Why PRIDE matters more than money
The Power of the World’s Greatest Motivational Force
This book explores how leaders at any level in almost any organizational setting can motivate higher employee performance by capitalizing on the anticipation of feeling proud and making others proud, too.[2] An intrinsic feeling of pride based on the relentless pursuit of worthwhile endeavors is a lasting and powerful motivating force. This kind of pride is also “institution-building” when it prompts the kind of effective, customer-focused behaviors that deliver quality products and economic performance. Conversely, feelings of pride based upon self-serving or materialistic gains are short-term, transient, and risky…[3]
ADVANTAGES OF SELF-SERVING PRIDE
- Self-Serving pride is unavoidable because it stems from basic human need.
- Monetary awards are “scorecards of accomplishment” because everyone understands the scale.
- Money is a clear way to separate the performers from the nonperformers because it is easily tracked and compared.
- The monetary value of a job helps candidates determine where they want to work because higher compensation suggests a better job.[4]
PITFALLS OF SELF-SERVING PRIDE
- Money attracts and retains people better that it motivates them to excel.
- Money works only as long as you can pay more than the competition.
- A monetary focus can obscure the fundamentals because you cannot easily convert short-term earnings into lasting values.
- Self-serving employees can take advantage of monetary incentive plans.
- Money and title differentials work better at the top than at the bottom because the value-added differences are more evident.
- Money and ego motivate individuals better than they do teams or groups.
- Materialism easily turns into greed and self-serving behaviors.[5]
…[The] sources of intrinsic (institution-building) pride are many, and some of them differ only subtly from those of materialistic pride…. [The] differences explain why intrinsic pride is such a powerful motivator…a few of the more distinctive sources of
institution-building pride [are:] pride in the results of your work, pride in how you work, and pride in whom you work with and for.[6]
Pride in the results of your work
Ø The attributes of products you make
Ø The kind of work you do
Pride in how you work
Ø Applying self-discipline
Ø Aligning personal and institutional values
Ø Creating a strong work ethic within your work group
Pride in whom you work with and for
Ø The kind of people the enterprise seeks to attract
Ø The caliber of people in specific work groups
Ø The legacy and history of the enterprise
Great institutions consciously work to encourage feelings of intrinsic pride in both personal and enterprise performance throughout their workforce. When Bernie Marcus [former CEO] told his employees that “you are president of your aisle” at The Home Depot, he really meant it; and they believed him. In Bernie’s mind, being president of your aisle means that you think and act as if you own the products on those shelves and that the customers who wander down the aisle are literally yours to delight or disappoint.[7]
…[We] did identify a few useful similarities among the outstandingly committed workforces. While these dimensions might be classified as common principles of good people management, the cases we explored practiced those principles with a good deal more discipline, focus and consistency than is the case in the average organization….we observed:
Ø A disciplined balance between enterprise performance and employee fulfillment was enforced.
Ø Rational compliance was simply never good enough.
Ø Institution-building (intrinsic) pride received more emphasis than money.
Ø Multiple sources of energy and pride were actively cultivated by the entire leadership system.
Ø Unique mechanisms and alignment approaches were required.[8]
Despite the importance of these basic principles for motivating performance, each company we studied applied and integrated them in different ways…Our research identified five distinct and useful application patterns or paths—i.e., how to apply the above principles—that motivate higher-performing workforces in companies that successfully cultivated emotional commitment over several years.
THE FIVE PATHS
The name of each path suggest the particular sources of pride that are emphasized to engage the emotions of critical segments of the workforce…the underlying motivational force within each path is the institution-building pride among the employees that sustains a higher level of emotional commitment to performance for the enterprise.
Ø Mission, Values, and Collective Pride (MVP)
o Companies that excel along this path capitalize on rich histories of past accomplishments to lend credibility and motivational impetus to their current aspirations and values.
Ø Process and Metrics (P&M)
o …the value of being disciplined about measuring the right things and maintaining effective processes for delivering value to customers.
Ø Entrepreneurial Spirit (ES)
o …the dream of creating a successful new enterprise…
Ø Individual Achievement (IA)
o Those who excel along the IA path view their individual performance and advancement (rather than team or collective performance) as their primary source of pride.
Ø Recognition and Celebration (R&C)
o The primary emphasis along the R&C path is on highly visible recognition events, celebrations, and hoopla.
…[The] overriding commonality across all five [paths] is the institutional capability to instill pride that motivates higher levels of performance among large numbers of people.
…[A] company that needs or desires to sustain an emotionally committed workforce is well advised to integrate two of the paths rather than be content to excel along only one (or to overload the system by pursuing more than two paths).
And the secret to success is applying the discipline and focus required to sustain institution-building pride among those employees who make a competitive difference to you.[9]
Instilling pride can be viewed as an investment in motivation for an organization because the benefits recur over time. This is particularly true where the leadership system incorporates multiple sources of pride and provides mechanisms to encourage frontline leaders to develop their own pride-building skills. While such investments are not trivial, they frequently are one of the least expensive ways for an organization to improve its performance because they create pride-builders throughout the company who retain their effectiveness over time.[10]
A STARTER LIST TO ENCOURGE PRIDE-BUILDERS
…The best “manager motivators” concentrate their efforts along three fundamental themes:
ü Always Have Your Compass Set on Pride
o Clarify exactly what matters and why it matters.
o Stimulate people’s memories, both real and vicarious.
o Celebrate the “steps” as much as the “landings.”
o Focus on “containers” that are never empty/never full.
ü Localize as Much as Possible
o Draw primarily on local analogies and role models.
o Tap into family, community, and union events.
o Trigger the “anticipation” of felling proud locally.
ü Integrate around a Few Simple Themes
o Develop and repeat your most compelling stories.
o Seek out “leading indicators” to simplify and sequence your task.[11]
Perhaps the best image for me [the author] of what the game of pride building is all about occurred during one of my visits with the Marines at Parris Island. I was conducting an informal discussion with a small group of recruits who were a couple of weeks away from their graduation. One of the recruits was a young woman named Amy (although recruits can’t use their first names at Parris Island), who probably weighed no more than one hundred pounds dripping wet, and whose demeanor was quiet and modest. She clearly seemed like a potential “misfit” to me, based on my notion of the tough, battle-hardened veterans she was presumably trying to emulate. Unable to contain my curiosity, I asked Amy why she wanted to become a Marine. Her answer reflected her ten weeks of Parris Island value shaping and pride building, as well as her potential as a future Marine. She pondered my question briefly, and as her literally sparkled and her whole face lit up with pride, she said simply and convincingly, “Mr. Katzenbach, the Marines make me shine!” As she elaborated, it became clear that Amy meant that over the past ten weeks she had discovered that she was capable of so much more than she had ever imagined—and her pride in that discovery would continue to motivate her throughout her life.[12]
[1] Why PRIDE matters more than money: The Power of the World’s Greatest Motivational Force, Jon R. Katzenbach and Katzenbach Partners LLC, Crown Business, New York, 2003, pg 1.
[2] Pg 2-3.
[3] Pg 15.
[4] Pg 53-55.
[5] Pg 57-60.
[6] Pg 76.
[7] Pg 76-91.
[8] Pg 138-139.
[9] Pg 140-149.
[10] Pg 185.
[11] Pg 186-194.
[12] Pg 198-199.
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