I’m going to be looking at theories of motivation and this includes the drivers, what it is that we need to have in our work to be motivated.  

1. Independence - Seeking independence and autonomy, the freedom to make key decisions oneself
2. Affiliation - Seeking social relationships with others at work
3. Creativity - Seeking to be innovative and to be identified with original output
4. Expertise - Seeking a high level of accomplishment in a particular field
5. Material Rewards- Seeking possessions, wealth and a high standard of living
6. Power and Influence - Seeking to be in control of people and resources
7. Search for Meaning - seeking to do things which are believed to be valuable in their own right
8. Security - Seeking a solid and predictable future
9. Status - Seeking to be recognised, admired and respected by the community at large
10. Lifestyle - When your personal life is as important to you as your career

So over the next couple of weeks look out for postings on these areas. I’m going to start today with a driver that is very important to me – Independence.

For some people what they seek more than anything from a career is autonomy or independence. They want the freedom to do things their way and to be free from other people’s rules, procedures, working hours, dress code etc. 

If this is what drives you, you want to be free to do things your way, to work at your pace and in your own way. Often people in this category are highly educated and have learnt to be self reliant and responsible for their outputs. You don’t want to have close supervision. 

The sorts of careers that suit people with this driver are consultancy, research, financial analysis and field sales. These are the sorts of jobs which have deadlines and targets, but can be undertaken in a way that suits the person.  

 The sort of recognition you prefer is to have written letters of testimonials and awards, things you can take away with you. Being offered promotion is not necessarily going to appeal to you, what would motivate you is to be offered a job which provides even more autonomy. 

This entry was posted on Sunday, November 4th, 2007 at 6:21 am and is filed under Uncategorized, Career Motivators. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

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