Is Motivation purely internal?

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‘My boss does not motivate me’ – voice of disgruntled employee.

‘People should be self motivated’ – voice of irritated supervisor.

“Motivation is a fire from within. If someone else tries to light that fire under you, chances are it will burn very briefly.” – Stephen R. Covey

“You can motivate by fear. And you can motivate by reward. But both of these methods are only temporary. The only lasting thing is self-motivation.” – Homer Rice

“Motivation is everything. You can do the work of two people, but you can’t be two people. Instead, you have to inspire the next guy down the line and get him to inspire his people.”- Lee Iacoca

I could go on in the same vein and the question would still beg an answer – do people need to be motivated from outside OR is motivation a purely internal drive? Is it the task of leadership to motivate their troops or provide an environment and direction that people will find motivating from their personal viewpoint?

What are your views? Put in your vote and let us hear the reasons why in the comments.

As always, thank you for being here.

{democracy:7}

Comments

17 responses to “Is Motivation purely internal?”

August 31, 2009

Bhanu Sundra

A person has to be motivated internally at the core and at the same time there has to be both motivation and inspiration from external infleunces so that the core of internal motivation gets strengthened and re-inforced.

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August 31, 2009

Kajal

Only someone incredibly lazy and unambitious would be solely reliant on a boss/ job to motivate them – I think we’re motivated by the things we want – success, recognition, peace, greed, whatever.

And sure, it’s critical to be in an environment and around people who inspire you – but 10 years and 4 agencies have taught hypersonic me that no situation is ever totally perfect.

Having said that, I’ve always had awesome bosses tho (Including you, Mr Roy!)

I think it’s internal and + external – its important to pick a profession, a company and leaders/ team that are aligned with your personal ambitions and goals… but do what you love and do it well. right, that’s my motivation for Monday evening.. now for a swim and G&T =)

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August 31, 2009

r.rajesh

what is the motivation to breathe? is it internal or external? do we breathe because of the fear of losing our lives if we were to stop? or, at a higher plane, do we breathe because it extends the life force, and all the wonderful things life can bring us. Is the life force within or without? are external drivers addressing an internal fear and desire, or are internalised issues predicated to external stimuli?
they say no man is an island. neither, i feel, are the emotions that make us men and women. nothing exists in splendid isolation independent of extenuating forces. so this debate can never be answered. because motivation is like a fire within; nobody can set alight wet wood, but we can awlays direct a fire. but then even an internal fire needs oxygen to breathe. so p’haps the only pointer i can arrive at after this rambling monologue( i beg ur collective pardon, btw) is that motivation is essentially internal, but depends so much on external forces, like a goal towards which it can be productively channelised (management job), a climate that encourages and rewards the self motivated thru external recognition( hr). p’haps the complainant here is talking less about motivation trickling down, than de-motivation. again is that internal or external? the argument continues….

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August 31, 2009

Ganesh V

Whilst self motivation is a key ingredient, it very quickly gets stifled if the leadership does not demonstrate clarity of thought, result orientation and the will to get things done. A constant stream of successes at achieving what the organisation set itself out to achieve (goal clarity and the will/perseverance to achieve them) and subsequent and fair recognition for the people who made it happen will work wonders in any organisation.

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August 31, 2009

Bhargavi

In Freakonomics, he talks about how economics is the science of incentivising. I think that applies here. We are all motivated from within. All of us. But unless that motivation is supplemented by relevant and rewarding incentives, performance often tends to be below par. The incentivising? That’s where the bosses come in. If they don’t set an example, hang a carrot, or offer a reward, they can’t expect motivation to do the whole job for them.

That’s like waiting for the cake batter to bake itself.

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August 31, 2009

Hiren Shah

There have been several employee engagement studies which indicate more at intrinsic motivation. It has been proved that money is a key factor for bringing in talent but only continuous challenging work keeps them there.

Motivation can also be a matter of previous conditioning- if somebody has been brought up in extreme poverty, extrinsic factors are more important.

Some people are naturally self motivated. It could be a personality trait.

In the Harvard business review on Talent management, there was an entire chapter on mid life crisis on how there was around 40% burnout rate on account of boredom on doing the same jobs. Monotony and age are factors.

It always helps if the boss is a good motivator but people management is not everybody’s cup of tea. It also depends on whether the boss himself is motivated.

Last but not the least, one should always try to be self motivated but that would depend upon how values change as one goes through life.

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August 31, 2009

Samrat DasGupta

No one motivated the men and women above to leave their comments, but they did. And something tells me all of them are achievers in their respective careers. All leaders were once motivated juniors. Carpe Diem 🙂

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August 31, 2009

Jagdish Kini

Having spent approximately 30 years in Industry In my opinion this debate would continue for a long time, It all depends on what the situation is and in what position you are and therefore your perspective.
In a leadership position I felt there were many people who are self motivated and need the environment to grow and flourish. As a leader are we ready to accept the fact that my subordinate is probably better than me and how do I motivate someone who could be my Boss tomorrow. In quite a few cases they are right when they say my boss dose not motivate me, what they probably mean is that my boss dose not inspire me.
It is the job of the leader to get the best of his/her team and therefore it is the job of the this leader to inspire / motivate / and create an environment to grow. in short we need to engage such employees and here my experience says money dose not work.

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September 1, 2009

Biswajit Ghosh

I agree with Samrat- that these people who left the above comments are a reflection of self motivation, but then the external factor motivating them to do the same was the topic that you started off.

🙂

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September 1, 2009

Solomon

Motivation is V Imp. Thats all I can say. No gyan further as dont want to get lost.

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September 2, 2009

Ranjan Nautiyal

http://www.ted.com/talks/dan_pink_on_motivation.html

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September 2, 2009

Rajiv R. Menon

There is only so much an internally driven person can do if placed in an environment that celebrates the contrary. The same holds true vice versa.

Being internally motivated is hygiene in today’s competitive world. External motivation appreciates and reciprocates that faith. As important.

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September 2, 2009

ganesh

Its a very interesting question. While we generally claim to be self-motivated, external factors influence more often than not on the motivation levels. We also choose to manage the display of the motivation levels depending on the outcomes. So while we adamantly stick to the self/internal motivation theme, the flame is ignited / fueled by external factors. We do things in a natural way, the first walk or the run comes naturally, the external factors like the mother / father trying to push you, the gleam in their eyes with the first step all adds to the motivation. All of us in our careers have been appreciated / challenged / criticized. The difference between a self motivated guy and others is that he / she takes this external stroke as a positive one pushing himself/ herself to excel rather than viewing it as a step to the failure pit.

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September 2, 2009

Aditya Ray

Motivation is often needed to be triggered externally. While it is true that if the Motivation is not there internally, it is very difficult to be sustained beyond a short term.

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September 2, 2009

hamsini

Who is responsible for the quality of your work, your productivity and willingness to go beyond the call of duty? Is it you, yourself – your values, work habits, inner drive and passion? Is it the structure of the work environment? Or is it the atmosphere created by your boss and colleagues – the culture of the place you work in? Or the incentives that you are given? The question of responsibility is the toughest one to answer, because we all want to stake a claim to ownership of success and enjoy the glory thereof while distancing ourselves from failure.

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September 3, 2009

Sumit Roy

Good motivators light the self-motivation fire.

Where does one vote for that option?

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September 17, 2009

anil

people are obviously of different mental make-up, and so are their motivations. feel there is no need for a one answer for all, for this question. some are purely internally driven, irrespective of trying external circumstances, like a cactus in a desert. some are delicate, and wilts at the first negative stimulus. One thing that surely seems to be the common denominator is the need for security, and hence the need for money, which ends by driving the need to work. Would anybody really be motivated in the complete absence of money…count me out! So need drives my motivation, so much for it!

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