team that works well together despite their differences and personal challenges. Does this sound more like you? You’ve delegated tasks to capable people, but you constantly check-in to make sure they’re filling the role that’s best for their strengths and that they have the tools necessary to do the job well. You are aware of the individual challenges of everyone on your team and gently guide them through while encouraging them to continue giving their best effort. You anticipate problems and have solutions that are catered to the needs of your team and organization. You love to have meetings with your team because you understand the value of open discussions, working through challenges together, and the empowerment that comes from a cohesive team dynamic. If this feels more like your leadership style, congratulations! Your organization will benefit significantly from your courageous ability to sacrifice your comfort and needs for the sake of something bigger than you. Before we end this, a caveat: You will fluctuate between both motive types throughout your career in a leadership role because you’re only human. There is no leader alive who can say that they have been 100% responsibility-centered. But as long as you’re frequently checking in with yourself to assess your motives, you’re on the right track. Do you Feel Called to be a Courageous Leader? This is your golden opportunity to be part of the revolution – transformative, powerful, people-driven leadership that will change everything within your organization for good. This program is only running once this year, so now’s the time! Don’t miss it! Get Access