Saggy Pants and Pointy hair: Motivating Teenagers and Bosses

I have a very unique situation. I have been climbing the executive ladder for years and finally reached the executive level. Recently, I moved into an individual contributor role where I try and influence an organization for change from the side of the organization, instead of from the boss position. It is a very challenging, role but at the same time very fun.  Trying to figure out  how the organization operates,  how it changes and what motivates it to change.  I also have another unique situation in that I have 10 kids. That is not binary for 2. That is the number TEN, and having a blended family with that many kids feels much like my job. Influencing the children with different ages from 5 to 23 years old, is just as challenging as helping an organization through change.  I have found some interesting comparisons:

Family	Work
One child can make an 8 hour road trip to grandma’s house completely miserable for everyone.	One person can torpedo the role out of the greatest process improvement.
What motivates my 5 year old son, does not work for my 17 year old sons.	What motivates the CEO is different from  directors, managers and individual contributors.
Not everyone can be heard at the dinner table when everyone is talking at the same time. But everyone wants to be heard.	Some of the best ideas for change can come in the ranks of the organization. At all levels.
Mom and Dad need alone time as often as they possibly can to recharge.	I got nothing here.

I would like to look specifically on what motivates. I am starting to understand what motivates my 5, 6 and 7 year olds. Treats and trips to the park. My teenagers are a bit harder, but it mostly has to do with electronics. My older kids are motivated by pure cash mostly because they need it for college or fixing their car. Organizations are somewhat similar and finding out what motivates individuals is key to effecting change. So what motivates you, your boss, or your boss’s boss?

Individual Contributors - Money is a good motivator for most individual contributors, but that is typically only the case if they feel they are not being paid enough. What I have found is a better motivator is, do they enjoy their work? Is it fun, is their voice heard, can they make a difference?  For some it might be the camaraderie of working in a great team.

First-line Managers – Many first line managers want to be directors and they want to climb that leadership ladder. So they want to make sure their team is successful according to what their director or senior manager wants. They are trying to make sure that themselves, and their teams, look good. They are building their careers. Then there are some first line managers that want to stay where they are. So they want things that are stable, quiet and secure.  When trying to effect change with first line managers you need to find out the type of managers you are dealing with.

Directors and Senior Managers – Power and influence. This is all about your team. The more successful your team is the more successful you are in the eyes of the executives. You have influence over more people, budgets and schedules. Being able to predictably deliver products or services from the organization is the key success factor of these people.

Executives – Motivators for public company executives are very different than motivators for private companies. Public companies live and die on quarterly revenue and profit.  Private company executives typically are motivated by long-term sustainable profit. How is a change in my organization going to affect my revenue and profit this quarter for public companies or longer for private companies? This of course is not always true and there are some executives with other motivation than the bottom line, but again you need to find out what motivates or de-motivates an executive to change.

Of course these are sparkling generalities and cannot be applied to every organization. The key is for you to find out what motivates people to change in your organization. Write it down. Then develop a plan to motivate your organization at all levels.

DWP