The Act of Leadership

Chapter 7LESS CARROT, LESS STICK Find out what makes people tick

This chapter in a nutshell

• you'll see why traditional approaches to motivation miss the mark
• you'll be introduced to Self-Determination Theory as a means to motivate your team
• you'll be encouraged to view motivation through the lens of authentic engagement, rather than merely ensuring people are doing their jobs

According to their website, Gallup is a global analytics and advice firm that has been in business for over 80 years and who ‘know more about the will of employees, customers, students and citizens than anyone in the world’.

That's a pretty bold claim, but then again, they base this claim on having over 35 million respondents to their engagement surveys.

Gallup is engaged, to some degree, by 90 per cent of the Fortune 500 companies, and they are trusted by leaders across the globe to inform and advise on leadership and workplace engagement matters.

Each year they conduct employee workplace engagement surveys around the world and share their findings.

Gallup defines engaged employees as those who are involved in, enthusiastic about and committed to their work and workplace.

In 2018, the last time they shared findings for Australia and New Zealand, Gallup reported only 14 per cent of Australian and New Zealand workers reported feeling this way.

Fourteen per cent! I don't use exclamation marks very often, but I feel it's warranted here.

So what about the rest?

According to Gallup, 15 per cent ...