As I learn more about management, I pick up neat little tidbits of knowledge. A few weeks ago, I ran my first interview for an analyst position we were looking to fill. Now, I've sat in on a lot of interviews so I know the general plan of what to ask... but I didn't know a lot of specifics. So my manager spent some time with me, listing out questions to ask and areas to probe in to.
For each question, I thought about how I would answer them. And one question really stood out. I've been thinking about it a lot lately. And it's the title of this post.
What motivates you to get out of bed and go to work each day?
In its most basic form this question has 3 answers, but it's not mutually exclusive. Much like the Myers-Briggs personality test, the answer is more about ranking the degree to which each choice motivates you.
The 3 answers are:
1. Internal motivation. You like to challenge yourself. Just knowing that you're working hard and excelling at something is enough to keep you motivated to continue.
2. Recognition from peers or superiors. Yesterday your boss told you that you're doing a great job and so you want to keep impressing him. Or your co-workers have told you that you're the best [insert title] in the whole department, so you want to stay that way. Maybe some day you want to be nationally recognized as the best [something] in your field.
3. Money. The thought of getting that next promotion, and therefore a raise, just makes you salivate. As the Beatles said, "Money - that's what I want".
So like I said, your answer will likely be that all three of these things motivate you. But some of them will stand out more than others. And, of course, your motivators will change over time.
The reason that I've been thinking about this question lately is because I think my main motivator is money. And I've been wondering if that makes me a bad person.
Part of the reasoning for this choice is slightly redeeming. I'm recently out of college, AND I'm currently in grad school. So in another year I'm going to have 50K in student loans to pay off. If I can make a lot of money then I'll be able to pay off my debt faster and begin to plan/invest in my future.
My less redeeming reason is that I like money. I want it. Lots of it. I'd like to have enough money that I'd never have to worry about it. I could buy whatever I wanted. Do whatever I wanted. Go wherever I wanted. And I would never have to stop and think about whether or not I could afford it. That might make me a bad person - but who cares.
Normally, I would poll my readers about whether or not you think I'm a bad person... but I'm no fool. I won't set myself up for that. Instead, I want you to think about which of those 3 items is your biggest motivator right now. you might learn something about yourself.
Friday, March 14, 2008
What motivates you?
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
3 comments:
I'm internally motivated all the way. Teachers have pretty sad salaries, but that's what I want to do. I've always found working with children to be very rewarding.
Of course now I'm in grad school and working at a job I'm not crazy about in the interim. I do that for the money, but even that's driven by my internal motivation to finish school and become a teacher.
That's a hard question!
I think there are alot of people who hand out complements like candy, so getting a complement from someone you know doesn't give them out easily can be a great motivator.
Although I like to think that I would do a good job regardless of the circumstance, nothing says "We appreciate the work you do" like a nice raise or bonus. People tend to give out complements alot easier than money, so that's the surefire way to know you are doing a good job. Get a raise!
I think that the source of motivation would depend on the job. When I'm doing something that I like to do, then of course I have internal motivation! But if I had a job that I didn't particularly enjoy, then I am pretty sure that getting a pay check would be the biggest motivation to go to work. I've never been driven to make TONS of money, because most of the jobs that pay tons of money don't really appeal to me. I'd rather do something that I enjoy and am good at. And overall, I'm not particularly materialistic. I wouldn't complain about having a lot of money, but I don't think I would ever really want a huge mansion or anything like that. If I had a lot of money, I'm pretty sure that most of it would go towards travel. I would love to be able to travel all over the place. And a lot of money would probably to entertainment (I love live shows). And I also like nice furniture and art. I don't think that I'm doing a very good job of making any sort of point - just sorta rambling right now. But considering that I've accepted a lot of jobs that don't pay much (but had other benefits), and I've spent the past 2 years of my life without a full-time job so that I could finish grad school quickly, I think it would be hard to say that I am mostly motivated by money. That being said, my ideal job would be one where I didn't have to work more than 20-30 hours a week, and I had tons of time to do all the other things that I wanted to do. But jobs like that don't come without a huge cut in salary, and I'm not really willing to take a pay cut.
p.s. You are a bad person.
Post a Comment